Experience Description


It was in the early part of 1988 and I was living at the time in Bethlehem (occupied territories) in Isr'l. I shared a flat with my ex fiancé. It was bitterly cold this particular night and snow was beginning to fall down upon the ground. We had very little heating, only a small gas heater, so to try and keep the flat warmer, we covered all the window and door openings with wind blockers to keep any drafts out. Having done all this, we went to bed unaware of any potential problems.


I must have been asleep for a while, when I became consciously aware that I was walking up a white staircase. The staircase had an appearance of being something between white marble and sandstone. I was about half way up the staircase when a thought came to me, that should I proceed further up the staircase, I would not be able to return. I stood for a moment and reflected on this thought, with a decision to make, I realized that if I didn't return, my son would be motherless and the unborn baby girl in my womb would not have a life either. (At this point, I would have been two days pregnant, and was not aware of this fact until the thoughts sent to me in this experience, informed me of this fact).


Realizing that I was responsible not only for my own life, but for the lives of my children, I started to walk back down the stairs. At this point, I heard an audible voice say to me, 'Ros get up and go to the bathroom,' I replied, 'No, I don't need to go to the bathroom.' The voice then repeated the request, to which I responded in the same manner as before. The third time the voice demanded that I get up and go to the bathroom, so I obeyed and got out of my bed in the pitch-blackness.


I started to move towards where I thought the door was, but become extremely disorientated, and began feeling nauseas and giddy. I fumbled around for the light switched, but became overwhelmed by a lightheaded feeling. At this point, my ex fiancé woke up and ran straight to the bedroom door, opened it, then he began screaming and ran to the front door and outside into the cold. I was convulsing on the ground, thinking to myself, 'God please don't let me be sick and vomit while I die.' Now I know that might sound strange, but you will be amazed by the thoughts that run through your head, while you're in your death throes.


The cold air came through the front door and began to open my lungs up, with proper air, which stopped my convulsions. I began to laugh as by this time, my hysterical ex fiancé was still screaming so loud, that neighbors around us came out of their flats to see what the commotion was all about. Seeing me still lying on the ground, laughing and trying to get air at the same time, my next door neighbor came in to check on me, but got no further than the bedroom door, when she too, dropped to the ground and was overcome, by whatever had me in its grip.


By this time, other neighbors rushed in and some of them found themselves in the same position as me, so it appeared to me to be some kind of mad comedy, with people dropping literally like flies to the ground. When I had recovered enough I managed to get to my feet and get outside into the fresh air and revived considerably better at this point. Now to give you a little idea, about customs in Bethlehem. Most folk there are either Catholic or Muslim. Either way the folks there thought a demon was attacking us, hence the reason my catholic ex fiancé ran screaming out of the flat.


I tried to reason that there was a scientific reason for what happened, but no one apart from me was going to accept that explanation. Anyway, I concluded the strange events occurred due to carbon monoxide poisoning from the gas heater, which in retrospect was my silly fault for allowing this to happen. Now as to who it was who demanded I get out of my bed, maybe it was my guardian angel? Whoever it was seemed to know me well and how to get me to respond. The voice was audible and very clear, yet I was the only one who heard it. Also I found out that I was pregnant and yes, nine months later, I had a girl. I was never tested for the baby's sex, during my pregnancy and I never doubted what I was told on the staircase, so in every respect in my mind, this experience was no dream, because I would not be here today if it had been.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: 1988

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Accident Life threatening event, but not clinical death I was suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Positive

The experience included: Out of body experience

Did you feel separated from your body? Uncertain I never looked at my body, as I assumed it was there, due to the fact that I was walking up the stairs.

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

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening at once; or time stopped or lost all meaning Yes, at the point of the decision time. I became aware, that somehow I was standing in the middle of a transitional place that was neither on earth nor in Heaven.

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? No

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? Uncertain I did not meet any beings. However, clear thoughts were transmitted to my mind as if I were listening to someone with my ears.

The experience included: Light

Did you see an unearthly light? Yes There was a light coming from the top of the staircase.

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? A clearly mystical or unearthly realm The staircase was very beautiful and white. As to its building type, I am unsure of, as it appeared to be as smooth as white marble, yet the texture was sandstone.

The experience included: Special Knowledge

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? Everything about the universe I was told about the pregnancy and the sex of my unborn child.

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 Yes I became aware of my unborn child. The sex of the child and even the name I was to call the child.

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 I was completely neutral at the time. Until the voice informed me that my decision would affect my son and my unborn child. Then I made a firm decision to return down the staircase.

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Liberal

What is your religion now? Liberal

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes I became more aware of the spiritual side of my life at this point, in particular death and dying.

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 I'm uncertain about this matter as I have always had a strong sense about events and people. I can usually tell you, who is ringing up on the phone before I answer it and who is on the way to visit me, without having prior contact. My son who was also involved in this incident has very strong psychic gifts and often has premonition dreams with extremely accurate details, often down to the smallest iota.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? The convulsion, believe me, its not a nice feeling, when your body is screaming for air and you want to throw up all at the same time.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes Mixed, some believed, some didn't want to know, others were unsure as I did not have the traditional experience, tunnel etc.

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? No.