Researcher publishes work into experiences of possible afterlife

A university researcher is putting her reputation on the line by publishing an investigation into the afterlife.

Tayport-based academic Dr Joanne Coyle – a Dundee University expert in molecular and clinical medicine – has pursued a personal quest into near-death experiences.

Her book Showing Us The Way Home is said to provide “a compelling argument for what awaits beyond our final breath”.

She said: “When a neurosurgeon Dr Eben Alexander went public with his near-death experience back in 2012, it was a game-changer.

“Here was an eminent surgeon willing to put his reputation and livelihood on the line to tell us near-death experiences are real.

“It was at that point that I began to seriously investigate the near-death experience in my own time.”

Dr Coyle, who has a PHD in medical sociology as well as a history degree, examined more than 400 accounts of neardeath experiences.

She also travelled to the US to carry out interviews and attend the 2019 International Association of Near Death Studies (IANDS) Conference in Philadelphia.

“During my research I found persistent and recurring themes.

“People also talked about being loved and cherished unconditionally, feeling like they’d come ‘home’ and that reincarnation now made sense to them.

“Incredible as it sounds, my research suggests near-death experiences may well serve a dual purpose – of lessening our fear of dying, and awakening us to being part of a much bigger reality,” the university researcher added.