Peter Fenwick, Leading Expert on Near-Death Experiences, Dies at 89

[ad_1] In early 1988, the British neuropsychiatrist Peter Fenwick discovered himself drowning in letters from individuals who believed that they had survived an encounter with loss of life.

“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. Consider 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 lovely backyard, no garden, path or the rest, however flowers of each type,” she wrote. “People who attracted me most had been Madonna lilies, delphiniums and roses, however there have been many, many extra.”

The letters had been amongst greater than 2,000 that Dr. Fenwick acquired shortly after he appeared in a BBC documentary, “Glimpses of Demise,” through 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 had 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 pals; they stated, ‘You’re mad.’”

However Dr. Fenwick, an knowledgeable on consciousness, was keenly . Possessing a extra scientifically open thoughts than lots 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 loss of life, 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-Demise Experiences” (1995), which he wrote along with his spouse, Elizabeth Fenwick. The e-book 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. Practically 40 p.c met somebody they knew, together with deceased kin. Strikingly, 72 p.c reported that that they had made the choice to return.

A girl 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 mistaken.”

Abruptly, she continued, “I regained my physique and all feelings. I panicked and felt ache, large ache, throughout my physique. I consider I died for a short while.”

Have you ever had a near-death expertise? Share your reminiscences. Neuroscientists have for many years dismissed near-death experiences, or N.D.E.s, as signs of anoxia — a scarcity 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 commonly endure acute anoxia in simulators to verify they will get their oxygen masks on in time,” he wrote. “Those that fail to take action don't have N.D.E.s; they both go unconscious or turn into so confused that they attempt to land their planes on clouds.”

He additionally dismissed one other frequent critique of near-death experiences: that they're run-of-the-mill hallucinations, like these skilled by individuals with excessive fevers.

“However describing it as a hallucination does nothing to elucidate the underlying mechanism and leaves most 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 preferred to construct issues, together with the occasional small bomb. One night, whereas his dad and mom had 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 among these children who's extremely vibrant however possibly not at all times 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 turn into a mind surgeon, however he modified his thoughts after observing a mind surgical procedure.

“I abruptly realized that if you happen to had been a mind surgeon you regarded 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 yr. “I spotted I didn’t need to be a neurosurgeon, I wished to be a neuropsychiatrist so I might speak to individuals and never have them unconscious whereas I regarded into that deep, darkish gap.”

He joined Maudsley Hospital in London, the most important psychiatric educating hospital in Britain, the place he at first specialised in epilepsy. He additionally studied sleepwalking, desires and meditation. (Considered one of 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 global finest vendor, however Dr. Fenwick, like many different readers, was skeptical of the deathbed visions recounted within the e-book.

Then, the subsequent yr, a affected person of his informed him that he had seen a vibrant gentle by a tunnel whereas experiencing near-fatal issues throughout coronary heart surgical procedure.

“I used to be ready to have a look at him, focus on it with him and see the truth is that this was no psychobabble — it was an actual expertise,” Dr. Fenwick informed The Telegraph. “This was enormously vital.”

Dr. Fenwick was a founding father of the Worldwide Affiliation for Close to-Demise Research UK. He was additionally president of the Scientific and Medical Community, a company that helps analysis into the connections between science, philosophy and spirituality.

Along with his daughter Annabelle, he's 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), concerning the means of loss of life; 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 individuals he surveyed had been much less afraid of dying because of their near-death experiences, and that 42 p.c reported being extra non secular. Forty-eight p.c, he wrote, had been “satisfied” that there was “survival after loss of life.”