Long Gray Tunnel: A True Story of Crisis, Spirit, and Recovery Book

Late one cold, wet night, Bert Wall finds himself unable to breathe. Soon he is hospitalized and comatose, frequently able to see or hear his family and caregivers but unable to acknowledge their presence with even the slightest movement. He has suffered a hemorrhagic stroke, and he is not expected to live. While in a coma, Wall travels down a long gray tunnel to view various scenes from his past and of the mysteries beyond our world. His three guides in the tunnel are childhood friends assigned to help him in the afterlife. But Wall requests to remain alive, and his ghostly friends support and challenge him as he endures the trial of relearning the most basic tasks: eating, speaking, moving. He learns to appreciate the skill and dedication of medical professionals and sympathize with other patients, many of whom face obstacles even greater than his own. The Long Gray Tunnel is an indispensable volume for anyone who has faced a medical crisis or who questions the nature of life and death.