Chris L NDE

Experience Description

In 2005, I took up scuba diving. I was truly passionate about it at the time. I worked my way through the different certification levels to gain experience and feel completely secure in this unfamiliar environment.

In 2009, I decided to get my third-level certification, which allows you to dive with a buddy independently down to 40 meters. Among the various exercises, we had to perform an assisted ascent on our buddy. This involved settling on the sand at 40 meters and then ascending to the surface with the buddy, who was simulating a medical issue.

The beginning of the ascent went very well; I had perfect control assisting my buddy. But at about 17 meters from the surface, I felt myself descending slightly toward the bottom. I took a big breath to regain control of my ascent. A fraction of a second later, air stopped flowing into my mouth. I signaled to my dive instructor with the conventional sign that I was out of air and was surfacing.

It was at that moment I found myself inside a luminous sphere where everything around me was shining. I felt good and knew I was safe. I moved toward a tunnel of light. Everything was beautiful and peaceful; I was not afraid. Then, at the entrance to the tunnel, I was stopped.

The next thing I knew, I was on the surface of the water, vomiting blood and losing consciousness immediately after. I was brought back to our club's dive boat, and the maritime rescue services came to help me. I was airlifted and taken to the hospital in Marseille where I spent four days on oxygen. I had suffered a pulmonary barotrauma on the ascent: some alveoli had burst and my lungs had filled with blood.

I want to note that for those four days in the hospital, a magpie remained perched on a large cedar tree opposite my room. I understood a few months later that my mother, who had passed away a few months before, had made her presence known through it.

Indeed, on the day of her funeral, I went to her grave in the afternoon to pay my respects. That's when I saw a magpie on a neighboring headstone. That day, I didn't pay it any mind. Then I saw a magpie again high up in a tree when my daughter had surgery. During every trial, this magpie was on my path.

One day, I decided to see a medium because my mother's absence was too painful to bear. During the session, without knowing me, this gentleman told me that my mother was there with us. It was then that I felt a veil of love settle over my shoulders and slide down me. I asked him if my mother knew what had happened to me. He told me the following words, which will forever be etched in my memory, "She was the one who pulled your head out of the water because she decided it was not your time."

It was then that I understood the meaning of the magpie, the one who watches over me day and night.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date of NDE: 17/05/2009

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? No

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

Did you feel separated from your body? 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? When I found myself in the tunnel of light
I wasn't afraid because I knew I wasn't in any danger. I felt good; everything around me was filled with love.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness? More consciousness and alertness than normal

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
Time seemed to stand still. I was in my luminous sphere, unaware of what was happening, feeling like I was fully 'enjoying' the moment, as if absorbing it. Earthly life no longer existed; in fact, I had no memory of that life. I wanted to stay where I was.

Were your senses more vivid than usual? No

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience My vision was incredibly clear; I could perfectly see the light surrounding me. A luminous sphere of incredible immensity.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience I didn't hear anything in particular during my NDE

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

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? Yes
A wonderful tunnel of light, with an even brighter, and equally inviting, light at the end.

Did you see any beings in your experience? No

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

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

Did you see an unearthly light? Yes
A light like I've never seen in our lives. Not only did it shine intensely, but it was comforting, soothing, it seemed to love us.

Did you seem to enter another world? No

What emotions did you feel during the experience? I was deeply calm and serene. I didn't know what was happening, but the well-being I felt flooded me with happiness.

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

Did you have a feeling of joy? Happiness

Did you feel a sense of harmony or unity with the universe? I felt united or one with the world

Did you suddenly understand everything? No

Did scenes from your past come back? No

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure? No

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
As I walked through the tunnel of light, I glimpsed a bright and beautiful light in the distance, toward which I strolled, taking my time, as if I had all the time in the world. When I reached the end of the tunnel, I approached to see what lay beyond, but I couldn't, as if someone or something were barring my access, as if the place had to remain secret.

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Unaffiliated- Atheist

Have your religious practices changed? Yes
I don't know if God exists, and I don't know if I should believe, but I do believe, and that's what matters most to me. I like going to churches to pray. Inside some of them, I feel special energies, sensations of intense well-being. Now, I'm very attentive to everything I experience within myself.

What is your religion now? Unaffiliated- Atheist
Since my NDE, I believe in a spiritual life, in the continuity of the soul after death.

Did your experience include features consistent with your earthly beliefs? Content that was entirely not 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 accepted my mother's death; I have accepted that she has left us. I am no longer angry at life for taking my mother from me so soon, when I still had so many wonderful things to experience with her. I know now that she is watching over me, over us, and that she is helping us through difficult times.

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? 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? 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? Yes
All I felt was Love, the light was Love, a feeling of swimming in infinite Bliss, bathed in the Love of this intense light

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
Now, I speak about it openly, because what I experienced is reality. I would like to help people who are suffering after losing a loved one, so that they may be reassured and know that their loved one is still there, with us, accompanying us and continuing their journey in the other world.

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes
It's difficult to find the right words to describe what I felt during this NDE. Everything was pure bliss, but that word doesn't quite capture it.

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 experience is a part of me and will forever be etched in my memory. However, I forgot about it for the next few years after the NDE. I knew it had happened, but I didn't grasp the significance of what I had experienced. Perhaps I was in denial, unwilling to accept that there could be life after death.

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? I know that the person who saved me from that diving accident is named Jeanine, and she is my mother. From the world in which she now lives, the afterlife, she intervened because she judged that it was too soon for me to leave the earthly world.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes
I don't remember how much time has passed, but I can say that it took me a while to talk about it because I wasn't fully aware of what I had experienced. When I recounted my experience, I could see in their facial expressions, 'I know you're telling the truth, but I'm having trouble believing what you're saying.' What I went through is something no one can influence, positively or negatively, over me. When I shared my experience with someone who had lost her daughter in a car accident, she rediscovered her zest for life and, in turn, understood that her daughter was still there, always by her side. I don't know if they were influenced by my experience, but that's what I hope.

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 probably not real
I thought it was just a diving accident; I didn't realize what I'd been through. A few years earlier, I'd become interested in the afterlife, out of fear of dying. I'd read books about the tunnel, about the light, but I didn't make the connection right away. I think I just didn't want to accept that there could be life after death.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real
It's within me, it's a part of me. When I relive that moment (as I write these lines, I feel and see everything I saw and felt then), I feel immense happiness and am flooded with gratitude for life, which allowed me to have such an experience. I want to share it with the world, so that each of us knows what happens after death, so that everyone can prepare to leave this world peacefully and without fear of what comes next.

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

Did the questions asked and information that you provided accurately and comprehensively describe your experience? Yes
Writing these few lines has brought back memories of the near-death experience I had 16 years ago, just a few months after my mother's death. I've tried to recount it as best I could, using my own words, memories, and emotions. It was thanks to the book 'This Life... and Beyond' by Dr. Christophe Faure that I discovered your website and felt inspired to share my own near-death experience here.

Anything else to add? NO, I tried to transcribe, through your questions, the NDE as I experienced it.