A three-year-old German boy who was brought back to life after his heart stopped for three hours claims he met his grandmother in heaven.
The boy, identified in media reports only as Paul, was playing on his own beside a lake at his grandfather's property in Brandenburg when he fell in, the Bild newspaper reports.
Paul's grandfather found his body in the water a short time later and the youngster was rushed to Helios Hospital via helicopter.
Four doctors attempted to resuscitate Paul for three hours and 18 minutes and were about to stop when his heart suddenly began beating.
It is believed the cold water in the lake caused Paul's body temperature to drop to 28C — nine degrees below the normal 37C — which slowed his metabolism and allowed his body to survive with little oxygen.
When Paul woke he told his parents he was in "heaven with grandma Emmi ... she said that I would go back down again very quickly".
It is not known when the boy’s grandmother died or if he had ever met her.
Researchers said yesterday that near death experiences and divine encounters were a trick of the mind caused by high levels of carbon dioxide.
Professor Lothar Schweigerer from Helios Hospital said he had never seen anything like it in his 30 years as a doctor.
"My doctors were close to saying 'we can do no more' after two hours of thorax compression," Professor Schweigerer was quoted on Sky News as saying.
"[We thought] the little lad must have been brain dead ... but then suddenly his heart started to beat again ... it was a fantastic miracle.
"The boy is happy and healthy. It's a wonderful thing."
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