I was going under a gynecologic surgery. I was given anesthesia and it seems I lost consciousness and then I felt like a fight within my body and then an escape towards a black tunnel, which had bronze color stripes, at an ever increasing speed. There were unexpected bifurcations inside the tunnel; I turned to the right, went straight for some time and then changed directions again.  I felt as if I was disintegrating inside the tunnel, i.e. my body lost consistency and I felt that the tunnel completely wrapped around me. I felt dizziness and was moving in spirals inside the tunnel. It is something indescribable. After a blow, I found myself in a viscous sea of mud. There were a lot of people with me and we were trying to escape from it but could not. I was completely desperate; these people were suffering a lot, they were in torment (while I remember this, my skin goes bristled and my body recalls the horrible sensation). I then thought that this was HELL and I thought OH My! This looks like Dante’s hell and also remember thinking “he must have done this trip” and also “why do I deserve hell?”

This horror looked like it was going to last forever. Then, I felt tiredness and thought only about loosing myself off; to abandon my body, quitting.  But at the same time, I knew, with certainty, that if I did I would stay there forever.  From this I took renewed strength and thought about my 5-month old baby and my boyfriend, two people I love so and visualized my  son growing up without me. I said, "no. I don't want to stay." I also felt that I had a purpose, a mission that was not yet fulfilled in this life.  This was not a work I had to finish, but rather a stage that I had to complete in this life, a form of spiritual growth.  At that moment I escaped from the mud pool; that indescribably horrible substance. A that same moment, at an incredible speed, I went up and found a White Light. It was not that “I” was in the white light but that I was part of the white light. For a second I was part of the white light and then it seems it bounced me back. I hit it and there was like a wall; an energetic wall; an energy that I compare with what I felt the first time I touched my boyfriend; it was the same substance.

When I was bounced back I went back to the tunnel at the same speed but it was not the same tunnel; it was like another exit. When I came back, I was not in the surgery room but in a hospital room and my vision was blurry and reality was not completed defined; I recall my mother’s red dress and the same dizziness, I had a hysterical crisis. I only yelled “I don’t want to die! I don’t want to leave my son”!  Afterwards, my perception of reality turned normal.

Was the kind of experience difficult to express in words? Yes. It is difficult to explain because it felt like a corporal or body experience ; in the senses. When I travelled through the tunnel, I felt it wrapped around me completely and that was disconcerting, as if I was disintegrating.

At the time of this experience, was there an associated life threatening event?          Uncertain.  It was a surgery and apparently I had problems responding to the anesthesia. I was administered 4 times the normal dose. That is why I knew from the beginning (even though very deeply) that the experience WAS REAL.  I did not want to look like I was crazy so I said that it probably was a hallucination originated by the anesthesia ; a secondary effect. 

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness?    When I was in front of the light; when I was part of the Light.  

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:         It is unexplainable. I felt I knew what was the truth, with absolute certainness. When I was part of it, I felt incredible peace and joy 

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, exactly. This explains exactly what I felt.  Matter went from a solid state to transparent…. Including me ; I was loosing consistency.      Mud was dark and I was caught in it. My vision was not the one I have with my eyes…. I did not see with my eyes.

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.)? Uncertain. There was a noise when I was in the tunnel and when I was in the mud I felt the noise of viscosity.     

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

What emotions did you feel during the experience?           Fear to uncertainty; disorientation when I was in the tunnel… total horror; I felt small, “as shit” in the mud.

Did you pass into or through a tunnel or enclosure?     Yes. The first tunnel had turns and I felt it was compressing me.  The second tunnel I felt I was falling freely. 

Did you see a light?           Yes. I saw the Light. I don't know if is the « nothing » or the « everything ». I do not how to describe it but I know that this is the truth.  And that light is what you call superior being or God. 

Did you meet or see any other beings?   Uncertain. Well, I had visions of the future. When I saw my son growing up with me, it was not my imagination.  I was seeing the exact reality as to how his life was going to be without me.  I felt he was going to miss something.

Did you experience a review of past events in your life?    No      

Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later?          No      

Did you see or visit any beautiful or otherwise distinctive locations, levels or dimensions?       Yes. It is told in my story.

Did you have any sense of altered space or time?   Yes.  Absolutely. It seemed as if those two things did not exist where I was.

Did you have a sense of knowing special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose?  Yes. I saw the Light. I don’t know if is the « nothing » or the « everything ». I do not how to describe it but I know that this is the truth. Also, after that I felt that this reality is only a façade and all what is real and true is over there.  

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure? Yes. I felt I was disintegrating inside the tunnel due to the speed. I felt I lost consciousness.

Did you become aware of future events?       Yes. I have incredible deja vu.  I am able to know what a person that is with me is going to do or say next. Do not think I am crazy ! I am now more confident, for example, I do not think (anymore) that accidents or bad things will happen to me as before. I have faith that all will come out well even when things go bad. 

Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience you did not have prior to the experience?     No      

Have you shared this experience with others?   Yes. The same day it happened I told my relatives in the clinic.  Most of them believed me. My mother was impressed. My brother and his wife who are very spiritual and looking actively for spiritual things believed me completely and told me that apparently I now knew what was really there. My boyfriend told me: “that was hell”. Others doubted.  I have shared this experience with few people. I only tell about it when I feel a connection with someone because I know that many will thing that I am crazy.

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience?    Uncertain.  A general idea.

How did you view the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened:    Experience was definitely real. That same night I felt incredible peace and lightness, as a baby would feel when it is born (I also think that the tunnel is comparable to the mother’s delivery channel – it is a path and it was painful). The certainty that « That » was reality, what is under what we see and perceive.

Were there one or several parts of the experience especially meaningful or significant to you?        The entire experience.  Love moved me. I know I came back because of my love for my family and for myself.    I realized that what gave me strength to come back was my personal realization. It is a “cliché” but it was not my time yet.

How do you currently view the reality of your experience:            Experience was definitely real. I know it was real. People who has had this experience know it is true and can understand me.  It is a certainness that derives from my personal experience and no one can take it away from me. Some will believe, some will doubt.

Have your relationships changed specifically as a result of your experience?    Uncertain.  I have turned somewhat sweeter, more comprehensive.

Have your religious beliefs/practices changed specifically as a result of your experience?  Uncertain. My mind was opened and freed. I do not feel any ties to any knowledge.

Following the experience, have you had any other events in your life, medications or substances which reproduced any part of the experience?   Uncertain      Never. Only when I recall it, I can feel it as if I was living it again and my skin bristles.  

Is there anything else you would like to add concerning the experience?        I saw what I suppose was hell ; where I think people go when  they get tied up there by their own will. It might sound crazy but I think it is related to Buddhist reincarnation theories In some way. I also saw the light and when I leave (die) again, I truly want to go there and not to the other place. I know it depends on how long I walk in this life ; it depends on the growth and liberation I can obtain.

Did the questions asked and information you provided so far accurately and comprehensively describe your experience?         Yes. I have said the word “incredible” 1000 times here but to me it is incredible to discover that there are other persons who have lived (relatively the same) what I have. I started looking in internet about hallucinations as anesthesia consequence and I could not find what I was looking for. Then I looked for NDE’s.      

Are there any other questions we could ask to help you communicate your experience?      I will think about it and let you know. At this moment, I do not have anything in mind.  Maybe you could propitiate meetings in local communities with people who have lived that experience and put them in contact. I would like to meet somebody who has lived it.