Haunted Healthcare 2
Haunted Healthcare: Medical Professionals and Patients Share Their Encounters with the Paranormal (Book 2)
By Richard Estep
The Sexton’s musings (spoilers are likely):
Each chapter represents a single case/experience. My plan is to talk about each one very briefly and then give some closing thoughts on the overall collection of accounts. Probably not a long post here as to get the full feels of these experiences you really need to read the book for yourself. Reading the book so that you can form your own opinions and conclusions is really my goal with all this so off we go!
Help Me
The previous volume in this series also has a patient that passes due to a condition known as COPD. I of course had heard of it but not really known the specifics of what happens to the body. Based off Estep’s description of these few specifics it really does sound horrific and terrifying. I think I would probably be asking for help as well.
He Made it to Heaven
This is a sweet account. We have all heard that it is not uncommon for couples that have been together for a long time to pass away within weeks or even days of each other. I have never really contemplated what that means but it’s an interesting statistic to be sure.
The Army Man
An entire room that is not in use in a care home of the elderly. That’s crazy! I’m surprised that the administration is willing to keep a room empty. That’s a loss of revenue! I do have to say that I feel for the “emergency” occupant of that room. This chapter comprises of several accounts of from a palliative care nurse named Gemma.
Code Blue
I think now from all of the TV shows out there about the medical profession that most lay people know what a code blue is. Words to fear. An interesting story from a nurse named Angela.
The Hanging
This is a rather tragic account of a suicide patient that was brought in (really DOA but the paramedics, in their defense did not want to have their rig absconded). It was obvious that he had most likely been gone for a good clip. There are things that I could say regarding the reasons why he did this to himself, extremely mean and disrespectful things, but I won’t as this was a real person with a family. If this was fiction he would be fair game. This chapter and the three proceeding ones are accounts from a nurse named Glynis.
The Offices of Death
You think that a harbinger of death would be frightening and foreboding but it seems in this case that she brings peace instead of fear. Wouldn’t that be lovely? To not be afraid.
The Matron’s Dog
Now this is what I am talking about…a ghost that not only brings peace to others but also got to have her dog in the afterlife. That would be okay by me. But only if I could have them all and then maybe adopt a couple others.
A Long Night
This is last chapter with Glynis and a touching one at that. Although I will say the last thing the gentleman in the second half of this story needs, is to lose another toe. I think you will agree.
Bed, Bath, and Beyond
Once again I am hopeful that this is indeed how it is. I would be okay with something coming to guide me to the next adventure. It’s not creepy in the slightest. At least not for me. This account along with the following one are told by a nurse named Emma.
Remembering Nathan
Before reading this book I had never heard of a “poor farm” before. It is described as a place where the destitute and mentally ill would go when their family pretty much abandoned them. They would work the farm from early morning to twilight to earn a bed and meals. This chapter is about a team investigating a location that used to be one of those.
Wolf Man
This account is told by Richelle who is a 911 paramedic and of Native American decent (this fact is important to the story that is told here). She is also according to Estep (who has worked with her personally for a good clip) a “shit magnet”, meaning that she tends to get the most difficult and strange calls. She’s very honest, blunt, straightforward (however you want to put it) some may say rude…but sometimes (most of the time) the truth is the most painful…but it’s the truth! This account is the odd man out. Nothing to do with dying patients. Kind of a refreshing change.
Dead Man Walking
Both Estep and Richelle recount calls that stuck with them for a good clip afterward. It does not surprise me that this is the case. Can you imagine some of the scenes that they have seen as first responders/EMS professionals?
Dark Passenger
So this account takes place in a high security psychiatric facility. Some where most of us will never experience and probably don’t want to. The start of the chapter puts me in the mind of the scene in “Silence of the Lambs”. Perhaps not quite so dramatic in the atmosphere but definitely the danger associated with those that call it home. One, the shadow figure I’m willing to bet is inhuman in nature. Two, I’m pretty sure they have at least a few possessions on their hands, perhaps not full ones. And three, consider the location, so much negativity in one place is bound to attract things that are feed and are born off of this negativity. Food for thought I suppose.
The Boy
One thing that people don’t understand is that most spirit sightings are not like they are in horror movies. While I can’t get enough of the horror genre and find both books and movies to be highly entertaining we can’t expect life to imitate these wonderful (and some not so wonderful lol) fictions to be reality. Even those based on a true story are dramatically pumped up for our benefit. Just remember real life tends to be more subtle so one needs to be aware.
Asylum
The last chapter talks about Tooele Valley Hospital AKA Asylum 49. Estep’s book about his investigation there is next on my list to read. What I was not aware of was that a part of the facility is still functioning as a nursing home. So we have haunted attraction on one side and home for the elderly on the other. An interesting combo. This changed in 2017 when the nursing facility moved their residence to a newer home and now Asylum 49 is complete. Lucky Richard was the first investigator to have the pleasure of investigating this side of the building (it was off limits when there were people living there. Which makes sense.). The continued investigation with Cami Andersen who owns the hospital with her husband Kimm, is part of this chapter.
Closing thoughts:
Let’s all be honest…most of us are terrified when we consider our own mortality. No longer having physical form is not something that our minds comprehend very well. I think that most people want to believe that there is something after this, dare I say even people who say they don’t care are lying about this because when faced with death there is always, even if subtle, a glimmer of fear behind the eyes. Fear is a visceral reaction, the body will respond whether we like it or not.
The stories are for the most part a tug at the heart strings and perhaps even could shine some hope on our mortality. I will also say that as these are stories involving real people it kinda makes my already hypochondriac mind paranoid. There is no doubt that it is well written and definitely worth a read but just know that there may be some discomfort or comfort (depending on the reader) involved.
