In early 1988, the British neuropsychiatrist Peter Fenwick discovered himself drowning in letters from individuals who believed they’d survived an encounter with demise.
“I slowly floated down a tunnel, not afraid in any means however wanting ahead to one thing,” one man wrote to him. “When it got here I used to be completely at peace and going in direction of essentially the most fantastic gentle. Imagine me, it was nice. No worries, issues or something, simply fantastic.”
In one other letter, a girl described strolling down a rustic lane and coming upon golden gates.
“Inside was essentially the most stunning backyard, no garden, path or the rest, however flowers of each sort,” she wrote. “Those who attracted me most have been Madonna lilies, delphiniums and roses, however there have been many, many extra.”
The letters have been amongst greater than 2,000 that Dr. Fenwick obtained shortly after he appeared in a BBC documentary, “Glimpses of Dying,” by which he commented on the near-death visions of people that had apparently briefly died, or practically died, after which come again to life.
“These letters have been written by individuals who had by no means, ever earlier than informed anybody about their experiences,” Dr. Fenwick stated in a 2012 lecture at TEDxBerlin. “Why? As a result of they’re too frightened. They informed it to their wives or their husbands; they stated they weren’t . They informed it to their associates; they stated, ‘You’re mad.’”
However Dr. Fenwick, an professional on consciousness, was keenly . Possessing a extra scientifically open thoughts than a lot of his friends, he had begun finding out near-death experiences — a contentious topic in neuroscience — within the mid-Nineteen Seventies. He believed that consciousness existed past bodily demise, and he thought the letters would assist strengthen his place.
Dr. Fenwick despatched the letter writers a prolonged questionnaire to categorize their experiences. He introduced his findings, alongside excerpts from the letters, in “The Reality within the Mild: An Investigation of Over 300 Close to-Dying Experiences” (1995), which he wrote along with his spouse, Elizabeth Fenwick. The guide established him as a number one authority in near-death research.
Dr. Fenwick died on Nov. 22 at his dwelling in London, his daughter Annabelle Fenwick stated. He was 89.
“The Reality within the Mild” revealed startling similarities among the many letter writers. Greater than 50 p.c of them reported touring in a tunnel. Seventy-two p.c noticed a vibrant gentle. Almost 40 p.c met somebody they knew, together with deceased kinfolk. Strikingly, 72 p.c reported that they’d made the choice to return.
A lady who had been in a horrific automotive accident recalled being “inspired by a powerful feeling to enter the sunshine” by a tunnel.
“I used to be peaceable, completely content material, and I understood I used to be born on earth and knew the reply to each thriller — I used to be not informed, I simply knew, the sunshine held all of the solutions,” she wrote. “Then there was sudden confusion. I had to return to the tunnel rapidly; one thing was incorrect.”
Out of the blue, she continued, “I regained my physique and all feelings. I panicked and felt ache, super ache, throughout my physique. I imagine I died for a short while.”
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Neuroscientists have for many years dismissed near-death experiences, or N.D.E.s, as signs of anoxia — an absence of oxygen flowing to the mind. Dr. Fenwick rebutted that evaluation in “The Reality within the Mild,” pointing to the instruction of pilots.
“Pilots in coaching recurrently bear acute anoxia in simulators to verify they’ll get their oxygen masks on in time,” Dr. Fenwick wrote. “Those that fail to take action would not have N.D.E.s; they both go unconscious or grow to be so confused that they attempt to land their planes on clouds.”
He additionally dismissed one other widespread critique of near-death experiences: that they’re run-of-the-mill hallucinations, like these skilled by folks with excessive fevers.
“However describing it as a hallucination does nothing to clarify the underlying mechanism and leaves lots of the standard questions unanswered,” Dr. Fenwick wrote. “Why ought to everybody have kind of the identical hallucination in the identical circumstances? And why ought to it appear so actual?”
Peter Brooke Cadogan Fenwick was born on Could 25, 1935, in Nairobi, Kenya, the place his father, Anthony Fenwick, had been despatched by his household in northern England to farm espresso. His mom, Betty (Darling) Fenwick, was an Australian-born doctor and director of surgical procedure at Nairobi Hospital.
Peter was a curious and mischievous boy. He appreciated to construct issues, together with the occasional small bomb. One night, whereas his dad and mom have been making ready to host dinner company, Peter quietly laid a path of gunpowder across the desk in hopes of lighting it for leisure. His father disrupted the plot.
“I feel he was clearly one in every of these children who’s extremely vibrant however perhaps not all the time so good at studying the room,” his daughter Annabelle stated in an interview. She added, “He did issues as a result of he might.”
After graduating from Stowe College, a prestigious boarding establishment within the English countryside, Dr. Fenwick studied pure sciences on the College of Cambridge. He graduated in 1957 after which continued his research there, receiving his medical diploma in 1960.
Dr. Fenwick aspired to grow to be a mind surgeon, however he modified his thoughts after observing a mind surgical procedure.
“I immediately realized that for those who have been a mind surgeon you appeared down a deep, darkish gap into the mind, and I might see there was no enjoyable in that,” he informed the British newspaper The Telegraph final 12 months. “I noticed I didn’t wish to be a neurosurgeon, I needed to be a neuropsychiatrist so I might discuss to folks and never have them unconscious whereas I appeared into that deep, darkish gap.”
He joined Maudsley Hospital in London, the most important psychiatric instructing hospital in Britain, the place he at first specialised in epilepsy. He additionally studied sleepwalking, goals and meditation. (One among his first analysis topics in meditation was George Harrison of the Beatles.)
In 1975, the American thinker and psychiatrist Raymond A. Moody Jr., printed “Life After Life,” one of many first books by a doctor about near-death experiences. It was a world greatest vendor, however Dr. Fenwick, like many different readers, was skeptical in regards to the deathbed visions recounted within the guide.
Then, the following 12 months, a affected person of his informed him that he had seen a vibrant gentle by a tunnel whereas experiencing near-fatal problems throughout coronary heart surgical procedure.
“I used to be in a position to take a look at him, focus on it with him and see in reality that this was no psychobabble — it was an actual expertise,” Dr. Fenwick informed The Telegraph. “This was enormously necessary.”
Dr. Fenwick was a founding father of the Worldwide Affiliation for Close to-Dying Research UK. He was additionally president of the Scientific and Medical Community, a corporation that helps analysis into the connections between science, philosophy and spirituality.
Along with his daughter Annabelle, Dr. Fenwick is survived by his spouse, Elizabeth (Roberts) Fenwick, with whom he wrote 4 books along with “The Reality within the Mild,” together with “The Artwork of Dying” (2008), in regards to the technique of demise; one other daughter, Natasha Lowe; a son, Tristam; and 9 grandchildren.
In “The Reality within the Mild,” Dr. Fenwick revealed that 82 p.c of the folks he surveyed have been much less afraid of dying on account of their near-death experiences, and that 42 p.c reported being extra non secular. Forty-eight p.c, he wrote, have been “satisfied” there was “survival after demise.”
“When you’ve had this expertise you might be modified, whether or not you prefer it or not,” he informed The Telegraph.
His perception that there was demise of the physique, however not the person individual, erased any concern he had about dying.
“Really,” he stated, “I’m wanting ahead to it.”
