Pam Reynolds Lowery (May 31, 1956 – May 22, 2010), from

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, was an American singer-songwriter. In 1991, at the age of 35, she stated that she had a

near-death experience A near-death experience (NDE) is a profound personal experience associated with death or impending death, which researchers describe as having similar characteristics. When positive, which the great majority are, such experiences may encompa ...

(NDE) during a brain operation performed by

Robert F. Spetzler Robert F. Spetzler (born 1944) is a Neurosurgery, neurosurgeon and the J.N. Harber Chairman Emeritus of Neurological Surgery and director emeritus of the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. He retired as an active neurosurgeon in J ...

at the Barrow Neurological Institute in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. Reynolds was under close medical monitoring during the entire operation. During part of the operation she had no brain-wave activity and no blood flowing in her brain, which rendered her clinically dead. She claimed to have made several observations during the procedure which medical personnel reported to be accurate. Within the field of near-death studies and among those who believe in

life after death ''Life After Death'' is the second and final studio album by American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released on March 25, 1997, by Bad Boy Records and distributed by Arista Records. A double album, it was released sixteen days after his murder. ...

, the case has been cited as well-documented and significant, with many proponents considering it to be evidence of the survival of

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, an ...

after death. An anesthesiologist who examined the case offered anesthesia awareness as a more prosaic and conventional explanation for such claims. Reynolds died from heart failure at the age of 53 on May 22, 2010, at

Emory University Hospital Emory University Hospital is an 853-bed hospital in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, specializing in the care of acutely ill adults. Emory University Hospital is staffed exclusively by Emory University School of Medicine faculty who also ...

Diagnosis and operation

Pam Reynolds reported to her physician that she was experiencing symptoms of

dizziness Dizziness is an imprecise term that can refer to a sense of disorientation in space, vertigo, or lightheadedness. It can also refer to Balance disorder, disequilibrium or a non-specific feeling, such as giddiness or foolishness. Dizziness is a ...

, loss of speech and difficulty in moving parts of her body. Her physician referred her to a neurologist, and a

CAT scan A computed tomography scan (CT scan), formerly called computed axial tomography scan (CAT scan), is a medical imaging technique used to obtain detailed internal images of the body. The personnel that perform CT scans are called radiographers ...

later revealed that Reynolds had a large

aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward :wikt:bulge, bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also b ...

in her brain, close to the

brain stem The brainstem (or brain stem) is the posterior stalk-like part of the brain that connects the cerebrum with the spinal cord. In the human brain the brainstem is composed of the midbrain, the pons, and the medulla oblongata. The midbrain is co ...

. Because of the difficult position of the aneurysm, Reynolds was predicted to have no chance of surviving surgery for its removal. As a last resort, Robert F. Spetzler, a neurosurgeon of the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, decided that a rarely performed procedure, known as a

deep hypothermic circulatory arrest Deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) is a surgical technique in which the temperature of the body falls significantly (between 20 °C (68 °F) to 25 °C (77 °F)) and blood circulation is stopped for up to one hour. It is ...

or 'standstill operation', could improve Reynolds' chances of surviving surgical removal of the aneurysm. During this procedure, Reynolds' body temperature was lowered to 50 °F (10 °C), her breathing and heartbeat stopped, and the blood drained from her head. Her eyes were closed with tape and small ear plugs with speakers were placed in her ears. These speakers emitted audible clicks which were used to check the function of the brain stem to ensure that she had a flat

electroencephalography Electroencephalography (EEG) is a method to record an electrogram of the spontaneous electrical activity of the brain. The biosignal, bio signals detected by EEG have been shown to represent the postsynaptic potentials of pyramidal neurons in ...

(EEG)—indicating a non-responsive brain—before the operation proceeded. The operation was a success and Reynolds recovered completely. The total surgery lasted about seven hours with a few complications along the way.

Claimed NDE

Reynolds reported that during the operation she heard a sound like a ' D'

natural Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part ...

that seemed to pull her out of her body and allowed her to "float" above the operating room and watch the doctors perform the operation. Reynolds claims that during this time she felt "more aware than normal" and her vision was more focused and clearer than normal vision. She reported seeing the surgical "saw" but said it looked like an

electric toothbrush An electric toothbrush, motorized toothbrush, or battery-powered toothbrush is a toothbrush that makes rapid automatic bristle motions, either back-and-forth oscillating, oscillation or rotation-oscillation (where the brush head alternates clockwi ...

, and this is in fact true. She said she could hear conversations between operating room staff, even though she had

earphones Headphones are a pair of small loudspeaker drivers worn on or around the head over a user's ears. They are electroacoustic transducers, which convert an electrical signal to a corresponding sound. Headphones let a single user listen to an ...

in her ears which were making a loud clicking noise many times per second in order to monitor her brain function. At some point during the operation, she says she noticed a presence and was pulled towards a light. She says she began to discern figures in the light, including her grandmother, an uncle, other deceased relatives and people unknown to her. According to Reynolds, the longer she was there, the more she enjoyed it, but at some point she was reminded that she had to go back. She says her uncle brought her back to her body, but she did not want to go, so he pushed her in, and the sensation was like that of jumping into ice water.

Reception

Reynolds' NDE has been put forward as evidence supporting an

afterlife The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's Stream of consciousness (psychology), stream of consciousness or Personal identity, identity continues to exist after the death of their ...

by proponents such as cardiologist Michael Sabom in his book ''Light and Death''. According to Sabom, Reynolds' experience occurred during a period in which her brain had completely ceased to function. Critics say that the amount of time during which Reynolds was "

flatline A flatline is an electrical time sequence measurement that shows no activity and therefore, when represented, shows a flat line instead of a moving one. It almost always refers to either a flatlined electrocardiogram, where the heart shows no e ...

d" is generally misrepresented and suggest that her NDE occurred under

general anaesthesia General anaesthesia (UK) or general anesthesia (US) is medically induced loss of consciousness that renders a patient unarousable even by painful stimuli. It is achieved through medications, which can be injected or inhaled, often with an analges ...

when the brain was still active, hours before Reynolds underwent hypothermic cardiac arrest. Anesthesiologist Gerald Woerlee analyzed the case, and concluded that Reynolds' ability to perceive events during her surgery was a result of " anesthesia awareness". According to the psychologist

Chris French Christopher (Chris) Charles French (born 1956) is a British psychologist who is prominent in the field of anomalistic psychology, with a focus on the psychology of paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences. In addition to his academic activ ...

, who served as editor in chief of The Skeptic magazine:

Woerlee, an anesthesiologist with many years of clinical experience, has considered this case in detail and remains unconvinced of the need for a paranormal explanation... edraws attention to the fact that Reynolds could only give a report of her experience some time after she recovered from the anesthetic as she was still
intubated Intubation (sometimes entubation) is a medical procedure involving the insertion of a tube into the body. Most commonly, intubation refers to tracheal intubation, a procedure during which an endotracheal tube is inserted into the trachea to supp ...
when she regained consciousness. This would provide some opportunity for her to associate and elaborate upon the sensations she had experienced during the operation with her existing knowledge and expectations. The fact that she described the small pneumatic saw used in the operation also does not impress Woerlee. As he points out, the saw sounds like and, to some extent, looks like the pneumatic drills used by dentists.

In his large study on near-death experiences, Professor Sam Parnia's group, The Human Consciousness Project, in their AWARE-study identified one subject out of 101 cardiac arrest survivors, who "described details related to technical resuscitation equipment". None of the patients reported seeing the test design with upward facing images.Weintraub, Pamela. Seeing the light. ''Psychology Today'', September 02, 2014
www.psychologytoday.com
retrieved January 3, 2023Orlando, A. (2021). Death Defying. ''Discover'', 42(6), 50–58.Olvera-Lopeza, Edgardo & Varona, Joseph. Editorial: “AWAREness during CPR: Be careful with what you say!” ''Resuscitation'' 85 (2014) A5–A6, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resuscitation.2014.09.023Robb, Alice. The Scientists Studying Life After Death Are Not Total Frauds. ''The New Republic'', October 8, 2014
www.newrepublic.com
retrieved January 3, 2023Tassell-Matamua, Natasha A. & Lindsay, Nicole (2016) “I’m not afraid to die”: the loss of the fear of death after a near-death experience, ''Mortality'', 21:1, 71-87, DOI: 10.1080/13576275.2015.1043252Rice, DT, Nudell, NG, Habrat, DA, Smith, JE and Ernest, EV. CPR induced consciousness: sedation protocols for this special population. ''British Paramedic Journal'' 2016, vol. 1(2) 24–29Lichfield, Gideon. The Science of Near-Death Experiences. Empirically investigating brushes with the afterlife. ''The Atlantic'', April 2015
www.theatlantic.com
retrieved January 9, 2023

In popular culture

BBC (Bristol) made a 1-hour documentary about the Pam Reynolds case titled ''The Day I Died''.

Diagnosis and operation

Claimed NDE

Reception

In popular culture

See also

References

Further reading