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4530
qualitative
journal
Ring, Kenneth and Cooper, Sharon, "Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences in the Blind: A Study of Apparent Eyeless Vision," Journal of Near-Death Studies 16(2) (Winter 1997): 101-147, Nancy, Case 3
Journal of Near-Death Studies Vol. 16 No. 2 pp. 101-147, 1997
1991
1997
41
F
Nancy, a 41-year-old woman, underwent a biopsy in 1991 for a possible cancerous chest tumor. During the procedure, the surgeon made a catastrophic error by inadvertently cutting her superior vena cava, then compounded the mistake by sewing it closed. This caused multiple medical catastrophes including complete blindness, discovered only after surgery when Nancy awoke in the recovery room screaming "I'm blind, I'm blind!" Medical records indicated she was completely blind at the time of her subsequent experience.
Shortly after discovering her blindness, Nancy was rushed on a gurney down the hospital corridor for an emergency angiogram. The attendants, in their haste to get her to the procedure, slammed her gurney into a closed elevator door. At that moment, Nancy had an out-of-body experience where she floated above the gurney and could see her body below. Despite being totally blind from the surgical complications, she could also see down the hallway where two men were standing - the father of her son and her current lover, Leon. Nancy was puzzled by the fact that both men simply stood there agape, making no movement to approach her as she was being rushed past. She could see them looking shocked approximately 100 feet away. Leon was standing right next to the father of her child as the medical team rushed her past them and into the service elevator. The scene included IVs, breathing apparatus, and the urgent movement of the medical staff trying to save her life. Both men were later interviewed and independently confirmed all essential facts of the event. Leon specifically recalled seeing Nancy being rushed out of surgery with her face severely swollen to twice its normal size, being wheeled past him at about 3-5 feet away, and the team taking her to the service elevator for an emergency angiogram. He confirmed standing there in shock with the other man, unable to move or speak. Given Nancy's complete blindness and the respirator partially occluding her face, there was no physical way she could have seen these men down the hall.
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Hospital
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Strong Evidence
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Catastrophic surgical error cutting superior vena cava, causing blindness and life-threatening complications requiring emergency intervention
Completely blind yet able to see two specific people down hallway, their positions, and reactions. Distance and details impossible to perceive given blindness and respirator
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Complete blindness from surgical complication, respirator obscuring face
7/23/2025
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