Thomas G NDE

Experience Description

I was involved in a car accident while working my police job. I was pinned in my police cruiser and after successfully being extracted from the car, I was airlifted to the hospital. While in the helicopter, I was bleeding out from my injuries. They began giving me blood, when all of a sudden my heart stopped. The flight nurse and flight medic began CPR on me.

I lifted out of my body and I could see my self being worked on by the flight crew staff. They put a tube in my mouth and a tourniquet around my right leg and hip. They started doing compressions on my chest and the flight nurse was saying, ' You’re not going to die on my bird, not on my shift.'

I could see the helicopters exterior and it seemed to be getting further away as the moments passed. All of a sudden, I felt this un-natural need to turn around and see what was going on. When I did turn around I saw blackness, like I have never seen before. There was a tunnel with a bright white light that felt warm and inviting. I was being pulled into the light and felt at peace with the movement of coming closer to the light.

I became encompassed by the light and could see people on both the right and left sides of the tunnel. The left side had people that I had done wrong things to like lied to, stolen from, cheated on and things like that. On the right side, there were people that I had done good things to such as people I had helped as a police officer, people that loved me, and animals that I had in the past that had died.

All of a sudden, I was thrust into a large room with a crowd of people moving to and from. There was a big counter with a man waiting on me. He had a large, illuminated book that was so beautiful. He asked me my name and I gave it to him. He corrected me and asked for my legal name, not my nickname or earthly name. So, I gave it to him. He opened the beautiful book up and riffled from one page to the next. He finally stopped, pointed his finger and said, 'Nope, your time has not expired yet.' I noticed that his lips were not moving and he was communicating telepathically in my head. He could hear my thoughts and I could hear his as well.

I turned to look around. I saw my Grandfather right in front of me. He whisked me away by the hand to the outside of this room. My grandfather had died 6 years prior to this incident, but I had no knowledge of his death while the experience was happening. He pulled me to a place where there was an amazing pond with the clearest water. The water was pure and radiating with glory. The sun was just coming up and the color of light that was being projected was something that I can’t describe with our humanly words. The peace I felt while beside this pond is again something I can’t put into words. I felt the presence of God and his angels. The sound of music like no other!

My grandfather looked at me and told me not to be afraid that this was heaven. He could not show me God because it was not my time, but someday he would. He told me that God was going to help me re-enter the living and that it was going to hurt. The pain that would occur would be temporary and not forever. He further told me that it was not my time and that my time in heaven was limited. I then felt the presence of other family members who had died.

All of a sudden, I was pulled back out of the tunnel and was being wheeled into the trauma center. I could hear the doctors speaking, but I couldn’t see them. They doctors were saying that they were going to put me in a medically induced coma to help stabilize my heart and control the bleeding. I woke up 10 days later in the ICU/Trauma wing. The doctor’s explanation of what happened to me shocked me. I had died in the helicopter 2 times with a total time down of 4 minutes each episode. So a total of 8 minutes, but when I was with my grandfather it seemed like hours.

I explained to the doctors what I remembered and they sent a chaplain from the hospital to talk to me.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: 04/01/1998

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? No. Accident Clinical death (cessation of breathing or heart function)

How do you consider the content of your experience? Entirely pleasant

Did you feel separated from your body? Yes I could hear the doctors and nurses talk for a little bit of time, but it stopped when I entered into the tunnel of light; it was like I was separated. 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. If seemed that I could see more and hear more clearly.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? When I saw my grandfather I was at the highest level

Were your thoughts speeded up? Incredibly fast

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Time seemed to go faster or slower than usual. Time and movement was sped up like when you fast forward on a VCR

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. The vision had no time for recognition. It was like I recognized things instantly like it was all knowing

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. Hearing was like it was telepathic

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere? No

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? Yes I saw a great light at the end of a long tunnel

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 saw my pets and my grandfather but I could also sense my other deceased loved ones around me

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 It was a beautiful light

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? A clearly mystical or unearthly realm It was a mystical place where I have never been before

What emotions did you feel during the experience? I was extremely calm and at peace the entire time

Did you have a feeling of peace or pleasantness? Incredible peace or pleasantness

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 myself or others I had this all encompassing knowledge

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? 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 I grew up Baptist but converted to Catholicism shortly before my accident.

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Yes I became a devout Catholic

What is your religion now? Select

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 connected with God and entered into seminary 5 years after my experience.

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

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? I actually saw them

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.)? Yes My senses of Jesus was on high alert, I felt his love and presence the entire time I was out of my body

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? Yes My grandfather explained to me in my own terms that Jesus was love and that love existed in heaven

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? Yes I felt that God was telling me that ministry was my calling and that this calling had been going on for sometime and that God wanted me to just do it.

During your experience, did you gain information about an afterlife? Yes Life continued to exist

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? Yes There was a sense of unconditional love that no matter what had happened in the past that love prevailed

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

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes I live my days like it’s my last, I make time matter and not worry about the things that I can’t control.

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes There’s just not words in the English language that can describe some parts that I experienced.

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

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? No

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes I first shared in hours after waking up from my medically induced coma

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

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? No