Experience Description

I had had surgery a week before. I developed an infection, and had a bleeding vessel in my abdomen. Suddenly, I began to bleed. I had been in pain for quite some time before this event, but at the time, I was not feeling any discomfort. I was an inpatient at the hospital at the time. I heard the nurse saying my blood pressure, and hearing the numbers go down. She said, ‘I can't get a pulse or blood pressure, we're losing her!’ I watched the nurses pack gauze into my wound, and run to get blood, twenty-two units. It wasn't frightening at all. I felt regret thinking I would be leaving my family and friends behind.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: December 2004

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Surgery-related 'Life threatening event, but not clinical death' I nearly bled outMany cancer surgeries.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Positive

The experience included: Out of body experience

Did you feel separated from your body? Yes I can't recall thinking I had a physical form. I was looking at it from outside of it.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? I was awake. I could hear and see everything.

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening at once; or time stopped or lost all meaning They say I was hallucinating and talking to people that weren't there for a couple of days while I was in the intensive care unit.

The experience included: Presence of deceased persons

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? Yes I knew some of them, not others. They seemed to know me. No spoken words, just a supportive feeling presence.

Did you see an unearthly light? No

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? A clearly mystical or unearthly realm I felt no pain or discomfort. I had no real sense of a physical body.

The experience included: Strong emotional tone

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Curiosity; a feeling of regret to leave family, as I am convinced they need me.

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? Everything about the universe I felt that I wasn't ceasing to be, but that I was going to the source of all things.

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Liberal Wiccan

What is your religion now? Liberal Wiccan

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? No

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? No best, no worst. It just was.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes

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 wasn’t as monumental and scary as I would have thought.