The near death experience of Karen Thomas
What Researchers Found
The Story
Karen was a 32-year-old physical therapist and mother of two. She had a near-death experience during back surgery when doctors cut a major artery, causing her to bleed out under anesthesia. Her consciousness left her body and floated above the operating room. She heard the surgeon swear and saw her body turned over. She realized she was dead and tried to reach her husband and children. She drifted through walls and saw a man rushing to the OR. A voice told her to pay attention to him. She rose through the hospital roof, flew over Anchorage, entered a dark tunnel, and burst into a bright light filled with love and peace. She followed a guide up a slope from arid ground to a lush landscape glowing with light. She saw deceased relatives across a river but could not join them. The guide took her to a library of life books, then to beings who showed a hologram life review. She felt others' emotions and saw ripple effects of her actions. The beings offered her a choice to stay or return and showed prayers as musical notes and her family's worry. She chose to return for her family. After the NDE, Karen verified the rushing man with the doctor, gaining proof. She overcame feelings of unworthiness from her father's death. She now believes in unconditional love for all, pre-life planning, and free will. Her life changed completely; she trusts intuition, meditates to connect with guides, and shares kindness to create positive ripples.
“be Heaven if it's Heaven I should be and I don't know who he is but it's not”
The NDE features a strong veridical claim of observing a specific doctor in street clothes rushing to the OR from an out-of-body vantage in the hallway, verified in detail by the doctor himself who was surprised at her knowledge. However, this is the only verified perception amid many unverified elements, and it was reported to the doctor after release from the hospital rather than promptly to witnesses.
Score reflects verifiable perceptions reported. A low score indicates the experience was primarily spiritual or subjective, not that it didn't occur.
Score reflects transformation as described. Domains scored 0 indicate the topic was not discussed, not that no change occurred.
Are you here because someone you love has died?
These accounts were gathered because death may not be the end. Thousands of people have experienced something beyond — and come back to tell us about it.
What Researchers Found
The NDE features a strong veridical claim of observing a specific doctor in street clothes rushing to the OR from an out-of-body vantage in the hallway, verified in detail by the doctor himself who was surprised at her knowledge. However, this is the only verified perception amid many unverified elements, and it was reported to the doctor after release from the hospital rather than promptly to witnesses.
Score reflects verifiable perceptions reported. A low score indicates the experience was primarily spiritual or subjective, not that it didn't occur.
Score reflects transformation as described. Domains scored 0 indicate the topic was not discussed, not that no change occurred.