Experience Description:

We were returning from a yacht race. I turned the helm over to one of my crewmen so that I could get close to another yacht to get one of my crew members back that I loaned to it because it was shorthanded. A strong gust of wind caught the mainsail, causing the boom to suddenly swing around and hit the back of my head cutting it wide open and almost shattering my skull.

Never knew what happened until later. One moment. I was watching the other yacht. Felt a blackness and brief pain. The next moment, I was hovering in the air in old Holland, admiring beautiful well-kept lawns and flower beds arranged in beautiful geometric form. The water was light blue. I was also impressed by the large pink windmills. Felt a tremendous sense of peace. For some strange reason, my name was Hans. Could not remember the last name. It had a Germanic sound to it. This went on for a few minutes. A little later, I heard my name being called. 'Bob, come back'!! Who is Bob? My name is Hans. I felt a pull, and got a little irritated because I did not want to leave this beautiful place.

As soon as I regained consciousness, I was in severe pain and bleeding badly because my skull was cut wide open. Lucky for me, one of the crew members was also an Emergency Room doctor. He also had a well stock first kit that he carried on his yacht. They finally brought me back. I kept bouncing back and forth between this reality, and the world that Hans was living in.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: October 1995

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Direct head injury Illness, trauma or other condition not considered life threatening I was hit on the back of the head by the boom of my yacht during a race. It almost shattered my skull.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Wonderful

Did you feel separated from your body? Uncertain I lost awareness of my body

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal everyday consciousness and alertness? More consciousness and alertness than normal Colors were more vivid. Hearing was perfect. Could hear everything including peoples' thoughts.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? While I was Hans.

Were your thoughts speeded up? Incredibly fast

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Neither

Were your senses more vivid than usual? Incredibly more so

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. All of the colors were very vivid soft pastels. I felt like I finally came home.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. Super clear. I am slightly hard of hearing. During that time, I could hear everything. Super hearing would be a better term.

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere? Neither

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? No

Did you see any beings in your experience? Neither

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? No

Did you see, or feel surrounded by, a brilliant light? A light clearly of mystical or other-worldly origin

Did you see an unearthly light? No

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? Clearly mystical or unearthly realm Ancient Holland.

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Extreme peaceful happiness. Was extremely disappointed about being pulled away from it.

Did you have a feeling of peace or pleasantness? Incredible peace or pleasantness

Did you have a feeling of joy? Incredible joy

Did you feel a sense of harmony or unity with the universe? United, one with the world

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? Everything about the universe

Did scenes from your past come back to you? Neither

Did scenes from the future come to you? Neither

Did you come to a border or point of no return? Neither

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Liberal None

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? No

What is your religion now? Liberal None

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? No

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? Neither

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? Neither

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? No

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? No

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? No

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? No

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? Yes I use to have a lot of spontaneous out of body experiences in my early youth. Most of them were around age ten.

What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was definitely real I talked to a lot of people. Two of them were psychics. They felt that the incarnation of Bob was shut down by the sudden trauma and temporarily transferred to one being run by his over-soul on another time track.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real IT was more real than this reality.

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? No