Courtesy of International Swimming Hall of Fame, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Audrey Dalton had the shock of her life when she almost drowned at the age of five.
When she went into a coma, her doctors told her parents that she might never wake up.
But miracles happen and she recovered and can recall in detail what happened.
The Florida artist and muralist will share her near-death drowning experience at the Conference on Near-Death Experiences while Drowning that will be hosted by the International Swimming Hall of Fame on August 18th in Fort Lauderdale.
Dr Stathis Avramidis describes her presentation. “Audrey’s experience will assist the conference attendees with her personal insights such as the physiological responses, family struggles, and her spiritual connection to life during and after the event, and how this traumatic experience shaped her life and future goals.
Many drowning survivors never fully recover from injuries that they sustain during a drowning incident. Survivor stories open pathways for understanding the roles and functions of response and recovery concerns for both professionals and survivors.”
The conference aims to bring attention to near-death experiences during a drowning episode, a long-lasting impactful trauma for all who have personally faced this issue.
Professor Janice Miner Holden, Ed.D. and Dr. Stathis Avramidis will describe and discuss the phenomenon called Near-Death Experience (NDE). Contemporary advances in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation have enabled lifeguards and first responders to bring large numbers of victims back to life, an unparalleled achievement in human history. Of the millions of those who survive drowning each year, approximately 20% of survivors report having NDEs.
Often when victims report their Near-Death Experiences to health care providers and first responders, these reports are often misunderstood. When a Near Death Experience is discounted, it becomes psychologically disconcerting to survivors. Similarly, the survivors or their families may believe that they are have lost touch with reality.
Dr. Avramidis of the Hellenic Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and a Seasonal Instructor of Applied Lifeguarding and Lifesaving Sport at the University of Athens will present The NDE Mnemonic and NDE Protocol: Two Useful Tools for Lifeguards.
Dr. Holden, Professor of Counseling and Chair of the Department of Counseling and Higher Education, University of North Texas will present, Near-Death Experiences: An Overview of 40 Years of Research.
At the conference, the presenter will offer:
* discussions of NDE characteristics that a successfully resuscitated drowning casualty might report
* samples of drowning NDE accounts
* recommendations for how water safety professionals or doctors can use NDE related information in their work
* a poster session open to any water safety- and aquatic-related information relevant to drowning in terms of prevention, rescue and treatment
For more information on the Conference on Near-Death Experiences while Drowning, visit here.
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