welcome. we're sure to keep you kwlet this weekend. including family, food, and football. the question is, can football be a safer game? also there's an amazing medical mystery. this young jock not into music at all. then he had a concussion. now he plays 13 instruments. somehow that possible? first, is it real? >> i could see the river bank. i could see them pull my body to

the shore. i could see them start cpr. i had no pulse and i wasn't breathing. one fellow was yelling at me to come back. >> you were unconscious. how did you know this happening? >> i felt my body break free, i felt my spirit break free. i was greeted by these people or spirits. i could be with them and be going down this credible pathway. and simultaneously look back at the river. >> when i saw my body, i will say that was the first time that i actually thought, well, i guess i am dead. i guess i really did die. >> in the book, you write about dancing with them. >> were you celebrating something? >> yes. >> what were you celebrating? you had just died. >> it was a great homecoming and i was really surprised by the fact that i had no intention of

going back. >> you didn't want to return? >> no. and i had all of the reasons to return. i had a great life. i had a great job. i had a great husband. my children are wonderful, and i loved them more than i could ever love thsomething on earth. their love compared to god's love that was absolutely throwing through everything, was pale in comparison. and then, at a certain point, one of the people, or spirits told me that it wasn't my time. and that i had more work to do on earth and that i had to go back to my body. >> and, randi kaye joins us. it's a wonderful documentary. people should watch this. there are a lot of stories about these near ket experiences. you always want to parse out

what is real, what is inexplicable, what is not real. you spent a lot of time with mary, this doctor. what were your impressions? what did you walk away from feeling? >> she's a final surgeon in jackson hole wyoming. she's a incredible woman. she believes what happened to her really happened to her. she's remembers them trying to save her. watching her body on the river bafrm. she remembers being lifted out of the water which she calls spirits which she thinks are souls which she thought were her relatives. they walked her down this hallway to this very bright room. they did a life review with her. they went through her whole life and showed her all of the people she met and how she touched them. she's a very intense woman. a very deep woman and really, just an incredible woman. it was great to spend some time with her and get to know her.

>> again, it's hard to know for sure. did you buy it? did you feel that it was a real story? >> well, you know, i said to her, there are a lot of skeptics. she said look i'm my own breed of skeptic. i told you this story and i still don't buy it. did i buy it? it's hard not to buy it. she was under the water for 30 minutes in her canoe in this chilean river and these chilean men came out of nowhere to save her and this rock appeared out of nowhere. it came up from under the water so the people who were trying to save her could actually try to get to her. she said that's after she all gave it up to god and let herself go and accept what was going to happen, would happen. what they told her. all of the things the souls told her. she talks about having a conversation with jesus, did end up coming true in her life and

she unders why she was sent back. you have to be a little skeptical, of course, because who knows. but it is hard to explain it any other way. >> i don't want to give away too much documentary. but there was one story. the angels told her something very specific, about her young son. that he would die on his 18th birthday. >> they did. that was difficult to hear. that was one of three reasons they told her she needed to go back to her body and go back to life. they told her he was going to die on 18th birthday. i won't give you the details. i will tell you, they were right. the souls were right. she did lose her son. every time we talk to her about her son willy, in this interview, no matter where we were. there were crazy noises coming through. it was really loud. we had to actually stop recording. we didn't have it on camera.

every time we told her, these strange noises would start and we went into the house and went to willy's bedroom. as soon as we went into the bedroom the smoke detecter went off as soon as we started to talk about willy. my photographer took the smoke detector down and took the battery out and laid it there. as soon as we started talking about willy the smoke detector went off again without the battery in it. so -- >> thank you, randi. i appreciate it. everyone should watch this. i appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> as randi said, she spoke with three people who came back from the bring of death. you'll hear those stories in their own words, sunday night at 7:00 iron on cnn. take a look at this. i'll tell you why little maverick was denied a heart transplant. the reason may surprise you and will also make you a little mad. .

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tylenol®. transplant doctors make life and death decisions every day as they choose who is going or not going to receive precious organs in short supply. my colleague has a story of one family who said their baby was

was denied a heart transplant for all of the wrong reasons. >> reporter: eight months ago. autumn said she was told her son was going to die. >> he didn't want to play. he didn't want to be touched. he slept all day, every day. it was miserable. >> reporter: maverick was 6 months old and desperately need aid new heart but the doctors at new york presbyterian hospital said no. >> i was scared he was going to die. every day. that's the only thing i thought of. you know, there's a point where we were planning his funeral. >> reporter: maverick who is 1 now, was unlucky enough to be born with two medical problems. a heart defect and a rare genetic disorder. doctors said he was an undesirable candidate for a transplant because his genetic defect would limit his survival after he got a new heart. >> but you did your own

research? >> yes. >> and what did you find? >> that that is not true. >> reporter: she didn't accept what the doctors told her. she asked some of the world's top experts about her son's disorder and they said the syndrome would not limit the chances with a new heart. that's what they told us, too. these scientists told us it's wrong to deny someone a transplant because of the syndrome. what do maverick's reasparents think? because they think his defect makes him developmentally disabled. >> i think they don't want to waste a heart on him because he will develop slowly. he's a baby and needed a heart.

>> do you think they discredited his life and his future? >> absolutely. >> reporter: maverick was dying. she pleaded with the doctors. >> i said will you please reconsider this? reconsider transplant for maverick. and -- sorry, there's nothing we can do about it, sorry, and they get up and walk out of the room. that was it. and they left me there. >> that's it. i was laughing. i was in shock. i was laughing with tears streaming down my face. i was in shock. i could not believe that was really happening. we're talking about my son's life. and you're looking at your watch and you just walked out on me. >> reporter: new york presbyterian declined our repeated request for an interview and in a statement told us evaluations are conducted with compassion and bring the best ethical, medical principles to the process. maverick's parents didn't give up. they filed a federal discrimination complaint against the hospital and got him

transferred to a new hospital that didn't have the same transplant concerns. eventually, it turned out maverick got better without a transplant but that hasn't ended the controversy about whether transplant doctors discriminate against patients with disabilities. >> and elisabeth joins us now. happy holiday weekend to you? >> and to you. >> what does the future look like? it seems to do well now. >> he's definitely doing better. he still has this heart defect, that's a very serious defect. he will need anothsurgery and m need a transplant later in life. >> in your mind, how cut and dry is it? what kind of latitude do these doctors, these teams have? >> doctors have a lot of latitude when they decide who gets an organ and would will

not. that's the right way to do it. they know the facts of each patient's case. but there are have criticisms that sometimes they have too much latitude. doctors can decide if you're too irresponsible and won't take medicines after the transplant. they can decide they don't want to give you a transplant. whether that's right or wrong there's a great deal of latitude. >> we're talking about a very rare commodity if you will and heart transplants in particular. how rare is this now? >> hearts are rare. they are a plus just resource and so, there is about 3500 people right now at this moment waiting for a heart. and when you look at the number of people who die waiting for a heart, if you look at statistics from last year for adults, about 300 adults died last year because they couldn't get a heart and for infants it's about 19 for babies. 19 babies died because they couldn't get a heart.

that's how precious it is. >> i don't know if you know the answer. but a lot of people said they would donate their organs upon their death, even the death of a loved one, yet when it comes down to it, there's that disconnect. has any explanation made sense as to why a big disconnect? >> some people as you said want to do it. some people are scare, they think they might need those organs after they die. they want to keep them. they don't like the fact of someone taking their organs out of their body after they died. i think it's so important to consider the good you can do by donating an organ. you can help so many people. not just one person but many people. with your heart, your liver, with tissue. it's amazing the good you can do. >> i think if you're a loved one, the finality that you allow organs to be taken, tempered by what you just said, a lot of good can be done. thank you. happy holidays to you. >> tony dorsett, brett favre,

you know these people. what america really thinks about football's concussion crisis. we have that next. life with crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis is a daily game of "what if's". what if my abdominal pain and cramps end our night before it even starts? what if i eat the wrong thing? what if? what if i suddenly have to go? what if? but what if the most important question is the one you're not asking? . . for help getting the answers you need, talk to your doctor and visit crohnsandcolitisadvocates.com

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fall and football, of course go hand in hand. and despite the season that's been wrought with lawsuits and scandals, according to a new cnn poll, america's love for the nfl, well, it's as strong as ever. it's a whole different kind of game sometimes when it comes to letting our kids play football, however. here to talk about this is andy shuls. thank you for joining us. we've been covering this issue for a long time. just concussions and sports.

what's interesting, though, it doesn't seem to affect the fans' love for the game. there was polling data that showed about 60% of people who don't view the nfl any less favorably. as a sports reporter, who have you sensed? has this affected how you report? >> you know what, it seems like no matter what the nfl, it's untouchable for these kind of scandals. this is two of the worst pr years because of the concussion lawsuit, bountygate, two lockouts and aaron hernandez trial, yet the numbers are higher than ever when it comes to tv ratings, 19 out of the 20 top programs this year have been nfl games. it seems like we're trained. no matter what happens outside the game of football or inside the game of football, we're still going to want to watch the game. >> i know you don't report on middle schools and high schools, obviously, but there seems to be more of a concern there. i think about 80% of people polled say they worry more about kids at that level. is this a question of these are

adults when they're in the nfl? they're making their own decisions? >> well, i think that's part of it. you know, they know what they're getting into. they're paid millions of dollars and make the choice to go play that game. i think the nfl and the college level, they're trying to institute, they're trying to lessen these kind of injuries. as you can see, the nfl players struggle with it every week. every week in the news, player's fined and suspended. if you hit someone with a head to head hit, you're flagged and suspended. that's a new targeting year. the players right now are just not trained to play that way. >> right. and that's part of the thing. they've got to play through it. that's their job. although that culture seems to be changing. and especially in players who are retired but very well known players. tony dorsett, both coming out and telling their stories. brett says he could not remember a soccer season for his daughter. as a father of three daughters myself, that's a huge loss in

terms of his memory. what about that? players in the nfl listening and saying, okay, i'm playing now and hitting as hard as i can, but i'm not anxious to have that life afterward. >> there are a couple of players that have walked away from the game recently after now these guys weren't high-profile players, they weren't making the tens of millions a year that some guys are. but they actually said, i don't want to have this life some of these guys are having. i don't want to be like that when i'm done, my playing days are over. and a couple of guys have walked away from it like that. and it's going to be an interesting question that people will deal with year-to-year. >> i know it's a busy weekend for you, thanksgiving weekend. thanks for making the time. >> no problem. >> appreciate it. and still ahead, a medical mystery you'll have to hear to believe. it's about this colorado teenager who experienced a very positive side effect of what andy and i were talking about. a concussion he had after the hard hit to the head. what he could do afterwards, simply remarkable. k friday sale, the price you see is the price you pay? yep, best prices of the year.

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a medical mystery now. debilitating concussions. they sideline athletes every week. but today, i want to share with you one young man's story that took a very unusual and unexpected turn. our denver affiliate kcnc has the story. >> reporter: this high school ensemble is really impressive. but the story of the pianist is truly amazing. photos show his first passion, sports, football and lacrosse. >> i thought i might be a

professional player. >> but a series of hits put an end of that dream. >> i hit my head on the ground. i didn't understand something bad had happened. >> two back-to-back concussions sent lockland to the hospital for weeks, seizures followed. >> he started to hallucinate, have these many hallucinations. >> before the concussions, a young lockland had tried to play the piano. >> he really had no talent. i would say can't you hear what's next? you know, something like twinkle twinkle little star and he would say no. >> i would say, mom, i can't. >> when he got out of the hospital, doctors said he shouldn't play contact sports anymore. but he suddenly could play music almost effortlessly. he can now play the guitar, the bag pipes, both scottish and

irish ones, the mandolin, the accordio accordion. >> i play roughly 10 to 13. >> no matter how you look at that, it's pretty remarkable stuff. and you're probably wondering how a medical mystery like this is even possible. i can tell you as a neuro surgeon, we don't know what happened to the brain in this situation. he said he hit the back of his head. that may have been part of the brain that's responsible for his coordination known as the cerebellum or higher for his vision, maybe that played a role. it's also entirely possible that his unknown musical talents were already there he just had more time to focus on them when he stopped playing sports. but, again, no matter how it happened, lockland says he hopes this is a gift that will stay with him for his entire life. i'm excited to kick off the new series on "medical mysteries." i'm going to start tweeting out a new one.

i want you to reply with your best guesses and then i'll reveal the answer right here on "sgmd." a perfect chasing life to follow up that story, as well. something i'm fond of. taking music lessons as a child does appear to pay off later in life. there was a new study came out of northwestern university and found that adults who did take music lessons as a kid but haven't actively played an instrument in decades, they had faster brain responses to speech sounds than individuals who had never played an instrument. it's good news there. so i want to take a moment, say thanks, mom, for all those accordion lessons. they're still serving me well. and something that could serve you well. look, i know you've been doing it, i did it too, making excuses about your health, especially this time of year. let me help, you've now got until sunday to tell us why we should choose you for next year's fit nation challenge. it's easy to do.

log on to cnn.com/fitnation. you can learn more there and upload your video submission. we'll get a chance to train together. that's all the time we got for "sgmd" today, "new day sunday" continues with alison kosik. there is heartbreak in hollywood this morning after the stunning news of an actor's sudden death. much more ahead on paul walker and the fiery crash that killed him. plus, captured in north korea, an 85-year-old american war vet being detained in pyongyang. now an urgent plea from the white house and from his family in california to release him immediately. and today's the day, the beleaguered obama care website goes from flawed to fixed, at least that's the plan. but is it working? we'll put it to the test.