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Carter, Chris. Science and the Near-Death Experience: How Consciousness Survives Death. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 2010. Chapter 15, pp. 230-231. Case: Swedish Blind Woman
Science and the Near-Death Experience - Swedish Blind Woman - Chapter 15, pp. 230-231 - 2010
2010
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This remarkable case, forwarded to researchers Kenneth Ring and Sharon Cooper by Swedish nurse and NDE researcher Ingegerd Bergstrom, involves a woman who had been blind for ten years, with only the ability to distinguish between light and darkness - she could not perceive forms or colors. One evening during a conversation with her husband, she suffered a cardiac arrest at home, suddenly falling silent mid-conversation. Her husband immediately began resuscitation efforts on the floor and succeeded in restarting her heart, though she remained unconscious. She was transported by ambulance to the hospital.
When the woman regained consciousness in the intensive care unit hours later, her first words to her husband shocked him: "Why is there unwashed china in the sink? You know I can't stand that." This was extraordinary because during their conversation, her husband had been standing at the kitchen sink with his back to her, and the sink was behind a screen, completely out of her line of sight even if she had normal vision. More importantly, she hadn't been able to see any forms or objects for ten years due to her blindness. When her husband expressed surprise and asked why she hadn't told him about this vision before, she simply replied, "You never asked if I saw anything at the time my heart stopped." She then described how the sink "appeared out of the fog" and that there was unwashed china piled up in it. This was indeed the husband's responsibility, and he looked very guilty about it. The observation was particularly significant as it involved visual perception of specific objects in a location that was both out of normal sight lines and observed by someone who had been functionally blind for a decade. This case provides exceptional evidence for visual perception during cardiac arrest by a blind person, with the specific details of the unwashed dishes confirmed by the witness who was responsible for them, demonstrating consciousness and enhanced perception during clinical death.
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Home
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Strong Evidence
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Documented cardiac arrest requiring CPR, successful resuscitation at home before hospital transport.
Blind woman (10 years) had impossible visual perception of hidden objects behind screen. Extraordinary evidence of sight during NDE.
written_account
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Blindness for 10 years - could only distinguish light/dark
Kenneth Ring and Sharon Cooper
8/6/2025
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