Episode 27. Reincarnation: Ryan Hammond & The Pollock Sisters
The Pollock sisters.
Reincarnation is the theory that an aspect of a living being begins a new life in another body after experiencing a biological death. Reincarnation may occur when a person has unfinished business or has a balance they need to settle from their previous life. Children, who are considered to be more spiritually available to the “other side”, so to speak, are often the ones who exhibit signs that they may contain reincarnated souls. They may express memories, fears, dreams or desires for a life that has passed, or they may behave in the same way as a loved one they have never met.
In today’s episode we will look at the stories of the Pollock sisters and Ryan Hammond, three children said to be reincarnations of former living beings.
In Hexam, England in 1957, sisters Joanna (11) and Jacqueline (6) were walking to church with a friend when they were struck and killed by a car.
The girls’ parents, John and Florence, were naturally distraught over the loss of their daughters. Though the couple were Catholic, and Florence was skeptical, John was adamant that they would have another set of girls and that they would be their children, reborn into new life. He began speaking to others of his belief, though no one took much notice until Florence fell pregnant. With twins.
Florence gave birth to two healthy young girls who she and her husband named Jennifer and Gillian. Jennifer was born with a mark on her forehead, in the same place as a wound sustained by Jacqueline in the accident. She also had a birth mark on her waist that was said to be identical to Jacqueline’s. Her parents were convinced that the twins were reincarnations of their lost daughters. The affirmations would only continue.
Florence, John and their daughters moved to Whitney Bay when the girls were around three months old. They were not familiar with their older sisters lives or surroundings. At two years old, Jennifer and Gillian started asking their parents for toys that they didn’t own. Toys that had belonged to their older sisters.
The family moved back to Hexam when the twins were four. The twins would recognise and name landmarks that would have been frequented by their older sisters, including the school the older girls had attended. They could call their older sisters’ dolls by their original names. They’d have recurring nightmares and wake in distress, having dreamt of being hit by a car, and when a car would pass them slowly on the street, the girls would explain that the car was coming to get them.
With no explanation, the memories and signs of reincarnation stopped abruptly when the girls turned five. They never mentioned their previous life again.
Skeptics might conclude that the girls had been told the story of their sisters enough to be able to speak about them, that they had heard about how their sisters were killed and that’s what brought on the nightmares, after all, that is a traumatic event to learn of.
This next case, however, even the most rational mind may struggle with.
In 2009, four-year-old Ryan Hammond began experiencing distressing nightmares.
He would wake, calling for his mother, crying that his heart had exploded. He would tell her that he missed his old life, that the conditions he was living in weren’t up to par with what he was used to when he lived in Hollywood – well, perhaps not in so many words. Ryan had never lived in Hollywood. Nor had he had three children, lived on a street with Rock in the name, or had a friend named “Senator Fives”. Though, these were all memories that he distinctly recalled.
It wasn’t until the day Cindi was looking through old Hollywood photographs that Ryan was able to identify himself. He pointed to a picture of two men, “that’s George!”, he said, “and that’s me!”. The man he claimed to have been was Martin Martyn, a Hollywood agent who had died in 1964.
A reporter who was investigating the case got in contact with Martyn’s daughter, who confirmed that her father did in fact have a friend named George, and that he had another named Senator Ives. Cyndi took Ryan to meet Martyn’s daughter, however, when Ryan saw her he claimed that she was different. Cyndi had moved on from her loss. Ryan was described as standoffish and disinterested, as though he suddenly had no desire to be there with Martyn’s daughter.
One psychiatrist explained this sudden change of heart as Martyn, or Ryan, having found closure. Apparently, when a reincarnated soul is able to see someone from their past life, and see that they have moved on, they are able to find peace, or closure, and therefore pass on to the other side, to whatever else may be waiting for them.
What are your thoughts on reincarnation? It’s something I like to wonder about, personally. Whether it’s real or not, it’s nice to think that the possibility is there, that our souls are recycled. Perhaps that’s why we sometimes feel so immediately bonded to others when we first meet them, or why we experience déjà vu. Are there any cases that stand out to you?
I plan to cover the case of Dorothy Eady, in future, so keep an eye out for that one!
Good Nightmare 