Since very early in his life, Edward had a phobia of dark, drizzly, damp weather and often became ill with throat problems. What made the latter strange is how Edward identified with his throat illnesses, calling it his “shot”. By the time he was 4 years old, Edward developed a cyst in his throat and was taken in for tonsillitis surgery to prepare for further treatment of the cyst. After his surgery, the boy confided to his mother Patricia with a recollection of his previous life as James, an 18 year old soldier, and his life in the trenches during a war. Edward also told his mother how he was killed; he was shot in the throat. After his recollection of his past life to his mother, Edward’s cyst disappeared, something that his doctor was never able to explain.

The astonishing case of Edward Austrian began when the toddler showed a terrible phobia of dark, gray, drizzly days. He told his mother that he had been a soldier in World War I at such a young age that he shouldn’t have even been aware of that conflict yet.

Often ill as a small child, Edward referred to his throat problems as his “shot”. Later, his parents discovered that he had a cyst in his throat that was both rare and required surgical intervention. His mother described it as resembling a swelling in his throat. After an initial surgery to remove his tonsils prior to another surgery scheduled to remove the cyst, Edward told his mother a graphic story about being in World War I.

Edward identified himself as 18-year-old James in the trenches in France. He said, in part: “We were walking along through the mud. It was damp, it was raining, it was cold. My rifle is heavy … I heard a shot come from behind … and I felt my throat fill with blood.”

After telling the story and describing his manner of death with such certainty, Edward’s throat cyst disappeared. His parents initially passed it off as nothing more than the overactive imagination of a child until they had to admit that they couldn’t explain how his cyst disappeared with that perfect timing. Edward’s case is a striking example of how releasing the memories of past lifetrauma instead of bottling them up can facilitate a physical healing process of related symptoms.