Beth B NDE

EXPERIENCE DESCRIPTION:

I was in a backyard pool (with a deep end) at a swimming party for our Brownie group.  Playing with a beach ball, a friend accidentally hit me in the face and I went under water.  I was told that my mother saw me and tried to get someone's attention, but then I looked like I was ok.  I wasn't.  I had struggled up to the surface 3 times, then I had a very warm, comfortable feeling that everything was going to be fine.  I saw what I thought was the sun sparkling on the surface of the water, then suddenly the water was gone and I was moving toward a figure.  Before I got to the person, I had a flash of things that had happened in my life, short as it was at the time, and can recall three or four things that happened when I was an infant (ivy wallpaper, getting my hair washed, getting my tonsils out, my first dog dying, etc.) But there was only a happy feeling, nothing sad.  Then I could see the that the man had a funny hat and the most beautiful face.  He smiled at me and seemed to say that it wasn't time yet, but I kept close to him because it felt so comforting to me.  

During this unspoken communication, I was suddenly jolted back by a hard pressure on my chest, then I was floating above a scene by the side of the pool.  My mother was crying and kneeling over me while my friend's brother was pushing on my back.  It seemed like it lasted for a long time, but I saw several people doing things that I remembered to be strange, because I was "tree top level" in the yard (there was only an avocado tree in the yard, not a tall one). At that moment I came whooshing back into my body, feeling like I couldn't breathe.  Back to reality.

Was the kind of experience difficult to express in words? Yes     The difficult was in getting my parents to let me talk about it.  I wanted to tell them how good it felt, and that I had seen my mother's father who had died before I was born.  The whole event scared both my parents, so the only one I could really talk to about it was my grandmother (wife of the grandfather I had met), who totally believed me.

At the time of this experience, was there an associated life threatening event?          Yes     Near drowning event.  I had gone under 3 times before anyone realized I was having trouble.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness?    The entire experience felt like I was in a higher level of awareness than I had ever been.  This event is crystal clear in my memory and has always been.

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal every day consciousness and alertness?    More consciousness and alertness than normal

If your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience was different from your normal every day consciousness and alertness, please explain:            The entire experience felt like I was in a higher level of awareness than I had ever been.  This event is crystal clear in my memory and has always been.

Did your vision differ in any way from your normal, everyday vision (in any aspect, such as clarity, field of vision, colors, brightness, depth perception degree of solidness/transparency of objects, etc.)?  Yes     I was seeing multiple things all at the same time.

Did your hearing differ in any way from your normal, everyday hearing (in any aspect, such as clarity, ability to recognize source of sound, pitch, loudness, etc.)?
            Yes     There was a musical humming but not a song, per se.

Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?     Yes

What emotions did you feel during the experience?            Love, happiness, connectedness.

Did you pass into or through a tunnel or enclosure?          Uncertain      There was a dark area, but not a tunnel, so much as a hallway with a light at the end.

Did you see a light?           Yes    

Did you meet or see any other beings?           Yes     My Grandfather, whom I had never met.  He died 8 years before I was born. He looked younger than his picture, but he had the same wide brimmed hat, that he wore tilted on his head.

Did you experience a review of past events in your life?    Yes     Described in a previous paragraph.

Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later?          Yes     I saw my friend's mother with her phone, long cord, coming out the patio door to call an ambulance for me.

Did you see or visit any beautiful or otherwise distinctive locations, levels or dimensions?            Yes     Surrounding my grandfather, there was a beautiful meadow, with several animals (dogs, birds, a cat) and the colors were very vivid, like in a painting.  There was a golden haze or glow all around.

Did you have any sense of altered space or time?   Yes     Couldn't tell how long I was there, but it seemed like there was not sense of time, or that I needed to get back.  Then, when I heard him say it wasn't time, I whooshed back into the backyard.

Did you have a sense of knowing special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose?     Yes            Within weeks of this event, I found an article about the Rosicrucians (Know the Mysteries of Life) and I ordered the small paperback books and read every one of them.  My parents thought I needed counseling.

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure? Yes     My grandfather seemed to put his hand out to guide me away from where he was (I hadn't really thought that it was a boundary, just that it wasn't the right time for me to be there).

Did you become aware of future events?       Yes
            Another thing that I kept from the experience.  I am very tuned into my loved ones and seem to know before things happen that they're going to happen.

Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience you did not have prior to the experience?     Yes     explained above.

Have you shared this experience with others?         Yes     Immediately -- and still do.

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

How did you view the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened:            Experience was definitely real    When my Grandmother visited and I told her about the man I thought was my grandfather, she listened and then pulled out this picture of him (he was 65 when he died). It was the same man I had visited, but much younger.