Experience Description:

I set off down a long tunnel, at the end of which was a dot of light. As I went along, I thought, 'Oh, good. I'm dead.' When I reached the end of it, there was bright sunlight, and I was walking in a landscape. I walked over to a building like a church hall, and went in. The floor was of pine floorboards, and I noticed with interest that there must have been many parish dances, as the knots in the wood were standing proud of the rest of the floor, and were very polished.

I spotted a piano standing by the far wall of the hall. Strangely, it was on part of the long wall of the hall, not up at what I perceived to be the front of the hall. I placed my hands on the keys, about to play one of Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words, which I had already played when my father died, and which I thought would summon him to my side.

At this point, someone took hold of me by the shoulders, spun me round through 180 degrees, and gave me an immense blow between the shoulder blades.

At this moment, I was back in the bed, with a nurse having just started a blood transfusion into me. No one had touched me while this was going on, and I was not resuscitated by any medical means.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: 9 June 1972

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Childbirth 'Life threatening event, but not clinical death' I was giving birth, and the baby and the placenta both arrived with one push and there followed a massive hemorrhage.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Wonderful

Did you feel separated from your body? Uncertain No

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal everyday consciousness and alertness? Normal consciousness and alertness

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? When I found the piano.

Were your thoughts speeded up? Neither

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Neither

Were your senses more vivid than usual? Neither

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. I don't remember there being any sounds.

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

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? Yes It appeared very long, and the light at the end was just a mere dot. I seemed to travel for quite a long time before I go to the end of it.

Did you see any beings in your experience? Neither

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? Uncertain I didn't actually meet anyone, but I knew my father would soon come for me.

Did you see, or feel surrounded by, a brilliant light? Neither

Did you see an unearthly light? Yes The light started out as a dot at the end of a very long tunnel, and eventually got bigger until I came out into the open.

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? Unfamiliar, strange place As above (#3), a church hall, previously unknown to me.

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Joy that life was over (I was not in any way depressed at the time). Curiosity. Anticipation of the joy I would feel when my father came for 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? Neither

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

Did scenes from your past come back to you? Neither

Did scenes from the future come to you? Neither

Did you come to a border or point of no return? A barrier I was not permitted to cross; or 'sent back' to life involuntarily

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Liberal Church of England.

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Uncertain As it is now thirty-four years since this experience, my religious area has obviously developed, but how far that is as a result of this experience I cannot say.

What is your religion now? Liberal Quaker

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Uncertain As it is now thirty-four years since this experience, my religious area has obviously developed, but how far that is as a result of this experience I cannot say.

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? Neither

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? Uncertain Only a feeling of recognition of what I thought was happening, i.e. that I had died.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? No

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? The night my father died, I was at our home, and at about midnight I was impelled to play a certain one of Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words. I later discovered that this was at exactly the time he died. So it did not seem strange to me that I was once again impelled to play this piece.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes I told my husband fairly soon after this (as I was extremely ill, I can't exactly remember how soon, but certainly within days of the experience), and he was accepting. Anyone I have told has seemed to accept that I had this experience. I don't know if it influenced anyone.

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 Everything was so 'likely' - the friendly well-used church hall, the idea of playing that piece for my Father - that I was convinced that it had happened, and it has made me a lot less afraid of dying - I still fear the actual process, but not the outcome.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real The same as above.

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. But I had my first strange experience when my father was dying, and I felt the presence of his (late) mother at the bedside.