Experience Description

I had been seeing a doctor for sickness and weight gain. He never took blood tests or took my blood pressure into account, which turned out to be very low and that was why I tended to faint (I didn't know this till later). When I complained of weight gain, exceptional tiredness, bloat and a really sick feeling, all he did was take two samples of pills from his drawer and he gave them to me. He said to take one each day and call him in a month. I almost didn't make it to a month. He didn't tell me what these drugs were for, but I followed his instructions and took one each day. I didn't sleep for three nights and didn't know why. The morning after Labor Day, I had to get up early to start a new job, and when I got out of bed, I began to feel a loud buzzing in my head. As I entered the bathroom, my husband was just getting out of the shower and saw my eyes rolling back in my head as I collapsed to the floor. It scared the life out of him.

At the same time, the buzzing in my head got very loud and everything began to go black. I could hear my husband calling to me from a distance as I began to be pulled very fast down a long, dark tunnel at the end of which was an incredibly bright light. He dragged me back to the bed and kept calling to me and I began to fight this thing that was happening to me. I knew I was dying but did not want to die; I wanted to live so that I could have children. Also, my brother had recently died and that was number two for my father; I did not want it to happen to him again. I fought this thing as my husband kept calling to me so that in a few seconds, I was whisked back the opposite way and realized I was on the bed. He called a doctor, who came to the apartment (those were the days!) and looked askance at my husband, then said that I never should have been given those pills. I could have died, and almost did. This new doctor took my blood pressure and blood for testing. Later he told me that I had very low blood pressure, hypothyroidism and anemia. He stopped short of saying that the other doctor was negligent, but we all knew that was the case.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: September 1970 (1 day after Labor Day)

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Illness 'Life threatening event, but not clinical death' Drugs given to me by a doctor that almost killed me when he didn't even check me for health problems that would preclude these drugs.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Frightening

Did you feel separated from your body? No No

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

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? All the time; I knew what was happening to me; death was looming.

Were your thoughts speeded up? Faster than usual

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening at once; or time stopped or lost all meaning

Were your senses more vivid than usual? Incredibly more vivid

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. I never saw darkness that deep, or brightness that white, and it didn't hurt my eyes. Being a redhead, brightness has always hurt my eyes, but this brightness did not.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. Loudness; the buzzing was the loudest thing I have ever heard, and along with it came the realization that death was near.

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? Yes I was pulled through a long, dark tunnel at an incredibly fast rate of speed, and I didn't want to be there.

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

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? No I didn't get that far.

The experience included: Darkness

The experience included: Light

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? Yes The brilliant light was a pinpoint at the end of the long, dark tunnel. It very quickly became bigger and bigger as I was being pulled through the tunnel.

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? No

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Total, abject fear.

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? 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 I didn't get that far. I fought it.

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? Conservative/fundamentalist 'Catholic - NOT Fundamentalist Conservative'

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? No

What is your religion now? Conservative/fundamentalist 'Catholic- NOT Fundamentalist Conservative'

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? 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? Yes I wasn't supposed to be there; I had work to do on earth. I wanted to have children, and I knew that was God's work for me.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes I understood certain things about my marriage better, but since I have a lot of trouble communicating (speaking my thoughts), I could not make myself understood to my husband. I saw him as completely unchanged and that was very frustrating for me. He never tried to understand my feelings or ideas.

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? Uncertain Most of the women in my family have some form of intuition, and I have always had some of it too. Since this happened to me, I have become aware of some things that are going to happen and then do happen, or being told something that I don't understand until later. For instance, when my daughter and second child was born in 1978, I instantly knew that she was my last, and she turned out to be. It was not a conscious decision; it was probably infused knowledge. My oldest sister was always very abusive to the family members around her. She seemed to have a particular hostility toward me. I ended our 'relationship' in 2002 after much soul-searching and difficulty. She called me twice after that. It sounded like she didn't really want to be on the phone with me and her hostility was still there. She never apologized for her behavior. A few months later, I was making my bed one Saturday morning, and began to get a strange feeling of having been released from something. I don't know who was telling me such a thing, but, two mornings later, my brother's caretaker (he had Down Syndrome and needed 24/7 care) called and said that my sister had died the past Friday. I put two and two together in my mind and realized that when she died, I was released from the emotional bondage she had had me entwined with.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? That God allowed me to come back; I think my children were, of course, meant to be born, and He cooperated with that desire of mine, for which I am so grateful to Him.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes Immediately. Everyone was flabbergasted and they all seemed to accept and believe that it did really happen. I do not know if they were influenced by it at all.

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 I viewed it as an event that happened for a reason, and still do. I know that God has His reasons for allowing everything that happens to us, and that He has ultimate control.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real I still feel the same about it.

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? Uncertain Sometimes there is a slight buzzing in my head which scares the life out of me; I don't want that event to happen to me again. I think this time it has to do with my sinus and ear problems but am afraid to find out.