Experience Description

In September 2009, my doctor sent me for a check-up to a clinic in Straubing Germany. My heart was tested, and I had a cardiac catheter inserted in the Intensive Care Unit. My heart stopped beating. I was resuscitated after 30 minutes and after that, I was put in an induced coma. My body temperature was deliberately lowered, and I was in this coma for 5-6 days. After that, they let my body temperature return to normal and they woke me up from the coma.

While I was in the coma and on the 'other side', it felt like it was an intensive dream. I saw many images and many places. I met many people, some I knew, some I didn't. They were talking, laughing and crying. I felt that I was able to go to other dimensions. I did not think of the staff or siblings who were visiting me.

While I was on the 'other side', I was also in a bed and doctors came to see me, but not the ones who were treating me in the clinic while I was in the coma. These were the same staff I met last year when I had a surgery on my foot.

While I was being resuscitated, I stood behind the staff. I did not feel like flying up overhead. I tried to have a look at myself while I was outside of my body by peering through the gaps between the standing staff.

On the other side, I had ice crystals growing on my fingers ice crystals, which was not comfortable. I think I experienced that when my body temperature was being deliberately lowered.

I also had visits from my boss, and other people I knew in my dreams.

While on the other side, I also found myself in a totally different clinic, one for 10-20 thousand people. They were in halls, in caves and under tents. There was a train station and a place for trucks in this clinic. The trucks were transporting medication and supplements. The trains were transporting patients.

The tents and the sky were an intense red. The buildings, trucks and interior decoration were white and steel blue. I think I could say that I knew this place as I recognized two churches, one in Hengersberg and Niederaltreich, and I also recognized the Bavarian forest.

I was also in an incomplete attic. There were many different rooms.

There was a reception area, like in hotels, and outside was a big place for parades. I was also in a parking lot, a gym hall, and a cafeteria, which was built like an arena. I also went to a rose garden.

There was a room where I once met my wife. We had direct contact with each other, but we could not exchange any information, because we had to hide from something. I do not know what that was.

I also knows that I went to other places and rooms but don't remember the details.

I know while I was in the coma that staff came and went. I particularly remember a doctor, who held my hands and told me that my vital signs were ok and that she will come and see me again. Her touch was comforting.

The sky was intensely red with yellow spiral clouds while the sun went down gently. I felt hungry but forgot about it while watching the sun.

The same doctor came again; she was a bit late, because she had a lot to do.

I also received a visit from a Brother patient, talked, and explained the rules there. Then another Brother came to visit me. I told him that I felt insecure. He comforted me and told me that everything would be all right. I asked about the first Brother and was told that he had visited me many times but always very briefly.

A third Brother visited me only once, and told me him that my wife was okay and everything was all right. He calmed me down and relaxed me. I saw him many times visiting other patients. His only job on the other side was cheering up people.

I saw a garden with tables and chairs. My aunt Marie sat with me and we talked a lot. On the other side, she seemed very educated, but on Earth, she was a simple woman who worked hard physically but didn't have much of a spirit mind.

She said to me 'You cannot go just like that. You are now 50 years old and you should take responsibility.' This felt like a dream within another dream.

When I woke up from that dream and returned to the first dream, I found myself at the train station. No one was taking care of me. I felt that I had been forgotten. I wanted to get out of bed and push it onto a train and leave. But then, I remembered what my aunt said, and that I should not be egotistical.

After the train had gone, I was rolled back to the halls and tents. The place reminded me of an open-air concert, after the show. There was dirt and waste everywhere. The sky was dark. I was separated from the others and fell asleep in front of a building like a clinic.

I assume that it was at this point, I was resuscitated and then fell into a coma, but I don't really have a particular reason for thinking that

Then I woke up in a hallway. There was nothing going on there, and I seldom saw anyone. I fell asleep. When I awoke, the windows were closed and the sunblinds were down.

A salesman was dressed as a nurse and gave me 'Calcium medication', which is expensive. I did not want it. The salesman pushed a spoon of this medication, which I do not know, in my mouth. It tasted like lemon. I was annoyed and spat it out.

(Note from translator Aylin: When I worked in the ICU as a nurse, we used wet and lemon tasting sticks to clean the mouth of the patients in coma)

I heard music; it was either slow classical music or amusement park noises.

I then found myself in a simple room. I saw other rooms with art and pictures on the walls. I also saw there the monks and the Brothers who were helping in the ICU.

I remember being cleaned and taken care of by the medical staff. I know exactly what was done and in which order.

The nurses talked to me and made some jokes. They were respectful of me and always explained what they were doing. I did not feel comfortable and did not want to be cleaned by a young girl. Later a male nurse helped me.

At one point, I dreamed that I was alone. The staff was in a room next to me and they were listening to music and weren't taking care of me. I saw my wife trying to pass through the many rooms in order to get to me, but no one noticed my wife or me screaming and making noise.

After that, I was in an attic where I met a man. He was a patient at the clinic, and he had had an accident while scuba diving. He was undergoing decompression.

I experienced bad phases but there were also comfortable times. I remember that the clinic was an old building which was restored during the time I was there. My experiences in that clinic were while I was in the coma and not while I was being resuscitated.

I think that my resuscitation was complete when I had left the train station.

After that phase, the pictures and colors were realistic and not so intensely expressionistic.

I felt angels around me. While I was 'out visiting a restaurant', but actually I was still in the clinic in bed, I saw air moving like holograms. Six of them moved towards me, at first very blurry. I asked them what they want. I got no response. I felt like they were protecting me. I felt gratitude and I thought we will meet again one day. We are not finished yet. After I left the clinic, I spoke to them and I promised to help people with psychological problems and dying people. After I made that promise, I felt a warmth going through me.

After I woke up from the coma, all experiences from this side and the other side was mixed up, possibly due to the medication I was taking. I remember a nurse coming and shutting the monitors off, and that they get rid of my infusion bottles and cables. I think they were leaving me to die. I was calm and thought that was a part of a dream, which will end. They pushed me into a room. There was a bed and it was covered with white sheets. I think that a dead person was lying there. There was an intense rose color coming in from the window. Everything seemed unreal. Sometime later, I woke up in a usual room and I rang for a nurse and got something to drink. A nurse wanted to give me an infusion and medication and I think this was an interactive dream. I am not afraid and say to the male nurse 'You can do no harm!' I said 'This is the clinic in Straubing!' I still think this is a dream and I scream to him.

There was a phase where I mix up reality, dream and hallucination, because of the medication. I know I got visited by my wife, my sister and her husband, my younger sister and my mother. This felt real. I think this happened 2 to 3 days after the coma.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: 25.9.2009

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Heart attack Clinical death (cessation of breathing or heart function or brain function)

How do you consider the content of your experience? Mixed

The experience included: Out of body experience

Did you feel separated from your body? Yes 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? More consciousness and alertness than normal Even though I was not mobile the impressions I experienced were sharper than normal.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? When I was in the ICU on the 'other side'

Were your thoughts speeded up? Incredibly fast

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening at once; or time stopped or lost all meaning I felt I could move between many different conscious phases and had no perception of time.

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 am extremely shortsighted but on the 'other side' I could see everything very clearly.

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? No

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

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? Yes I met people I know and people I did not know, siblings, nurses and monks. There were beings I communicated with through gesture and I communicated telepathically with my guardian angels.

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 There was a yellowish light behind a door and more light behind a bigger door.

The experience included: A landscape or city

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? No Die Erlebnisse zwischen Niederalteich (einem Kloster) und Hengersberg zu Füssen des Bayerischen Waldes mit einem unbeschreiblichem Himmel.

The experience included: Strong emotional tone

What emotions did you feel during the experience? I felt calm and was very interested in what was happening to me.

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 united or one with the world

The experience included: Special Knowledge

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 saw pictures from my past. I learnt to not fear death anymore. I can help dying people. I am not materialistic anymore. I think it is important to have more contact with other people. I know that my soul, consciousness, and spirit will survive death. For how long I do not know. I have more fun living.

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? Moderate Katholisch

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Yes I pray more for others and I go alone to churches more often.

What is your religion now? Liberal

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes I pray more for others and I go alone to churches more often.

The experience included: Presence of unearthly beings

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

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes Yes. My relationship with my wife and family became more intense. In some instances, the friendships have gotten stronger, but in others I became more distant. I think some friends doubt my sanity!

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? Yes It happened a lot that I could help ill patients and ease their pain. I could help them to think positively about their situation. I could give them a tool to start the self-healing process.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? When I thought about leaving life forever, I knew I would miss my wife. The fact that I was relaxed and calm and knew nothing bad would happen. My experiences with my guardian angels have had a positive effect on my life.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes I started writing down my experiences and have talked about them with my siblings. My two sisters are registered nurses and they were open-minded. I work in a Benedictine abbey and life and death themes are openly spoken about. I get different reactions, from a lot of interest from my family, to shyness and sometimes aversion. I could help through my own experiences influence other people life to a positive one. In one special case, there was a 7 year old girl who lost her father, her mother wanted her daughter talk to me about my experiences and when I told her that souls were transported with trains, she was happy and said, 'My dad had it good, he was allowed to go with the train!' Her mother told me later that she could handle much better than her dad's death. Such things happen a lot, I do not seek them, they happen spontaneously, I wonder myself about it.

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? Yes I had heard about it but didn't know too much about it. I heard the scientific explanation, oxygen deficit, endorphins, etc. I do not think it played a big part in my experience and I was not influenced by that.

What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was definitely real The experiences I had while being resuscitated were impressive and real.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? Yes When I am half asleep, images form more fully.

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? You could ask what motivates NDErs to fill in the questionnaire. As for other questions, I don't want to talk about that at the moment.