Sleep Paralysis, OBE's, Coma

I have had bouts of sleep paralysis for about 18 years. It always freaked me out and made me wonder if I was dying.

About 6 months ago my Father choked and was without oxygen for almost 10 minutes. For 2 weeks he was in a coma. While he was in the coma he was unresponsive to most things but I could tell by his facial expressions that he was trying to communicate or that something was going on. While the Doctors would ask him to move his fingers or open his eyes, I could see that he was trying but unable to do it and he was frustrated.

Having experienced sleep paralysis and the frustration of trying to move to pull myself out of it, I felt like he might be experiencing something similar. When I would tell him that it was O.K., that I knew he was trying and he just needed to rest and regain his strength, you could see the relief come over his face. I wasn't the only person who noticed this so it was not my imagination.

My father passed away a few months ago due to the severity of the brain injury and he was never able to communicate his coma experience to us.

Has anyone ever heard or thought about a possible relationship between sleep paralysis, out-of-body experiences and coma's? Could comas simply be a combination of sleep paralysis and OBE's? I have heard the stories of patients that were comatose who were able to recall conversations that went on in the room once they came out of the coma, or who saw the white tunnel and then turned back, but it seems that there have been very few studies done.

I would be curious to hear if anyone else see's a possible relation between these things.

Jemison