White light - meaning

[THE KOD]

ABC's Bob Woodruff Describes Recovery
By DAVID BAUDER

NEW YORK ? Bob Woodruff searched for the word, but it wasn't quite there. It was an internal organ, that he knew. He was describing a soldier's injuries when indecision stopped him. "Intestines," a producer sitting to his left in an ABC News conference room Monday gently reminded him.

The newsman met with reporters for the first time since a roadside bomb in Iraq tore off part of his skull 13 months ago. ABC News is airing a prime-time special, "To Iraq and Back: Bob Woodruff Reports," about Woodruff's recovery and the plight of other brain-injured Iraq veterans at 10 p.m. EST Tuesday. A book he co-wrote with wife Lee also goes on sale Tuesday.

Only in small moments ? a dropped word, momentary confusion at a question, a startled look upon hearing a cough ? were Woodruff's injuries evident. At one point he used the word "news" in place of "knowledge," but caught and corrected himself.

Small pockmarks from shrapnel on the left side of his face and neck were visible. Doctors said it was a remarkable recovery for someone who had come so close to death.

Upon first emerging from a 36-day coma following the blast, Woodruff couldn't name any of the 50 states or even recall his twin, 6-year-old daughters ? not just their names but their very existence.

"Will I get back 100 percent?" he asked. "Probably unlikely. Maybe if I get somewhere in the 90s, that would be pretty damned good."

He was hurt on his 28th day as "World News Tonight" co-anchor, on Jan. 29, 2006. Woodruff was riding in an Iraqi army tank in Taji, Iraq, his head and upper body exposed through the hatch, when the bomb went off.

"When it actually exploded, I don't remember that," he said. "But I do remember immediately at that moment that I saw my body floating below me and a kind of whiteness."

He briefly lost consciousness, fell back into the tank and woke up to see cameraman Doug Vogt across from him. Woodruff remembered spitting up blood. (Vogt was wounded but survived.)

"I looked up at Doug and I saw his eyes big and afraid and just asking him if we were still alive and that's the last thing I remember," Woodruff said.

He'd been lucky, in one sense. A rock the size of a silver dollar punctured his neck and lodged just next to a vital artery. He was evacuated quickly to medical facilities. But during his coma, no one knew what kind of Woodruff would emerge ? if he would at all.

The ABC special illustrates the process of turning the brain back on again. In film of him taken months later, Woodruff stares blankly at pictures of a hammer and scissors, not knowing what to call them. His children laugh with him as he repeatedly fails to pronounce "belt buckle."

A camera catches him crying when he returns to National Naval Medical Center room in Bethesda, Md., where his wife explained that during visits she'd steer their children to the side of the room where his injuries looked less severe.

The most difficult part of his ordeal was knowing what his family experienced. "Every time I see my wife crying, that kills me a little bit," he said Monday.

Woodruff now goes to therapy for his injuries once a week. But reporting and even attending Monday's news conference, where he is forced to think on his feet, are part of his therapy, too, he said.

Two-thirds of Tuesday's special is about how the U.S. government is dealing with veterans returning with brain injuries. Several families contend that the federal government is unprepared, and is also underestimating the number of people returning with brain problems.

"I've been given a chance to tell about something I lived through and seen so many soldiers and Marines live through that I think perhaps that was designed in some way, for the same reason perhaps that I didn't die of this," he said.

Woodruff will be interviewed by ABC's Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America" Tuesday, and Oprah Winfrey later in the day.

His ability to return as a news anchor is unknown at this point. "It's a possibility," Woodruff said.

For now, he's going to continue reporting the story about injured veterans returning home and then hopes to work on different stories.

Woodruff hedged when asked if he would want to go back and report in Iraq before ABC News President David Westin cut him off.

"I will not send him," Westin said. "It just would not make sense. He's more vulnerable than he was before ... It would be the height of recklessness, from my point of view, to allow Bob Woodruff to go back to Iraq."

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many theories on what this white light is.

 

[buddy]

Scott,

Thanks for posting this.

My wife and I recently watched a story on a Christian tv channel about a young boy who was dying. His grandmother was the only one with him in the room. The young boy was lying in bed and seemed to be staring at chair. The grandmother asked what he was looking at. He said, "Jesus is sitting in the chair, grandma". The grandmother asked what he looked like. The young boy replied, "He looks like a white light".

(Have at it, guys)

 

[THE KOD]

 

[THE KOD]

Over time mysteries of man have been unraveled. There is nothing that we know of that we have not figured out, or are not figuring out. We are able to clone humans, we know how the body works, and we know how the solar system works. However, there is one question that remains, and has always, throughout history, remained unanswered: What is it like to die?

We use different examples to explain the phenomenon of ?dying? to our children and friends. We tell them that it is like sleeping, or maybe like forgetting (Moody 12).

When we really think about it, sleeping is only enjoyable because we wake up the next morning, and when we forget, it's not only bad things that we would forget, but also all the good things. Fact is that we don't really know a lot about death, and therefore aren't able to explain it to anyone either. It is also unlikely that we will ever be able to scientifically prove what it is like to die, since it is just like trying to prove that a certain dream is true! However there is a way that we are able to figure out a tiny glimpse about death.

There are approximately thirteen to fourteen million people in the United States, (2% of the population) and at least fifteen million more around the world that have had an experience defined as a ?near-death experience? (William question 1).

A NDE is the experience of dying (when one's heart beat stops) or coming close to death (when one falls into a coma); the subject is not well known because people are afraid of death and do not like to speak about it, yet NDEs are real, and tell us about life after death as well as about life itself.

During many NDE experiences fascinating and extremely interesting elements occur, however, not all of the people that were either clinically dead or in a coma will have had the same experience, and no one knows why. This phenomenon is probably the most mysterious thing someone can experience, since it is literally the experience of dying. These people have actually had a glimpse of what happens after we die. The fascinating thing about this is that the elements of parts of these people's experiences are similar and correspond (Moody 21).

There is no one experience that has an element that is not found twice, however, there are no two experiences that are exactly the same, but every experience is unique (Moody 23).

The astonishing thing about this is that the people that recount these experiences are not always from the same race, nor social or material background, but are often from totally different cultures. Someone coming from the United States, someone from Africa, and someone from India, will recount the same basic elements that are usually found in each of their NDEs. However, the explanation of various people depends upon their cultural and ethnic background, their vocabulary, and the way they were confronted with death (The Near-Death Experience paragraph 3).

NDE experiences are most probably proof that life after death exists. There are eleven major similarities among NDEs, and even though people often experience similar elements, they will never experience all of them, but on average six to seven (Moody 24).

Many people describe extremely pleasant feelings and sensations during the early stages of their NDEs. They describe feelings such as peace, extreme comfort, ease, relaxation, and solitude. There is also always an extreme contrast described between the pain and burdens before one's death and after.

A man who had died, after suffering from severe wounds in the Vietnam War, by expressed his feelings by describing a great attitude of relief. He experienced no pain and felt extremely good, despite being in a war zone (Moody 30).

The fact that this man described his relief as an attitude is notable since a woman named Kati Ebrahimzadeh, who I interviewed, also made it very clear that the whole thing is more a feeling and sensation than something you can describe in words (Ebrahimzadeh).

Usually when people are asked to recount their experience, they realize that there are no words to describe ?such things'.

During the interview with Kati Ebrahimzadeh, I could feel how she suffered immensely from the ineffability of this experience, and how she so longed to explain it to me in full measures but couldn't. She described it to me as if trying to explain to someone how you feel when you are in love, and I realized that it was impossible. People seem to have the feeling that they just don't make such words, and adjectives!

One woman put this very clearly when she said, ?It is like having to describe a fourth dimension, but since we only have words for three dimensions I can't really give you a complete picture. That's as close as I can get to it.? (Moody 26).

Numerous people have told of hearing or watching their doctors or other spectators, declare or pronounce them dead. Often they feel like they are another person in the room somewhere, watching the whole thing like a spectator, but being unable to feel anything associated with their own body.

Mrs. Ebrahimzadeh was about twenty-three years old when she fell asleep while driving. Her car went out of control, and flew through the air spinning around so hard, that she was thrown out about fifteen meters high, before she fell to the ground. She was picked up by an ambulance and brought to the hospital. She told me that she will never forget the appearance of the doctors that worked on her. He had a pigment illness, and he had white spots all over (Ebrahimzadeh).

The dark tunnel is another element that is often recalled from a NDE. This dark tunnel is described in many ways, such as being like a cave, a well, an enclosure, a funnel, a vacuum, a void, a sewer, a valley, or a cylinder (Moody 30-31).

A man re-tells a significant story about this dark tunnel, because before this experience, which took place in his childhood, when he got involved in a bicycle accident, he had a fear of the dark.

?I had the feeling that I was moving through a deep, very dark valley. The darkness was so deep and impenetrable that I could see absolutely nothing, but this was the most wonderful, worry-free experience you can imagine.? After this experience he wasn't afraid of the dark anymore (Moody 31).

The existence of light is probably the most common and dominant element in the accounts of NDEs. It is this, which has the most profound effect upon the individual being (Moody 58).

Typically, at its first appearance, the light is dim, but it gets brighter quite rapidly until it reaches an unearthly brilliance. Most people make the specific point that the light, even though of great ?unearthly' brilliance, does not in any way at all hurt their eyes, or dazzle them. The light is also usually described as being either clear or white (Moody 63).

The love and warmth which ?emanate' from this light are beyond words.

?It is a light of perfect understanding and perfect love,? states a woman (Moody 63).

People also make it clear that they feel surrounded by the light and accepted in the presence of this being. Mrs. Ebrahimzadeh, who is now thirty years old, describes herself in an ocean of light, and her being a part of it (Ebrahimzadeh).

Astonishingly, many people describe the light as having a personality. People recount it having a sense of humor, and it being fun to be around. A little girl who died in a swimming pool, and who then told about her experience simply said, ?You'll see, heaven is fun? (Morse 1).

Maybe this light is just much, much more than just a light!

When one dies, reviews ones are commonly recounted. The review is usually in the form of a ?movie' which will show some irrelevant and some significant things about one's life. Watching the review is just like being part of it, standing there in the scene as a spectator.

A woman declares that the light plays a great role in this element, since it is often the light that will ask, ?what do you have to show me?? and this being of light does not itself need any information, as if it knows all about you (Moody 66).

It may be as if encountering with one's creator.

Meeting others during a NDE is not uncommon, and often has great effect upon the person's being afterwards. The people they meet are either family members or very close friends. These people, in form of spiritual beings, are usually there to either protect or guide the person. It is not always common for the person to be seen, but usually they are more ?felt'.

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[Happy Hippo]

Scott and buddy -

Here is one of my favorite articles from a good magazine. It deals with your subject at hand from a scientific viewpoint, and I found it quite interesting...hope you enjoy it.

http://www.odemagazine.com/article.php?aID=4207

 

[gardenweasel]

was that light incandescent or flourescent?....

/howl gore



o.k...i`ll leave...