My father died from cancer in 2002 when my daughter was 7 years old.
Unfortunately, my father and I did not have a great relationship when I was growing up, but my daughter was close to him and would sit with him in his chair when she visited. My daughter has Down's Syndrome.
When she was 14 years old, she developed Leukemia and was rushed to the hospital. She seemed to be OK at first but over the next few days she developed sepsis, had to be intubated, needed IV medication to prevent her blood pressure from dropping and went into organ failure. For 2 weeks she was near death and the medical staff warned us that she was in bad shape.
After the worst had passed, she started to recover. She was still intubated so she couldn't talk but she was excited and tried to talk when I would go to see her. Finally, she had improved enough that they could remove the tube. She excitedly told me that she had seen Grampy Bob (my father) and that he told her she had to "wake up." She also said that he told her that he "loves you," which was directed at me.
My daughter is a simple person who is honest and sincere. I believe that she experienced these things.