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

Dr. Christopher Kerr speaks at a 2015 TEDx event Buffalo, New York.

Dr. Christopher W. Kerr is the Chief Medical Officer at The Center for Hospice and Palliative Care, where he has worked since 1999. His background in research has evolved from bench science towards the human experience of illness as witnessed from the bedside, specifically patients’ dreams and visions at the end of life. Although medically ignored, these near universal experiences often provide comfort and meaning as well as insight into the life led and the death anticipated.

[shaunamartinez]

I was scheduled for surgery in 2010 and the morning of my surgery my mom and sister found out my uncle passed away suddenly the night before. They didnt tell me because they were afraid I wouldnt have my surgery. I had surgery and came home several hours later. I went to bed and slept through the night. My uncle visited me, standing at the foot of my bed and said I'd be just fine and he wanted to let me know my cancer was gone and he would keep an eye on me. Then he said goodbye and he loved me. It was vivid, and real.

[purplemister]

I worked at a hospital as a transporter. I moved beds, medicine, bloodtests and patients, including those who had recently passed away. Something I've noticed was that nurses were sometimes scared to follow me down into the morgue. They were scared of their own patients, just because the life had left the body. I was nervous and scared at first, but after a while I took my job with honor. A person's body is their greatest treasure, and it was my job to make sure that their treasure got moved down to the morgue with dignity. Some days were hard, some were not. But I always made sure that the feet of the deceased were properly tucked away, that their arms were crossed over their chest, that their body layed properly on the bed before I closed the door. It might just be corpses to some, but to me they're still valuable, and should be treated with respect.

[sundog]

I was a volunteer helper for Hospice. I would go to the homes of patients and give the families some relief to run errands, take a break, etc. while I watched their loved one. One case involved a 90 year old man, very close to death. While sitting with him, he suddenly bolted upright, looked around his bed and said to me, with eyes bright and shinning, “They are all here, they tell me a party is going on and they came to get me.” He started calling out names of men, interspersing them with loud cowboy type whoops. When he finally fell silent, eyes closed he had the biggest smile on his face. I had written down all he had said at the request of his son. Later that day the son returned and told me that the names were of his fathers best friends, fellow cowboys that had worked a cattle ranch, out west, for years. They had all passed away. I can’t tell you how much joy it gave the son to think that his father’s friends had come for him to take him to a party.

[psmizev]

I was taking care of a hospice patient when my brother died. She hadn't spoken above a whisper in weeks. My brother died on a Thursday afternoon 7 months after a stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis. He was buried on a Sunday and I returned to work on Tuesday. Around 2am my patient clearly said "Your brother is here". She had no idea I had a brother. She didn't know my brother was sick and had died. I didn't see him, but I like to think he was there to comfort me. I miss him every day.

[rtnarayanan]

The last words my father said before his death was "I have to go, my parents are sitting here next to my bed, they want to take me somewhere".
He was very relaxed and peaceful.

[paulcresswell]

A few yrs ago as a police officer I found a girl hanging. I stayed with her as I didn't want to leave her until the soco had finished and the ambulance crew I took her. I was nervous and scared but at one moment I felt calm and I felt a breeze pass me. My colleague looked at me and said that's her going. He was a very experienced officer not someone given to emotion or religious beliefs. He knew tho just as I did.
First time iv shared this

[bella_k]

I had a patient up in step down who was actively dying. As her nurse I stayed by her side and comforted her as much as I could. After about 20 min she began to wave towards the corner of the room. She had this immediate glow and joy. She grabbed my hand and said “look say hello to my mom” she began reaching her arms out to the the empty corner of the room. She died within the hour. So yes, I can confirm these things happen and there is no class or lecture about it🙏

[SweetUniverse]

When my bff was dying of cancer, she was fighting. She didn't want to die. She was still a young 60 yrs old. The day before her body gave out, she became at peace. She stopped fighting and said, "I love you all, but my dad's here and I'm going to go with him." We both believed in reincarnation and promised that in the next life we would come back as sisters.

[jmw]

I was at a football game and the guy next to me fell out with a heart attack. They stopped the game and hit him often with the paddles. His color was an odd grey and I knew he was gone. I kept looking up because people always tell of floating up above their body. I kept staring up but saw nothing. The guy suddenly gave them a heartbeat and he was taken by helicopter to the hospital. I felt compelled to visit him two days later and when I walked in the hospital he immediately recognized me as the guy "who kept looking up at me, " he said that I must have seen him because I was looking right at him above us. I left his room with very large goose bumps.

[sunnygirl]

"Mom, we dont really die." My son said this to me about six months after he was murdered.
I know he is speaking from Peace Love & Light

[gailknight]

I remember a patient who was never very talkative and it was very difficult to even get a smile from him. Not because he was in pain or seriously ill. Went by him one day and he was looking up towards the ceiling smiling his head off, looked so happy. I asked him if was OK, barely moving his head, he said yes. I went into the sluice room, only for a couple of minutes, came out and he had died. But I'll always remember the sheer look of joy on his face, I believe he was seeing something, or someone which made him so happy. That was nearly fifty years ago, and I've never forgotten.

[Rebeccakisosondi]

I’m a hospice social worker. 8 out of 10 of my patients see visions of dead loved ones

[lab]

My brother died in a car crash when he was 27. I was 21, and had not experienced a close death before. It was the morning of his funeral. I barely slept. I was lying in bed very numb from shock, and I heard my heart music box come on. For about a minute. My brother was a musician, and I knew without a doubt it was him. What a gift. It taught me that our souls live on, and our love is everlasting. ❤️

[wheatifer]

I'm sitting here with tears running down my face, thinking, what a wonderful thing the internet is. We have the opportunity to realize how alike we are and to share these experiences with each other. Now I'm off to read the rest of these comments.

[mierbeuker]

I've pondered this subject many times in the past, always wondering which one of my very dysfunctional family will be waiting for me. Growing up mostly in foster homes, I don't really have any family that I was ever "close to". But as a military veteran I think I will have a much better reception than most, when all my buddies come for me.

[azu]

I am 20 years old and my dad passed away just a month back. He wasn't sick or diagnosed with anything, it was just a massive irreversible cardiac arrest. I have been so devastated and heartbroken and in so much pain. Watching this video made me smile for the first time since then. Thank you.

My dad hasn't visited me yet. I wait for him every day, I am desperate to see him and hear his voice one more time. I am going to wait. Dad, please come and visit me. I feel very alone and broken 😭

[judyvalencia]

I was a nurse for 32 yrs. and it's true. I believe that they are not hallucinations, but that they are the loved ones that have gone on before and they have come to guide them to the afterlife. When they start seeing their dead loved ones and they start communicating with them, then death is close. I feel comforted knowing when my time comes my mother and grandmother will come to take me home.

[tracy]

My grandmother, on her dying bed, said there were angels in her closet and also told here daughter, who could not have children, that she was pregnant. Her daughter told her that can't be. You know that I cannot have children. Eight months she delivered a baby boy.

[stephanierising]

I had brain surgery and was frightened out of my mind.The night before my surgery my deceased father (died when I was 13) spent what I perceived to be hours of him hanging out with me in my dreams. We sat together and talked for hours. Then he came to me again as I was waking up. He said tell your mother I am there for her also. I messaged her at 5 am (surgery at 7) and I told her what he said. She was astonished and indicated she had been up hours crying by that time. My dad ironically died during surgery. I was afforded peace by that dream. They don’t occur only when you die, but at other profound moments in your life.

[sarahcosta]

I worked for 20 years in assisted living, in that time I have seen many elderly pass from this world to the next. The one thing they all had in common was that their deceased relatives were coming to them in dreams to take them home. On a personal note, my daughter who was in a coma for six weeks told me her grandparents were around her bed telling her that everything was going to be alright and not to worry. He father, Uncle, and Aunt were also there, all these family members had passed away. She said she was frightened at first but then she felt better. My daughter passed away five months later. I know she is with family who love her.