The concept of death can be unsettling for many, but it was particularly harrowing for one woman who claims she experienced an out-of-body journey before returning to life.
The mystery of what transpires when someone dies has long captivated human curiosity.
For years, the tale of Pam Reynolds Lowery from Atlanta, Georgia, has intrigued many as she seemingly ‘returned from the dead’.
At the age of 35, in 1991, the singer-songwriter underwent a near-death experience during surgery and was declared clinically dead.
This was the moment she encountered something truly remarkable.
Lowery needed a brain procedure due to a large aneurysm, and given the slim chance of survival, her doctor recommended a standstill operation.
To achieve this, her body temperature was reduced to 50 °F, her heart and lungs were stopped, and blood was drained from her brain.
Her eyes were shut with tape, and small ear plugs with speakers were inserted in her ears to emit clicks that confirmed her brain’s inactivity during the operation.
In spite of these measures, Pam described a sensation of leaving her body and observing the surgeons working on her skull. Reynolds recounted the surreal nature of this experience.
She said, “I was looking down at the body. I knew it was my body but I didn’t care. My vantage point was sort of sitting on the doctor’s shoulder. I remember the instrument in his hand, it looked like the handle of my electric toothbrush.
“I had assumed that they were going to open the skull with a saw. I had heard the term ‘saw’ but what I saw looked a lot more like a drill than a saw – he even had little bits that were kept in this case that looked like the case that my father stored his socket wrenches in when I was a child.”
Pam also mentioned that during this peculiar phase, her deceased uncle served as a guide.
She explained that he persuaded and assisted her in reentering her body, although she was hesitant because she appeared ‘lifeless’.
She stated, “My uncle was the one who brought me back down to the body but then I got to where the body was and I looked at the thing and I for sure did not want to get in it.”
Some skeptics of Reynolds’ account suggest it might be a case of Anesthesia Awareness, a phenomenon where patients recall surgical details despite being under general anesthesia.