An Update and a Mini-Lesson

Last month, I posted a few thoughts about Damar Hamlin’s serious football injury. Football injuries happen with every game, but Damar’s was dramatically different. His heart stopped beating twice.  Many of the players and coaches grasped the critical nature of the injury, dropped to their knees and began to pray. 

The good news is Damar appears to have fully recovered from his injury.   We don’t know about his football future but he made a beautiful speech at a Super Bowl event in which he gratefully spoke of the health care providers and folks all across the country who prayed for his recovery. Damar believes his recovery is a call for him to talk about his faith, his injury, and his journey.

In the blog post, I also mentioned that I believed Damar could have experienced a near death experience (NDE). In a Super Bowl Sunday interview with Fox Sports Michael Strayhan, Damar was asked what he remembers following the tackle and his collapse. After a few seconds of pause, Damar explained that he would prefer not to speak specifically about what he experienced following his injury. 

In my post, I indicated I would share a little bit of my understanding of NDE and in particular some thoughts about After Death Communication (ADC) which is a subject of a book I about twenty years ago.

According to the University of Virginia School of Medicine, “near death experiences are intensely vivid and often life-transforming experiences, many of which occur under extreme physiological conditions such as trauma, ceasing of brain activity, deep general anesthesia or cardiac arrest in which no awareness or sensory experiences of any kind should be possible according to the prevailing views in neuroscience.” 

The vivid experiences are said to include travel to mysterious, wonderful landscapes, seeing and following a bright light, often though a tunnel, talking with deceased relatives, and overwhelming sense of peace and comfort. 

There have been many studies, books and even movies which deal with NDEs. I have had the pleasure of attending talks from two people well-versed in this topic: Raymond A. Moody, Jr., M.D. PH.D. author of Life after Life, and Eben Alexander, M.D., author of Proof of Heaven. Dr. Moody coined the NDE terminology following extensive research studies. Dr. Alexander is a neurosurgeon who personally experienced a NDE, and has written and spoken extensively on the topic. The two books referenced offer clarification and significant information about the topic.

While working at LifeNet Health, I had the opportunity to work with the bereaved families of deceased organ and tissue donors. I listened to stories from many families who shared another death-related experience: After Death Communication (ADC) is a spiritual experience that occurs when a loved one relates being contacted directly and spontaneously by a family member or friend who has died (from Hello From Heaven, by Bill and Judy Guggenheim).

I never made a judgement about the stories I heard from family members. My job was to support people dealing with grief and loss. I found ADCs to be a comforting experience for family members who received the communication. In 2003, with LifeNet’s help, I wrote a book called Healing the Spirit which captured nine stories of ADCs. 

I would be pleased to provide free copies of Healing the Spirit to interested readers of this blog. If interested, please comment here on At Peace that you would like a copy of my book and I will be in touch to obtain your mailing information. 

Praying that you and your family are At Peace.