Experience Description:

It was my birthday and my parents let me have a small party. One of my girlfriends was staying the night. My parents went out to dinner and I decided that I was a teenager and wanted to try drinking alcohol like my father did. I filled up a tall glass with Gin held my nose and consumed all of it. The equivalent of at least fifteen shots of straight alcohol.

I quickly became disoriented and then fell unconscious. My sister and my friend put me in my bed and when my parents came home and went in to check on me my mother noticed I wouldn't wake up. At this point, they told me they tried to carry me to the car. My father was so mad, he wouldn't help and I was at this point dead-weight. This is the point when I remember lifting out of my body and floating mid-air over my body, which was lying in the dining room floor. I left my body. I was no longer intoxicated; I was completely clear and could see everything at once. I realized that I was almost dead and became very upset and began to cry for Jesus to help me.

At this moment, I was aware of a light enveloping me. I was the light and it was me. There was another Being with me. The Being let me know that I was going to die and I must leave this body for good. I remember arguing with the Being explaining that I didn't want to because it was so hard going through the childhood years and I didn't want to have to go through this again. The Being indicated that my body was severely damaged and I couldn't go back. I became very adamant at this point that God was all powerful and could fix the body. At some point, the decision was made to let me re-enter my body on my faith or will, whatever one may call it.

The next phase was like an evaluation. I was taken back through my past, beginning with my birth and we went over what had already happened. Then I was shown an overview of key points in my life that was to come. One of these key experiences was that I would have a child at a very early age and it would be a boy. It was explained to me that from this point forward I would do everything earlier than most, including my older sister. I would marry first, bear children first and generally have more responsibility than my sisters and other friends and family members. I was told that I would soon leave my church and have a short period of rebellion and drug experimentation but this would end fairly soon and I would begin to climb out of it. I was told that I was going to be a writer and that my words would touch many people. I was instructed to write a book on or around the age of forty and that after I had fulfilled my life plans I would eventually die before my two sisters.

All of a sudden... I opened my eyes and I was in a hospital bed in the intensive care unit. The preacher from my church was there praying for me. I actually thought at this point that I had died when I saw him there with my mother who was crying. I gradually woke up and asked what had happened? My mother said I had been in a coma for three days and I had almost died.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: August 15, 1973

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Accident Clinical death (cessation of breathing or heart function or brain function) I had an accidental overdose.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Mixed

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 It was different in a sense that I seemed to understand more clearly the process of life and death, it is no longer a mystery. I now understand that we actively participate in our own destiny by the choices we make at every given moment no matter how minute. We are not simply puppets of clay entertaining the gods. I would say that my consciousness was different during the experience in that I felt lighter, I could see as well, if not better and communication was instant or timeless, it's hard to describe, but it definitely didn't involve sound waves or physical sensations. It was a very emotional experience, much more intense than any other event in my life. I knew the chips were down and I could not allow myself to fail by succumbing to an untimely death as a child in this life.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? As soon as I floated up and out of my body.

Were your thoughts speeded up? Neither

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening all at once It was as if everything was in one place. Whatever we were discussing seemed to appear instantly.

Were your senses more vivid than usual? More so than usual

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. Everything seemed to be in a haze of light. At some points during my review it was like watching a movie.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. As I stated earlier it was apparent that what we determine as a 'sound' was instantly registered and understood. The 'sounds' were limited to communication with the being who was helping me. In other words I couldn't hear my family and what was going on with my body at the time; I could only communicate with the light being.

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere? Neither

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? No

Did you see any beings in your experience? Neither

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? Yes I did not know him. It felt like a male presence, I had cried out for Jesus, but the being didn't introduce himself or give me a name. It did feel like we knew each other though, like that feeling when you see someone and you know them but can't recall from where.

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 As I stated earlier, I was the light, the light was with me and I could perceive it both visually and also I felt an integral part of it; like if several beings were turned into a vapor and mixed together.

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? Clearly mystical or unearthly realm

What emotions did you feel during the experience? The first emotion was when I looked down and saw my body and realized I was dead. I became very upset and cried hysterically. I called out for Jesus. I was scared because I had inadvertently done this to myself and I felt I would somehow be punished; like when a teenager wrecks the car and it has to be totaled. When the being in the light communicated to me that I was indeed going to die I became defiant and emotionally charged with conviction that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God could raise a body from dust and that I should be given a chance to go back in and finish this life I had started.

Did you have a feeling of peace or pleasantness? Neither

Did you have a feeling of joy? Neither

Did you feel a sense of harmony or unity with the universe? United, one with the world

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? Everything about the universe

Did scenes from your past come back to you? Past flashed before me, out of my control I was given a sum up of what had happened thus far in my short life, I was only thirteen. I had a horrible relationship with my father but that didn't come up in the review. In fact, I don't recall any negativity during my review. The most vivid recollection was the actual moment of birth, which began with bright lights and noises that startled me. It felt like I was watching a movie yet in it at the same time. I also learned not to fear death if you choose to live and go forward setting and working to accomplish goals.

Did scenes from the future come to you? From personal future The future events that I was attuned to only had to do with my life plan, in other words these events were not on a global or historical scale but a personal level.

Did you come to a border or point of no return? A conscious decision to 'return' to life

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Moderate Southern Baptist

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Yes As I stated, I left the Southern Baptist church of my youth never to return. Then I went on an eleven year self-imposed journey into theological and comparative religion studies. After my experience, I understood that there are many paths to the same destination. No one right way, and each is like a facet of a diamond without which a diamond would not be the end result.

What is your religion now? Liberal Comparative Religion studies and Philosophy

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes As I stated, I left the Southern Baptist church of my youth never to return. Then I went on an eleven year self-imposed journey into theological and comparative religion studies. After my experience, I understood that there are many paths to the same destination. No one right way, and each is like a facet of a diamond without which a diamond would not be the end result.

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? Definite being, or voice clearly of mystical or other-worldly origin

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? Neither

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? Yes I understood that the death process is, for lack of a better term, normal. That death is simply a threshold to a never ending procession of life and learning how to love one another while simultaneously escaping the traps and pitfalls of our fragile physical make up. We are all encouraged to get back up after our falls, recoup and move forward to a destiny we have co-created.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Uncertain It's hard to say what paths I would have crossed (or not crossed) had I not gone through this and how it might have changed my inter-personal relationships. I do speak up on certain subjects that others may just wonder about. It's hard to tell others just how one knows with absolute conviction certain things without going into how you received this information. I often prefer not to talk about this experience and others that followed because I feel that it challenges many people's belief systems.

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes Describing the way in which the other intelligence that was present communicated with me.

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Yes I have had numerous precognitive experiences. I am currently able to remote view locations. I am able to hear in ranges that most people can't hear. I can read people very well. I can look at a photo and determine whether the person is living. I have had numerous paranormal experiences since the NDE.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? The most meaningful part of the experience is the direct knowledge that we do survive death and those beings who help us are present at all times.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes I didn't tell anyone about the experience for many years. When I did tell my family, my sisters in particular ridiculed me and didn't seem to believe me. My mother believes me because I was able to describe the scene wherein I was laying in our dining room floor when I was completely unconscious and near death at the time.

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 was only a kid so I was bewildered. I began to challenge the belief system we were being taught at my church. It all came to a head one afternoon during a youth group meeting at my church. Our group leader, an older woman in the church, was explaining to several children from the ages of seven years old to teenagers that all the Chinese people were going to hell because they did not know Jesus Christ. I challenged her and said that was not true. She became upset with me and refused to answer my pointed questions. I stumped her by inquiring what happened to all the souls who were born before Jesus then. I then explained to her that I was only a mere human being and I would never send anyone to hell because they didn't happen to live in a region that practiced Christianity. I also told her that I had concluded that God had much more compassion than a kid such as myself did so it didn't make any sense what she was telling us. She became infuriated and ordered me to leave the church and go home. I never went back to the church I had attended since I was two years old. Mainly because I understood at the deepest level that what they were teaching the children was far from the truth.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real I have come to realize that nothing can be proved or disproved when it comes to this type of thing. Each person forms their opinion or belief system through direct experience or by reading about others who have had these experiences. Judging by the countless numbers of people who have come forward and told about their NDE's a pattern emerges that can't be denied. Now deciding what this empirical evidence actually means is a very personal decision left up to each individual.

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

Is there anything else that you would like to add about your experience? I highly recommend that anyone reading this 'never try this at home' simply to induce the experience. All truth comes in it's own time.

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? You might ask the experiencer to describe the process of leaving and entering their bodies in detail. I think this would be an interesting subject.