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4658
qualitative
book
Titus Rivas et al., The Self Does Not Die: Verified Paranormal Phenomena from Near-Death Experiences, 2nd edition, ed. Janice Holden (International Association for Near-Death Studies, 2023). Case 3.5
NDERF Website, Marney S's Daughter, Case 3.5
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F
This remarkable case involves a two-year-old girl who experienced an unexpected cardiac arrest lasting at least four minutes before successful resuscitation at a hospital using a defibrillator. The medical crisis was severe, with the child remaining unconscious for a minimum of four minutes while medical staff worked to restore cardiac function. The use of a defibrillator indicates the presence of cardiac monitoring equipment and a witnessed arrest in a medical setting with immediate intervention available. Despite the young age of the patient, she later provided a coherent account of experiences during the period of clinical death.
Several months after being released from the hospital, the child began spontaneously sharing details of her near-death experience with family members. The delayed disclosure is significant, as it occurred naturally during family interactions rather than being prompted by questions about the medical emergency. When speaking with her twelve-year-old sister, the two-year-old declared, "I'm all better now." When her older sister asked how she knew this, she replied, "God told me." This initial revelation demonstrated the child's certainty about her recovery being divinely communicated during her NDE. A few weeks later, during a family gathering around a campfire while roasting marshmallows, the young girl provided more detailed information about her experience. She told her family, "God came to see me when I was at the hospital. He carried me up to the sky when the doctors were putting something on me. He told me I was all better now and took me back to the hospital." The reference to doctors "putting something on" her likely refers to the defibrillator pads being applied to her chest during resuscitation efforts, though the child lacked the vocabulary to describe the medical equipment precisely. The child's emotional response to her experience is particularly noteworthy. She expressed being "very upset that she had to return to the hospital" and "really wanted to go" with God. This reaction is consistent with many NDE accounts where experiencers report reluctance to return to their physical bodies after encountering divine presence or experiencing the peace of the afterlife. For a two-year-old to express such sophisticated emotional and spiritual concepts suggests the profound impact of her experience. The mother's interpretation that the "something" placed on her daughter was the defibrillator pads provides a potential veridical element to the experience. The child's perception of being carried to the sky while this medical intervention was occurring suggests an out-of-body experience during the resuscitation attempt. The spontaneous nature of the child's disclosure, her consistent account, and her age-inappropriate understanding of death and divine encounter all contribute to the evidential value of this case.
1
Hospital
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5
15
Suggestive Evidence
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Documented cardiac arrest for 4+ minutes, resuscitated with defibrillator in hospital
Perception of defibrillator pads being applied while being carried to sky by God
written_account
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1.00
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7/26/2025
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