Paige R Possible NDE

Experience Description

Three of my friends and I had been coming home from a friend's house around 2:30 in the morning. We lived 45 minutes away and drove on the highway. The driver was speeding at the time, going roughly 130-140kmh. We were rounding a corner when the driver took his eyes off the road and reached down to grab a music CD. We started drifting past the shoulder and into the ditch. I yelled for him to look up, which he did. But he over-corrected when turning right. We went back onto the road and then swerved left and started to flip into the ditch. I remember hitting my face on the back, left passenger window where I was sitting and then I went unconscious. The truck had flipped 3 times and landed on the roof in 3 feet of water. The ditches were full at the time from the spring water runoff. The truck was submerged.

I remember opening my eyes under water but I wasn't choking, drowning or scared. I distinctly remember my mouth being half-open. I was lying on my back looking up but I couldn't feel any ground beneath me. It felt like I was floating. I had my arms to my sides and my legs slightly raised. I could see a light through the water illuminating me. I looked around and there was nothing but darkness and a brown/grey color from the light illuminating the water. It felt like I was floating in the ocean with nothing around for as far as I could see. I looked up again and then looked to my left. I saw myself floating while illuminated by that light. I wasn't scared, but was strangely calm. I was not in any pain. I wanted to move closer to the light because it was fascinating me but I couldn't move. I remember blinking and suddenly I felt something grab the front of my shirt and pull me up fast. It was like the feeling you get when an airplane takes off, it was a sudden jolt.

The next thing I remember is rushing out of the water in the truck in a sit up position. I was the only one awake and conscious. I remember feeling confused and not knowing where I was or what had happened. I started choking up water and then the pain hit me. The friend who was sitting in the back with me woke up and climbed out of the truck. I had been the only one submerged. I slowly climbed through the back passenger window and crawled to the ditch and sat there. I remember the shock setting in and the cold starting to hit my body. I was soaking wet in -8 degree weather and wearing only a thin sweater. My other friends, by that time, had climbed out and hailed down a passerby. I was helped to a flat dry spot in the ditch and covered up with jackets. Hypothermia started to set in after 15 minutes, and I started counting my heartbeat to keep myself awake and conscious enough for when the paramedics arrived.

I lost consciousness on the way to the hospital and when they were working on me in the hospital. I spent 2 weeks in hospital with head trauma, a shattered left cheek bone, broken ribs, internal bruising and hypothermia. My other friends, thankfully, walked away with only scrapes and bruises. Comparing notes with my friends a few months later, I told them what I had seen and was laughing that at least the cab light in the truck still worked so I could see. I wanted to know who had pulled me out of the water because I owed them dinner. They looked at me oddly and said the truck was upside down, no lights were on, and that none of them had pulled me up. I have always been confused about what happened, but chalked it up to my brain firing neurons off and being at a heightened sense of consciousness.


Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: April 2004

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Accident. Life threatening event, but not clinical death. Car accident with other people involved.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Both pleasant AND distressing

The experience included: Out of body experience

Did you feel separated from your body? No 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. I was very alert, and aware that this wasn't real life.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? Very alert, remember every last detail and color.

Were your thoughts speeded up? No

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening at once; or time stopped or lost all meaning. Felt like I was there for a long time, when in reality I was probably only submerged for seconds.

Were your senses More vivid than usual? More vivid than usual

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. During the experience, it felt like a very lucid dream. Afterwards, I was confused but I still remembered what had happened.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. Normal hearing. I did not feel like I was under water.

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere, as if by ESP? No

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? No

Did you see any beings in your experience? No

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

The experience included: Void

The experience included: Unearthly light

Did you see, or feel surrounded by, a brilliant light? An unusually bright light

Did you see an Unearthly light? Yes It was a light shining through the water; not small like a flashlight, but like the sun shining through a black ocean.

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? Some unfamiliar and strange place Dark ocean with only me in it.

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Calm, fascinated.

Did you have a feeling of peace or pleasantness? Relief or calmness

Did you have a feeling of joy? Happiness

Did you feel a sense of harmony or unity with the universe? I felt no longer in conflict with nature

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? No

Did scenes from your past come back to you? No

Did scenes from the future come to you? No

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 importance did you place on your religious/spiritual life prior to your experience? Not important to me

What was your religion prior to your experience? Unaffiliated- Agnostic

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? No

What importance do you place on your religious/spiritual life after your experience? Slightly important to me

What is your religion now? Unaffiliated- Agnostic

Did your experience include features consistent with your earthly beliefs? Content that was entirely not consistent with the beliefs you had at the time of your experience. I had no belief that anything happened during death close to death, or afterwards. I believed when you're done, that's it. My experience changed that, and I'm not sure what I experienced but I know what I saw and what I felt.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes That something possibly does happen to us after death.

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? No

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? No

Did you encounter or become aware of any beings who previously lived on earth who are described by name in religions (for example: Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, etc.)? No

During your experience, did you gain information about premortal existence? No

During your experience, did you gain information about universal connection or oneness? Uncertain I do think we are connected to the universe, we're made from it. I definitely felt a calmness I've never felt before.

Did you believe in the existence of God prior to your experience? God probably does not exist

During your experience, did you gain information about the existence of God? Uncertain I wouldn't call it a supreme Being or even god, I think our brains aren't capable of understanding certain things yet. Like the possibility that something does happen to us after death, but it's not going to heaven.

Do you believe in the existence of God after your experience? God probably does not exist

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:

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

Did you believe that our earthly lives Are meaningful and significant prior to your experience? Are not meaningful and significant

During your experience, did you gain information about the meaning of life? No

Did you believe in an afterlife prior to your experience? An afterlife probably does not exist

Do you believe in an afterlife after your experience? An afterlife probably exists. Yes. I felt like there was more. I personally believe in science and facts. Things need to be proven for me to believe them. But I felt like there is possibly something that happens after.

Did you fear death prior to your experience? I did not fear death

Do you fear death after your experience? I moderately fear death

Were you fearful living your life prior to your experience? Not fearful in living my earthly life

Were you fearful living your life after your experience? Moderately fearful in living my earthly life

Did you believe that our earthly lives Are meaningful and significant prior to your experience? Are not meaningful and significant

Did you believe that our earthly lives are meaningful and significant after your experience? Are probably meaningful and significant

Did you gain information about how to live our lives? No

During your experience, did you gain information about life's difficulties, challenges and hardships? No

Were you compassionate prior to your experience? Moderately compassionate toward others

During your experience, did you gain information about love? No

Were you compassionate after your experience? Greatly compassionate toward others

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Large changes in my life. I stopped living my life so recklessly. I went from a bar star to law enforcement and counselling high-risk people. My whole perspective on life changed. I didn't want to be some forgotten cross on the side of the road. I still deal part of my face having no feeling and insomnia from the accident.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes I grew up, I started to understand my behavior was affecting the people I loved. It made me incredibly sad how selfish I had been.

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? No

How accurately do you remember the experience in comparison to other life events that occurred around the time of the experience? I remember the experience more accurately than other life events that occurred around the time of the experience.

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Yes. It sounds super ridiculous, but I have issues with hauntings. I've had to move twice and my family has had to deal with things when they are around me also. I thought I was going crazy but when things started happening to my family members I lived with at the time it was a slight sense of relief. We enlisted different people to help with the situations and every time it came down to attraction to me. They explained it as 'imagine you're in a crowded room and no on can see or hear you, then someone walks in and that one person is the only one that can, so you automatically go to them' It still makes me laugh because the whole scenario is unbelievable.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? The ocean, I was the only person in it.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes Shared with friends and family

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 probably not real. I know what I seen and felt, but I want to understand the science behind it.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was probably not real

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