Dr. Jeffrey Long, a practicing radiation oncologist, founded the Near-Death Experience Research Foundation and is among the leading researchers of near-death experiences (NDEs), which he defines as conscious, lucid experiences at the time of an imminent life-threatening event while the person is unconscious. Dr. Long has collected more than 4,000 accounts from around the world. With his wife, Jody, serving as webmaster, the Longs share these experiences at NDERF.org. Dr. Long sat down with Mysterious Ways to tell what he has learned.
How did you become interested in NDEs?
When I was doing my residency training for radiation oncology, I read a short piece in The Journal of the American Medical Association about something they were calling near-death experiences. I was fascinated because there was no medical explanation for the reason these events should happen.
You can’t be clinically dead and yet retain consciousness. My cancer patients were confronting death, but it wasn’t a subject I felt comfortable
