1.4.4 Case study 1: Vic Harris – a hospital death Vic was a 68-year-old man with a long history of chronic (pulmonary) obstructive airways disease and was therefore a regular in-patient at the medical ward of the local hospital where he received treatment. Vic had been on Crawford Ward for two weeks and was feeling very concerned that he was not making any progress. Previously he had experienced quite a marked improvement after a few days’ treatment but this time, instead of improving, his breathlessness and lethargy were getting worse and
1.3.11 The significance of the near-death experience The sociologist Allan Kellehear (1995) observes that most studies have had a medical focus, investigating whether near-death experiences could be the result of a lack of oxygen to the brain or another medical or psychological cause. Kellehear suggests that the search for psycho-medical explanations has focused on psycho-neurological and defensive mechanisms emphasising altered status of consciousness or physical functioning and not taken into account the meaning of these experiences. Kellehea
1.3.2 Recurrent themes When the accounts of people who have described a near-death experience are looked at side by side it is possible to identify some common features. This isn’t to say that all of these features are present in every account, but that amidst variations there are certainly recurrent themes. The following list is compiled from a variety of studies, including the important study undertaken by Sabom (1982), himself initially sceptical.
1.2.9 Nick In our society we tend to expect not to have to face the likelihood of death until our 70s at least, but one group of people who are having to face the prospect of death at a relatively young age are those diagnosed as HIV-positive. Controversy surrounds the issue of whether those at risk of contracting the virus should have the blood test which might give them that death sentence. At the time of writing there is no clear evidence that any treatment can improve the prognosis, even if taken at
1.6.4 Difficult communications Audio: click below to listen further to Dev's visit to the Durrant's home.