David W NDE

Experience Description

It was in July 1987. I was fifteen years old and my parents had sent me to a summer camp in North Carolina (USA).

I have a physical problem that when I pass from a lying or seated position to the standing position, the blood ebbs from my head downwards to the body. This phenomenon is accentuated by the heat, fatigue and the speed of the position change. It results in a blurred vision or makes me off balance. Sometimes, it can even go on until the loss of consciousness, even though it only lasts some seconds.

Right after lunch, I was on my bed reading when one of my friends asked me to lend him a pen. I immediately rose to get one off the top of my shelf. At the time of seizing the pen, I had a strong hypotension and lost consciousness. I fell unconscious before touching the ground. I have the memory of the plunk that my head made when it made contact with the ground, but without physical sensation or pain.

The fall in itself was not problematic. What was more, was that the shock of my head against the ground caused me to choke on my tongue and go into convulsions. During that time, I had no consciousness, that it happened. I had an impression of so much peace and tranquility.

First of all, I had a flashback of all my past life. One would have said slides bombarded at full speed without interruption. To my big astonishment, I reviewed episodes of my life that I had forgotten completely. I had the impression that it lasted between forty minutes and one hour. Then, I had an impression of big serenity, of big tranquility. A few as if I was disconnected from my five senses, without any perception of the outside world. I didn't see anything, didn't hear anything, didn't feel anything, didn't touch anything. In summary, a big interior peace, with the impression to melt progressively into nothing, nearly of more to exist.

Then, I reopened the eyes to discover about ten people that looked at me without I my knowing why. One explained to me about the fall, the swallowed tongue, the convulsions, the fact that one of my comrades succeeded quickly in clearing my airway. When I asked how long my unawareness had lasted, one answered me at most about ten seconds, to my big astonishment. I had the impression the experience lasted at least one hour.

Thereafter, I have regret not to have noted the flashes that had come back to me because the memory evaporated after a few days. I remember more of the experience, but not of the content of the flashes.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: July 1987

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes J'ai fait de l'hypotension hortostatique. Suite à cette baisse soudaine de tension, je me suis évanoui et je suis tombé d'une hauteur d'environ 1m50. Lorsque ma tête a heurté le sol, alors que j'étais déjà inconscient, j'ai avalé ma langue. Inconscient, allongé sur le sol, et ayant avalé ma langue.I had swallowed my tongue and I was entered convulsions while being unconscious. If someone had not withdrawn my tongue from my throat in the seconds that followed, I would have died.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Positive

Did you feel separated from your body? No

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? I was unconscious.

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? No

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? No

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

Did you see an unearthly light? No

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

What emotions did you feel during the experience? A big interior peace. Of serenity.

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? No

Did scenes from your past come back to you? My past flashed before me, out of my control Events that I had forgotten completely reappeared under the shape of flashbacks. Unfortunately, their memory faded, to disappear completely at the end of some days.

Did scenes from the future come to you? No

Did you come to a border or point of no return? No

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Liberal J'étais athée

What is your religion now? Liberal Je suis agnostique

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Uncertain It didn't affect my religious belief. I don't always have the faith. On the other hand, it has left me without fear of death. I am more aware of my own mortality. It gave me the impression that the death was a sort of nothing. Something similar to the state preceding our birth. There was not anything before; there won't be anything after. Nothing dramatic to it for as much: before existing, I didn't feel anything (and for reason!); and long after my death, one will come back to this state. Since, I really appreciate being alive, I savor every second that passes. Otherwise, I had the feeling I was given a second chance. I promised myself not to waste it and to try to be as good as possible with my neighbor. In a certain manner, I had the impression to have known death before to be allowed to pursue my life. It permits to see the things of manner a lot more detached and to relativize a lot.

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? The best: a feeling of liberation opposite the death, or even a feeling of invulnerability. At the time, one has the impression that it was a little intoxicating to have won a fight against the grim reaper. Nothing else on earth can get to you. A feeling like a light euphoria. The worse: the conscience of my own mortality. Even though I had the impression to have deceived death temporarily, I acquired the certainty knowledge how, sooner or later, it is all going to end. No paradise, of hell or resurrection; just nothing. I am a little irritated when I think about everything that I am going to miss of the future of the humanity. But good, it is already well to be here again.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes I didn't speak of this experience to my parents until years later. No real reaction of their part.

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