I See Dead People: Dreams and Visions of the Dying | Dr. Christopher Kerr | TEDxBuffalo (2)

Others dreamed of the deceased just there, waiting for them.

Sarah says, "There were six dead family members in my room waiting for me.

It's good to see them."

Less frequently, people had distressing dreams.

These are often relived, past, traumatic events, such as war.

And here again is Paul.

(Video starts)

Paul: Another thing I've dreamed of quite often, not lately,

is I'm back in the service.

I'm at Fort Devens up in Massachusetts,

where they were forming this company we were going to oversee; a new company.

The guys are all young. They're like... I remember them! And I am old.

And I'm trying to tell them,

"Guys! I've been here. I've done this. I'm not going to do it again!"

And they're arguing with me!

(Video ends)

(Laughter)

CK: I have the deep privilege of hearing many people's life stories

which tend to emerge or come to surface at the end of life.

Sometimes, I'm saddened by the amount of trauma and tragedy people have endured.

But more often, I'm inspired

by the strength of the human spirit,

and its endless quest to heal what is harmed, and what is broken.

And this brings me to the story of Mack.

I met Mack in 2011.

When I walked into his room and started to talk to ask him what was wrong,

he gave me three words, and he said, "A war problem."

His family explained that Mack never spoke about the war, but in the last few weeks,

he was unable to close his eyes without reliving the horror.

He couldn't sleep that's why he was coming into our facility.

Mac went on to explain that he was a World War II vet.

He was very proud to be from Texas and serve on the USS Texas.

At the age of 17, he was involved in the invasion of Normandy, in June, 1944.

He was a gunner on a landing craft that went from the ship to the shore.

But his nightmares were about the return from the shore to the ship.

Because that's when he was transporting the dead and the dying.

He called these nightmares terrifying and realistic.

He says, "There is nothing but death... dead soldiers all around me."

A few days later,

Mack was completely transformed.

He looked comfortable and at peace. He could sleep.

He said the horrifying dream had quieted, and in its place were two types of dreams.

There were comforting dreams and neutral dreams.

In the comforting dreams, he gets to relive the day

he got his discharge papers from the military.

In the neutral dream, a dead soldier comes up to him on a beach.

He doesn't know who he is, and he says,

"Soon, they, your fellow soldiers, are going to come and get you."

Mack was rescued by the dead soldiers he had tried so hard to save.

He had closure. He could close his eyes. He could rest.

He died peacefully, and he died with his dignity.

But just think about it.

The human spirit and that courageous 17-year-old boy fought for 67 years

to be free, to be released

from that enormous obligation, from that pain,

from that horrible injustice.

His end-of-life experiences didn't deny his reality, didn't deny him his war,

but it recast it in such a way

that he was finally granted his hard-earned peace.

I want to end where I began:

my hope was that you'd hear what I have heard from the dying.

Their words are compelling and relevant.

And I hope they leave open the possibility

that there is light within the darkness of dying.

Look back on your own life.

Think of your greatest loss,

your greatest comfort, and your greatest wonder

- loss of someone you loved,

the familiar, warm hug of a grandparent, the birth of a child.

What if, at the end of your life, at some appointed hour,

the lost return,

distant feelings become familiar, and meaning is restored?

If any of that is true, then dying is illuminating.

Thank you.

(Applause)