Hallucinations, bright lights, out-of-body experiences and visits from deceased relatives are just some of the mysterious phenomena reported by people who have been close to death. What can science tell us about near-death experiences and how do they change our relationship with life? Watch Near Death Moments on Tuesday 2 July on SBS or on .
When Meredith O’Shea goes to the beach in Victoria with her children, she can’t bring herself to splash around in the water with them.
Instead, she floats with her head just above the surface to simulate her near-death experience.
“I feel an overwhelming sense of peace and calm. It gives me a feeling that I don’t get anywhere else,” Meredith told Insight.
In 2005, when she was in her late 20s, Meredith nearly drowned during a camping trip in far north Queensland.
She and her husband Miguel Rios went swimming in the receding floodwaters.
“We were young and silly,” Meredith said.
“He said, ‘I don’t like this.’ I didn’t care. I was ready to take on anything.”
Meredith is surprised that she felt so calm and peaceful when she was so close to death. Source: Delivered
Shortly after jumping in, Meredith was pulled by the current into an underwater tunnel.
“One leg went in and one went out the other side, so I was trapped.”
Miguel swam nearby and saw her hair floating on the surface of the water. He knew immediately that she was in danger.
He pulled her out and saved her life, but Meredith suffered broken ribs and skin injuries.
When Meredith looks back on this experience, she is still amazed by the deep sense of peace and serenity she felt in those moments when she was held underwater and getting closer and closer to death.
“Normally I would expect to go into survival mode and fight really hard, but I didn’t. I didn’t panic at all.
“To this day I cannot answer why I felt calm and peaceful when I thought I was going to die.”
“I thought it was real”
For Cerisse Erica Gomez, her mysterious near-death experience occurred when she suffered severe abdominal pain during her pregnancy with her second child in 2018.
After being admitted to Royal Darwin Hospital and with no explanation for her baby’s unbearable pain and falling heartbeat, the medical team decided to perform an emergency caesarean section.
Baby Denisse was born safely at 28 weeks, but Cerisse lost significant amounts of blood during the birth, prompting doctors to conduct tests.
“They found that there was a bleeding in my right lobe of liver; it had ruptured,” Cerisse told Insight.
Cerisse’s husband, Don, was told that if doctors had waited five minutes longer, she would have died or been paralyzed.
Cerisse was in an artificial coma for four days. During this time, she remembers a visit from her father and grandfather – both of whom had died – something she still cannot explain to this day.
Cerisse says that during her coma she received a visit from her deceased father and grandfather that she cannot explain. Source: Delivered
“We talked about life. We talked about how I am doing. How are things going for me?”
She believes that somehow they saved her life.
“They told me, ‘Your family still needs you; your girls still need you.’
“I really thought it was real that they were there.”
How do we explain near-death experiences?
occurs in situations of intense emotional or physical pain, often .
It is not possible to say how many people are affected, but various studies suggest that between 10 and 23 percent of people who almost die suffer from it.
Commonly reported features include bright lights, out-of-body experiences, a feeling of deep peace and serenity, and visits from deceased relatives in visions.
But what do scientists really know about the human mind when the body is close to death?
Dr. Matt Davidson, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Technology Sydney, has researched how changes in the structure and function of the brain are related to changes in our conscious experience.
He says that while there are some plausible hypotheses about near-death experiences in existing research, there are still many things that are difficult to explain.
“Some of the most comprehensive studies of near-death experiences have been conducted on people who had suffered cardiac arrest in the hospital,” Davidson said.
“A common feature of cardiac arrest is a lack of oxygen to the brain. And one consequence of this can be damage to the parts of the brain that control vision.
“And that might actually correspond to seeing things like tunnels and lights in response to death in the part of the brain responsible for vision.”
Another theory is that these experiences are a physiological response to stress or trauma.
A common symptom of cardiac arrest is a lack of oxygen to the brain. One consequence of this can be damage to the parts of the brain that control vision.
Matt Davidson
“It is plausible that a massive increase in endorphin release as part of a stress response could reduce the sensation of pain and lead to a feeling of calm and well-being,” he said.
“But again, we don’t have the data to confirm these hypotheses.”
Scientists have tried to study this area using rats.
In 2013, researchers at the University of Michigan discovered a brief increase in electrical activity in the brain that indicated a state of near-hyperconsciousness following cardiac arrest.
However, other scientists rejected the results and questioned how much the brains of rats can tell us about human near-death experiences.
Life after a near-death experience
Phill Zdybel was clinically dead for 15 minutes.
He suffered a heart attack during a basketball game in 2022 and said that during the experience he felt like he was watching the action as a spectator.
He says he saw his son call 911 and the paramedics and nurses give him a defibrillator.
“It could have been an out-of-body experience… while the brain is being oxygenated and people are pumping your chest, there was still a subconscious factor at work.
“But the most important thing about the whole thing is that I said to myself, ‘I’m not going anywhere.'”
Since this experience, Phill has developed a pragmatic approach to life.
“I stand more strongly for my views and believe that they are valid,” he told Insight.
“I think we all worry too much about the little things. And they upset us.”
“We should just shake it off and live our lives. And be a little bit grateful every morning when we wake up that we are awake, and at the end of the day be grateful that we can go to bed at night.”
Since that brief encounter with death, Phill has begun to appreciate life more. Source: Delivered
Many people stay and initiate radical changes in your life.
Cerisse said that while her brush with death resulted in ongoing health complications, it also taught her some life lessons and strengthened her faith.
“This near-death experience made me realize a lot of things: life is short and you really don’t know what will happen tomorrow,” she said.
“You have to love the people around you. Make them feel that you love them every day.”
Cerisse says her near-death experience taught her to live in the present. Source: Delivered
Meredith still can’t understand why she forces herself to get into the water and float, simulating how she almost lost her life.
“I wonder if there is something subconscious in your brain that wants to make you accept things in life again,” she said.
“But I do know one thing: If I can defeat what almost killed me, anyone can.”
For more stories, see hosted by Kumi Taguchi. From sex and relationships to health, wealth and grief, Insightful offers deeper insights into the lives and first-person narratives of former guests of the acclaimed TV show Insight.
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