Neurosurgeon Experiences ‘Proof of Heaven’ While in Coma

Four years ago, Harvard neurosurgeon Eben Alexander III, MD, FACS, almost died from a spontaneous E. coli meningitis infection that attacked his brain and sent him into a week-long coma. Brain scans showed that his entire cortex — the area of the brain that provide consciousness, thought, memory and understanding — was not functioning. Doctors gave him little chance to live. His family was told that if he did survive, he would probably have brain damage for the rest of his life.

“Nurses would come in, and they would pull his eyelids back, shine in the flashlight, and his eyes were just off and cocked,” says his wife, Holly Alexander. “It’s just like no one was there.”

Against all odds, one week later, Alexander woke up, claiming to have experienced what he calls “Proof of Heaven.”

To read the full article and see Dr. Alexander’s interview with ABC’s Newsline, click here. To read a first-person account of Dr. Alexander’s coma experience in AANS Neurosurgeon, click here.