What happens to us after we die?

Do our memories or our personalities,

everything that makes us who we are--

does it all just disappear?

Or do we have a consciousness, a soul that lives on?

Well, that is what we'll try and find out.

[music playing]

WILLIAM SHATNER: Richmond, Virginia, September 5th, 2005--

David Schwartz goes to the hospital

to be treated for what he believes

is a nagging ear infection.

But in fact, his illness is much, much worse.

DAVID SCHWARTZ: I checked myself into the emergency room.

That was Monday afternoon.

And by Tuesday afternoon, I was in a coma.

My kidneys were shut down.

All of my organs were failing.

And the blood flow was lost to my brain stem

as well, which would have meant brain death.

They told my mom and my dad that, really,

that I had a limited amount of time left.

WILLIAM SHATNER: With their son facing certain death

due to kidney failure, David's parents were willing to try

anything that might help him.

So they reached out to Scarlett Heinbuch, a woman who

after having a near-death experience in childhood

claimed to be gifted with incredible healing powers.

SCARLETT HEINBUCH: When I walked in David's hospital room

for the first time, I knew he was near death.

He was unconscious, and I took his hand.

And I was standing right by his bedside when, all of a sudden,

I was out of my body in another realm.

He was hovering there, and there was the soul connection.

And I felt him with every fiber of my being,

and he made a decision at that point to come back.

DAVID SCHWARTZ: When I first awoke and saw Scarlett,

I had the sense that I knew who she was

and I knew everything about her.

SCARLETT HEINBUCH: David looked up at me.

And all of a sudden, the next thing I was aware of

was that I was seeing four beings.

They were tall, and they were colored blue.

I saw them manifesting a set of kidneys, if you will.

I saw the kidneys being dropped into his body.

David's recovery after that was so stunning

that the doctors and nurses at this hospital

called him "miracle boy."

DAVID SCHWARTZ: When I came out of the coma,

it was absolutely because we had an experience.

I don't know what happened there.

But I do know that it happened, because the doctors told me

that they didn't have an explanation

as to why I was making the recovery that I was making.

WILLIAM SHATNER: Today, David Schwartz

has two fully functioning kidneys,

and both he and Scarlett Heinbuch

have no doubt in their minds that it

was the powerful connection between their souls

that saved David's life.