Experience Description

I was a passenger in a 1967 Mercury wearing no seat belt. The girl driving had passed another car in a curve at eighty mph. I remembering hitting a road sign and had blacked out. When I awoke, I was above looking down at my body with emergency medical technicians and other friends I knew. I spoke to someone asking, 'Why are they crying?' I don't know who it was that I spoke to, nor did I see them. The voice said they were crying over me because I was in a car accident. I kept asking, 'Why?' I didn't feel pain, actually I felt peaceful. Then I remembered waking up on the ground around the emergency medical technicians and friends.

While in the emergency room, the North Carolina State trooper approached me while I was waiting to be stitched up and said 'You should have been dead!' He said that the car went the distance of two football fields jumped two ditches and knocked a residents home off the foundation at a speed of eighty mph.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: 09/18/1985

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Accident. Direct head injury 'Life threatening event, but not clinical death' I was unconscious and had a head injury, the cut was on the right side of my skull a hairline above the temple.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Wonderful

The experience included: Out of body experience

Did you feel separated from your body? Yes I clearly left my body and existed outside it

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal everyday consciousness and alertness? Normal consciousness and alertness As above.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? When I spoke to the person who was with me. I didn't know why they were sad and crying.

Were your thoughts speeded up? Incredibly fast

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening at once; or time stopped or lost all meaning I felt like I was hovering looking down for a while, like maybe thirty minutes.

Were your senses more vivid than usual? Incredibly more vivid

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere? Yes, and the facts have been checked out

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? No

Did you see any beings in your experience? I actually saw them

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? Yes The person I spoke to was beside me above my body. I didn't know them or see them. I asked why were my friends and emergency medical technicians upset and crying. The voice said they were crying over me because I was in a car accident.

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? No

The experience included: Strong emotional tone

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Peace, calm, no pain, a little confused.

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

Did you have a feeling of joy? Happiness

Did you feel a sense of harmony or unity with the universe? I felt united or one with the world

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

Did scenes from your past come back to you? My past flashed before me, out of my control

Did scenes from the future come to you? Scenes from the world's future

Did you come to a border or point of no return? I came to a barrier that I was not permitted to cross; or was sent back against my will

God, Spiritual and Religion:


What was your religion prior to your experience? Liberal Baptist

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Yes Well I have always believed in Jesus and God, that hasn't changed. But being that I have hovered over my body and experienced peace, I'm not afraid of death.

What is your religion now? Liberal

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes Well I have always believed in Jesus and God, that hasn't changed. But being that I have hovered over my body and experienced peace, I'm not afraid of death.

The experience included: Presence of unearthly beings

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? I encountered a definite being, or a voice clearly of mystical or unearthly origin

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? I actually saw them

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? Uncertain People I have told, which are very few, have mixed feelings or don't believe me when I tell them. Especially my husband.

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

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? I wasn't scared of what had happened. I was at total peace and pain free.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes It was within a week that I told family members, but no one believed me. Then I told one of my church friends about fifteen years later and they told me I had just suffered from shock.

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? No

What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was definitely real

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real

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