You will like this story, EROS.
Our brother-in-law, also an avowed atheist, was recently pinned underneath his tractor in a terrible roll-over accident on his farm. Now, I don't know how much you know about tractor roll-overs (being a city boy, you know
), but the general rule is that you don't survive them. Period.
By some miracle, brother-in-law did survive. The stick shift smashed through his face but missed all vital structures in his brain and neck. His arm was severely twisted, and he sustained some significant brachial plexus damage, possibly permanent (still has little/no use of this right upper extremity, with no recuitment on EMG).
As the ambulance was taking him away, he was barely conscious but becoming encephalopathic. He began perseverating about a fire "where's the fire. . .do you see the fire . . .it's so hot . . ."
Since most near-death experiences describe a light or a tunnel, we figured that since he was an atheist, he was going to the "fire" . . .
