Paul C NDE



Describe the Experience 9383:

My Temporary Death/Out of Body Experience

On Sept. 25, 2006, ironically my wife’s birthday, I had a heart attack and died. Let me explain.

First, a couple of months earlier, I had what I believed was an allergic reaction to medication my doctor had me on for high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I was rushed by ambulance to the hospital, but all tests came back negative. Everything was normal. Ironically, while sitting in the emergency room, I picked up a medical magazine spotted nearby and noticed a full-page advertisement for the very medicine I’d been on. One of the side effects noted was angina pectoris, and the ER doctor confirmed that, indeed, it was possible that my problem that day was due to the drug’s side effect.

Consequently, I decided to drop both that drug (I don’t recall its name) and my doctor! I had actually been warned by a nurse practitioner friend that this particular doctor had a less than stellar reputation. My plan was to find another physician.

Unfortunately, during the ensuing weeks of being off all medications for my cholesterol and blood pressure issues, I experienced severe chest pains; my wife was called home and drove me to the hospital. It was about 10 in the evening. We were supposed to be going out to The Eagle House restaurant to celebrate Anne’s birthday, but my impending heart attack detoured us to the hospital instead. Thank God. I later learned that, had we gone to the restaurant instead of directly to the emergency room, I wouldn’t have survived.

The clinical team tried everything to minimize the unbelievable pain, but nothing worked. Eventually, I felt myself losing consciousness and called out to the nurse. Anne was at my side at the time. When the medical team rushed back in, Anne told me later than my eyes rolled back in my head, and the waveforms on the patient monitor to which I was attached were a tangled mess. I was later to learn I was in ventricular fibrillation, or “V-fib,” which is the worst-case scenario anyone could face. I had, in fact, experienced sudden cardiac arrest.

Anne told me the lead doctor ushered everyone out, including Anne, and he used a defibrillator to hopefully bring me out of the extremely serious episode that had, in an instant, changed my life forever.

During my unconsciousness; i.e., my temporary death, I had a remarkable, vivid out-of-body experience. I found myself seated in an intensely dark room – more of a “space,” not necessarily recognizable as any particular room. I then saw the very image of myself, in precise detail, from the front, sitting up from a flat-on-my-back position, and I was screaming. It was a blood-curdling scream, and my body had a kind of halo of brilliant light completely outlining it. It was a riveting, electrifying white light – truly brighter than anything I’d ever seen before.

I recall dispassionately, objectively viewing the scene: me – unmistakably me – sitting straight up and letting out that horrifying scream, framed in intense white light.

The next thing I was aware of was the medical team leaning over me. I had been brought back, and they promptly informed me they had to use the defibrillator on me. They told me they were going to take me by ambulance to hospital that was equipped to do angiograms. As they hoisted me with a “1-2-3” onto a gurney, I heard a nurse say, “Did you know you screamed when you came to?” I didn’t catch which nurse said that, and I was in too much distress and pain to respond. But her comment struck a chord, since only seconds earlier I saw myself screaming and sitting up.

Later than night, the angiogram confirmed coronary artery blockage. Two stents were inserted. A day or two later I was home.

For nearly a year, I remembered the comment by that nurse, who asked me if I’d realized I’d screamed when I was brought back to life. But there’s far more to this dimension of the story, as you’re about to learn.

As it happened, my daughter Kristy had become ill, and I had to take her to the emergency room where, about a year earlier, I was brought back to life by the doctor and two nurses I’ll never forget: Lynn and Don. When I brought Kristy in for treatment, Lynn and Don happened to both be working that evening, and were together near the ER triage area. I went up to them, they remembered me, and we engaged in some reminiscing.

However, I wasn’t expecting what came out of Lynn’s mouth. “Oh, yes, Paul, I remember it well. You were my ‘first.’ (meaning the first heart attack patient she’d ever attended to in the emergency room). I remember how you sat up and screamed!”

“Wait – what did you say?” I questioned Lynn. “Did you sat I sat up and screamed?”

“Yes,” she replied – “you sat straight up, 90 degrees. And you were screaming.”

That was the first I’d ever heard that not only had I screamed when I was brought back, but I also sat straight up. This confirmed both things I saw when I was considered essentially clinically dead: the screaming, and the sitting up while I was screaming.

What I saw that night was as real, vivid, distinct, clear and tangible as anything I’d ever experienced in my life. And both things – the screaming and the sitting up – were absolutely confirmed by nurses a year later!

When I visited my family physician, Dr. Michael some weeks after this episode, he was silently reading my charts, when he was surprised and blurted out, in front of my wife and me, “Oh, you died!” He literally said those exact words, not realizing – until he read the report – just how grave a situation I’d been through.

So there was no question I had in fact gone into ventricular fibrillation and temporarily died. And during that time – I have no idea how long I was actually “gone” – I had a distinct, real, vivid out-of-body experience, literally viewing my own image sitting up and screaming. Yet I observed this in the most dispassionate of manners. I sensed no pain or anything other than silence, darkness, calm. Darkness, but also that shockingly brilliant light that encircled the vision of my own figure.

If I’d reported these two incidents; that is, seeing myself go from lying on my back to sitting straight up, and screaming – and no one else had confirmed it – then it would easily have been something others might think was “just all in my mind.”

But what I saw with ultra-clarity and vividness is exactly what at least two other also saw! They confirmed that what I saw while I was essentially dead for however long it was, actually did happen.

It has changed my life forever.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: 9/25/2006

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) I sustained a heart attack causing ventricular fibrillation.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Both pleasant AND distressing

Did you feel separated from your body? No 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 My sense of focus on what I observed -- myself, sitting up and screaming, with extraordinarily bright light sort of framing my form -- was more acute, more intense than normal.

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

Were your thoughts speeded up? No

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening at once; or time stopped or lost all meaning There was simply a kind of absence of any sense of time. And space for that matter. I didn't have any sense of how long I was where I was. Nor what time of day it was.

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

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. It just seemed my sense of sight was greater, without visual or verbal distractions.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. Probably about the same. The dark void or space was silent.

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere, as if by ESP? No

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? No

Did you see any beings in your experience? No

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

Did you see, or feel surrounded by, a brilliant light? An unusually bright light

Did you see an unearthly light? Yes There was intense white, bright light encircling my body as I sat up on the bed.

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? Some unfamiliar and strange place I was in a space, but I cannot call it a room per se. Just a dark space -- a very, very dark space. I felt seated, but with no awareness of any form of a chair as such. I was slightly elevated above what I saw: me sitting up from a prone position and screaming. There was a calm about it all. A kind of objectivity of me merely witnessing, observing, and wondering some why I was watching myself. It wasn't exactly an "unearthly world," but it was a kind of unfamiliar and exceptionally dark space. Until an intense bright light encircled my form once I sat up.

What emotions did you feel during the experience? A slight sense of wonder or confusion: why was I suddenly looking down at my own body, sitting up on a bed and screaming?

Did you have a feeling of peace or pleasantness? Relief or calmness

Did you have a feeling of joy? No

Did you feel a sense of harmony or unity with the universe? No

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? No

Did scenes from your past come back to you? No

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? Christian- Catholic

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? No

What is your religion now? Christian- Catholic

Did your experience include features consistent with your earthly beliefs? Content that was entirely consistent with the beliefs you had at the time of your experience

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes I have a slightly greater belief in an afterlife than I did prior to the incident.

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? No

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? No

Did you encounter or become aware of any beings who previously lived on earth who are described by name in religions (for example: Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, etc.)? No

During your experience, did you gain information about premortal existence? No

During your experience, did you gain information about universal connection or oneness? No

During your experience, did you gain information about the existence of God? No

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? No

During your experience, did you gain information about the meaning of life? No

During your experience, did you gain information about an afterlife? An afterlife definitely exists No

Did you gain information about how to live our lives? No

During your experience, did you gain information about life's difficulties, challenges and hardships? No

During your experience, did you gain information about love? No

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Slight changes in my life

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? No

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? No

How accurately do you remember the experience in comparison to other life events that occurred around the time of the experience? I remember the experience more accurately than other life events that occurred around the time of the experience. This event was and is exceptionally vivid in my mind's eye. I know it's cliche, but I remember it as if it were yesterday. It was a very clear, precise, observable event -- and I saw it happen before it actually happened.

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? Yes. The fact that two hospital employees, both nurses, corroborated what happened to me. This is explained in my essay about my experience.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes Almost immediately shared with others. Most believed me unconditionally and seemed impressed and intrigued.

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? Yes I knew about NDE from reading various books and articles over the year. My knowledge of this phenomenon did not affect my experience at all. My experience was a real, vivid, actual event in my life that evening.

What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was definitely real I'm not sure I fully understand this question, but all I can say is that not only do I know what I vividly saw, but perhaps more importantly it was all CORROBORATED by two RNs on staff at the hospital. This is explained in my lengthy description of my experience.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real Already address this question; I believe.

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

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? There appears to be some redundancy.

Experience Description 4404

It was about 10:00 p.m. and I was lying on an emergency room bed at the hospital in New York. My wife drove me to the hospital while I was experiencing severe chest pains.

The medical team had me on a monitor. They had given me nitro and whatever other things they normally do to a patient clearly experiencing a heart attack.

There came a point where I began feeling faint. I kept pleading with the doctors to relieve my pain. My wife was standing nearby. As the feeling of near fainting grew more intense, I called out to a nurse or someone, saying that I felt like I was about to pass out. Later, my wife would tell me that the waveforms on the patient monitor were 'all over the place,' totally erratic, and that she saw my eyes roll back in my head.

I could feel myself slip into unconsciousness. I'd fainted a few times in my life before, due to non-serious things like a phobia I used to have of hypodermic needles. Once I even passed out when my second daughter was born, after seeing the large needle they brought out to administer whatever they gave my wife to help facilitate the birth.

Anyway, on the night of September 25, 2006 - ironically my wife's birthday - I called out to alert the emergency room staff that I was about to pass out. Then I did. Well, actually I was in ventricular fibrillation, which as I understand it is virtually always if not literally always fatal, if defibrillation doesn't occur very, very soon thereafter.

The next thing I experienced and was conscious of was being in a very, very dark space. All the sort of stereotypical terms are inescapable as I describe this, but it indeed seemed otherworldly. It was intensely dark and very quiet. I felt no pain and didn't necessarily have a concept of my own physical self. What I mean was I knew I was observing something, but I didn't necessarily look down at my own person to see, say, what I was wearing.

What I observed - and what I'm about to say was CORROBORATED later by the hospital emergency room nurses (two of them) - was myself lying on the emergency room bed, then quickly sitting straight up, and screaming. I saw myself as vividly and clearly as anything, I've ever seen before.

I was surrounded by a very, very intense white light, and it seemed to crackle, almost 'electrically,' so to speak. The light encircled my form; it wrapped around the contour of my body, as I recall. All this was against an extremely dark background.

It was unclear where I was or what kind of room or space I was in, other than the darkness, then the bright light surrounding my form, sitting up at ninety degrees and screaming loudly. I cannot say with certainty if I was positioned slightly higher than the view of myself on the table, but I think I might have been. I was certainly not below that level, and definitely not 'floating' above my body. I was seated comfortably in a chair, simply dispassionately and objectively observing what was taking place.

I remember thinking, 'Hmmm, that's me. Why am I sitting up and screaming, with an amazingly intense white light around me?' It didn't necessarily disturb me, and I had no real sense of when this was taking place, nowhere, and of course nor why. I just knew that suddenly there I was, in an ineffably dark space, watching myself sit up and scream.

When the medical team brought me back, they told me they had to shock me with the defibrillator. I was still in tremendous pain. The hospital did not, and still doesn't have facilities for angioplasty, so they put me on a gurney to prepare me to travel by ambulance to the city of Buffalo.

While they were placing me on the gurney in the emergency room, I heard a nurse (though I didn't see her) say to me, 'Did you know you screamed when you woke up?' I was in too much distress to respond to her, but her words struck me as rather remarkable, because of course I had seen and heard myself screaming while I was in the throes of sudden cardiac death.

There is more to the corroboration of all this by the medical staff, however, which I'll explain shortly.

They rushed me downtown and did angioplasty, inserting two arterial stents. I was in the hospital about a day and then was released and have been feeling fine.

About a year later, my daughter Kristy sustained an injury that necessitated my taking her to the same Emergency Room. Ironically, two of the key nurses that attended to me during my ordeal on the night of September 25, 2006, were tarrying about the emergency room area. I remembered them vividly: Lynn, and Don. They remembered me.

Indeed, Lynn explained that I was 'her first,' meaning the first time she was on duty in the emergency room when a patient had a heart attack and essentially died on the emergency room bed. Don also recalled that evening, and we engaged in a little bit of small talk.

Then Lynn said, 'Oh, yeah, I'll never forget you sitting up and screaming.'

WAIT! I said. Could you say that again? She repeated her statement.

Oh my God, I thought, and I explained it to her and Don. I knew that night in 2006 that my screaming was corroborated, because shortly after I was revived by defibrillation, a nurse said to me, 'Did you know you screamed when you came to?'

But nobody had ever corroborated the OTHER thing I did - the sitting straight up! Now, a year later, Lynn and Don both assured me that, oh yes, I was screaming loudly as I SAT STRAIGHT UP!

This was absolute confirmation that what I saw while I was clinical dead actually took place - and I saw all this from a dispassionate position and perspective, while it was happening to me. It was AFTER I saw it all that I 'came to.'

I'm a very practical person and generally skeptical of anything even marginally relating to psychic phenomena and that sort of thing. I know without even the slightest shadow of a doubt that what I saw and experienced that evening was real. It was intensely vivid and clear.

I have a strong interest in reading about OBEs and NDEs because of my own astonishing, very real experience. I have virtually no fear of death and absolutely know there's an afterlife. I felt that way from my religious beliefs and from reading and listening to great religious-scientific people like Pastor Rick Warren, Dr. Francis Collins of the human genome project; Lee Stroebel and others. My belief was totally locked in when I had my own out of body, near-death experience.

I would swear to the complete and total truthfulness and accuracy of this account in a court of law and on a stack of Bibles.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: 'Sept. 25, 2006'

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) I went into ventricular fibrillation as a result of a heart attack.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Mixed

The experience included: Out of body experience

Did you feel separated from your body? No I lost awareness of my body

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 As above.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? I don't know that I can answer this, except to say I felt fully alert and aware of what was going on throughout the entire experience.

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 A general feeling that it just wasn't clear where I was, why I was here, or WHEN I was here. It wasn't clear how long I was here before I returned to consciousness in the emergency room. Something told me I was somewhere else just moments earlier; i.e., where I was 'supposed' to be, but I'm afraid it's impossible for me to describe just how time and space factored in. I just felt like the normal sense of time and space had changed. I think I was aware that I could be dreaming, or at least I think I briefly considered that I might have been dreaming. But I clearly was not.

Were your senses more vivid than usual? Incredibly more vivid

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? No

The experience included: Void

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 light was behind me and around my sides; essentially it encircled or wreathed my form. It was very, very bright and white - blinding, in a sense, yet not to the point where I felt it disturbed my vision. It was just extraordinarily bright and 'electric,' so to speak.

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

What emotions did you feel during the experience? This is hard to say. No real emotions, other than the puzzlement of why this was happening. I remember thinking, 'Gee, that's an image of me there, wrapped in intense light, sitting straight up and screaming.'

Did you have a feeling of peace or pleasantness? Relief or calmness

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

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

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Yes I tend to attend church more regularly than before my near-death, out of body experience.

What is your religion now? Moderate

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes I tend to attend church more regularly than before my near-death, out of body experience.

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? No

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes My wife and I are closer, and I think I've gotten others in my life to have a greater respect for life and the ultimate meaning of it all. I often share my experience with others, and it seems to bring them and me a bit closer. They're intrigued by and grateful for my sharing my experience.

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? Just the fact that both details - the screaming and the sitting up - were confirmed by two nurses.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes I told people fairly soon after I returned home after the angioplasty. People were very intrigued and seemed to believe me pretty much without skepticism - perhaps because I was so genuinely convincing, since I know what I saw. It wasn't something I THINK I saw - it was indeed what I saw, what actually occurred, very, very vividly. I think some of the people with whom I shared my experience seemed perhaps a bit encouraged that, well, the notion of an afterlife was now more real, more 'pragmatic' to them than ever before.

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? Yes I've read some books and magazine articles about NDEs. As a journalist, I read 'everything'. I'm curious by nature. I like staying informed about a disparate array of things, including fascinating phenomena like NDEs. Did it affect my experience in any way? No. Not in the least. What happened to me on the night of 25 September 2006 happened: it was real, vivid, clear, and life-changing.

What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was definitely real Again, the reality of the experience covers two things: (1) the absolute vividness of what I saw and heard; and (2) the later corroboration, confirmation, of what occurred, by two other totally disinterested parties (i.e., the two aforementioned nurses, both of whom can be separately and independently consulted on this matter).

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real Nothing has changed. What I saw, and what the two nurses verified, was as real as anything I've ever seen or heard in my lifetime.

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? It has inspired me to ask my doctors and other medical professionals (and others) what their thoughts are about the afterlife; about whether they believe there's a Grand Designer behind life, etc.

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? I don't believe so.

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