In this video from KDKA News in Pittsburgh, Dr. Christopher Kerr, Chief Executive Officer & Chief Medical Officer of Hospice Buffalo, describes deathbed visions people have. They are further evidence that the transition from this life to the next is easy and painless. Dead loved ones come to guide the dying person into the afterlife.
A transcripit of the video follows the video controls.
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Transcript of This Video About Near-Death and Deathbed Visions
Narrator: For years, the medical community hasn’t paid attention to them.
Patient: When I woke up, I was happy.
Narrator: Visions and dreams some people have in the weeks and days before they die.
Patient: So vivid. It’s so life-like.
Narrator: But one doctor says people need to know.
Dr. Kerr: It’s life-affirming. I can tell you that. It tells you good things about our time on Earth, not bad things.
Narrator: We’re not talking about near death experiences here, white lights and tunnels. This is something else. A doctor at a hospice in Buffalo has been studying this for years.
Narrator: Yeah, I visited him and discovered what he and his team have documented is truly eye -opening. They say these dreams can actually help them tell when someone is about to die. And the dreams are often comforting. They make death less scary. It turns out, when we have little time left, many of us see the people we miss most.
Narrator: Death is one of the mysteries of life. But the dreams of patients at Hospice Buffalo in New York State are revealing something incredible about the process of dying.
Patient: My wife all of a sudden appeared.
Narrator: They found that in our final weeks and days, many patients see the loved ones they’ve lost.
Patient: Boy, I remember seeing every piece of their face, and I mean, I know that was my mom, dad, uncle, and brother-in-law.
Narrator: In most cases the dreams bring comfort.
Patient: I felt good. I felt good to see some people.
Narrator: A patient named Maggie dreamt about her sister, who had passed away before her.
Patient: So I said, “Beth, you gotta stay with me. I’m alone. Stay with me. She says, “I can’t. Not now.”
Narrator: But then her sister gives her a message.
Patient: And then she says, “Soon we’ll be back, we’ll be together.”
Interviewer: Maggie then asked the man doing the interview a question.
Patient: People don’t believe me when I say this stuff. Do you believe me?
Dr. Kerr: Yes.
Narrator: Dr. Christopher Kerr is the one who said yes, but he didn’t start out believing. He’s now the chief medical officer at Hospice Buffalo, but when he was first starting out, something happened that opened his mind. He thought a certain patient could live a little longer with IV fluids.
Dr. Kerr: And I walked in, the nurse didn’t even look up, and she said, no, no, he’s dying. And I said, why are you saying that? She says because he’s seen his deceased mother. I say, I don’t remember that class from medical school. She says, “Son, you missed a lot of classes.”
Narrator: But as he explained in a TED talk, he was proven wrong over and over.
Dr. Kerr: Everybody but me was able to prognosticate death in part based on what people were seeing or experiencing.
Narrator: He says doctors aren’t trained to deal with these dreams, but he began studying them and realized they’re therapeutic.
Dr. Kerr: Instead of having this fear of death, it almost transcends the fear of death to something bigger.
Narrator: In 10 years, he and his team have documented 1,400 cases. Eighty percent of his patients report dreams or visions.
Dr. Kerr: What’s clear is people are universally saying this feels more real and different than any dream I’ve ever had before.
Narrator: We met one of those patients during our visit, Greg Liebler.
Patient: My grandmother and grandfather both passed.
Dr. Kerr: Have you had any dreams of them?
Patient: Yes, I see them often.
Sister: Hi! Mwah!
Narrator: Liebler’s sister is a nurse at Hospice Buffalo.
Sister: He was really close with my mom’s parents.
Patient: It’s great. It’s almost as though, come on back, let’s have our talk.
Dr. Kerr: The people who loved him and nurtured him, probably he says the most, were his grandparents and that’s who returns to him.
Sister: He said they’re very vivid to him.
Narrator: He sees himself as a child talking to them.
Dr. Kerr: But it feels good.
Patient: It sure does. That’s great.
Narrator: Liebler passed away less than three weeks after our interview.
Dr. Kerr: You’re physically declining, but inside you’re very vibrant and alive.
Narrator: Dr. Kerr says the dreams happen more often as death gets closer, and there are common themes like upcoming travel.
Patient: She wanted me to pack up some things for her. So I had this crazy dream, I’m packing goods.
Narrator: Sometimes the dreams allow people to address unresolved issues. A patient named Patricia felt relief after delivering a message to her deceased husband.
Patient: I told him that you should have taken care of this, that you didn’t, and he smiled.
Narrator: When children are dying, they often don’t know any people who have passed, so they dream of pets.
Patient: I dream about my old dog, Shadow, that has passed away.
Narrator: And just like adults, some report dreams so vivid they seem like real life.
Patient: The one night I happened to see like a long black thing and that was him by my bed.
Dr. Kerr: They’ll come out of these experiences and I want to go back.
Narrator: So what causes the dreams? Is there a religious, spiritual, or scientific explanation?
Dr. Kerr: I don’t have one.
Narrator: Dr. Kerr says his goal is just to record what’s happening and he’s not sure there needs to be an explanation.
Dr. Kerr: When they wake up crying because they’ve been so deeply moved by something, that just should be respected, period.
Narrator: Well, Dr. Kerr says loved ones may dismiss a dying patient’s dreams, thinking they’re drugged up or maybe losing their mind, but he believes this is some kind of mechanism to provide comfort for people who are about to pass.
Narrator: Wow. It’s so incredible. I’m so glad you did this story because it’s really got me thinking about family members who pass. So, why is it we’re not hearing more about this?
Narrator: You know, Dr. Kerr says the medical community really concentrates on keeping people alive, doesn’t really prepare people to treat the dying, but if you ask people in hospices, you are likely to hear a whole lot more about that. They know that this goes on.
Narrator: Well, and those are amazing people who work in hospice for sure. David, thank you for that story.
Narrator: Absolutely.
