J David J NDE

Experience Description

It was nearing 5:30 p.m. on May 30, 1983. I had recently returned to Albuquerque from a several-week trip to Japan to study Japanese management as part of my master’s degree program, and Sylvia had arranged a coming-home party. The return flight was difficult because I couldn't get any sleep, and I was suffering from severe jet lag. There were about twenty-five guests, including children, enjoying the fine weather and our swimming pool. I was sitting on the edge of the pool at the shallow end, talking with one of Sylvia's friends from her office. Janie and I were discussing our tattoos; I had a panther on my upper arm, and she had a butterfly just above her bikini line. Sylvia walked over and said, "You'd better get those barbecue grills started so we can get the steaks on."

I was sitting in direct sunlight and sweating slightly. I replied, "Okay. Just let me cool off a little, and I'll light them." I pushed myself forward off the edge into three feet of water. The last thing I saw before I died was Janie’s tattoo. For some reason, probably due to jet lag, I didn't get my hands in front of my head, and my forehead hit squarely on the bottom of the pool. The blow fractured the fifth vertebra in my neck and crushed the sixth, severely bruising my spinal cord. As hosts of a swimming party, Sylvia and I were acutely aware of our water safety responsibilities. We had agreed not to consume any alcoholic beverages, so alcohol was not involved in the accident.

There was no pain when I hit the bottom of the pool, only an explosion of stars in my mind's eye. Although my body was floating face down in the water, my mind felt as if it were floating in the air. I could not see the water, my body, or any of the other people. I saw a tunnel with indeterminate walls and a light at the end. The light was not necessarily bright, but bright enough to contrast with the tunnel walls. As I hung there suspended in the tunnel, not moving toward the light but staring at it, I sensed I was laughing. I said to myself, "This is funny. I'm dead, and I don't feel bad. I ought to feel bad for Sylvia, Clay, and Kelly, who won't have me anymore and will probably feel sad, but I feel too good to feel bad for them. This is great. I don't have anything to worry about; I don't have any pain."

I can describe this feeling of well-being as incomparable to any pleasure you could imagine. It was as if the complete weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders. I felt no remorse about the pain Sylvia and the children would face upon finding out I was dead, which convinced me I had crossed over. The four of us were as close as a single island of beings in a vast ocean of humanity. We had traveled the world together and adapted to all sorts of situations with little help from anyone but each other. Because we had moved so often, the children had learned to make friends quickly, but they were solidly aware that their family was the most essential thing in the world. As for me, nothing else mattered except Sylvia, Clay, and Kelly. My own life came far behind their safety and care. I continue to be astonished that death feels so good I didn't feel bad for them.

The underwater sounds of children at play filtered through to my brain, and I thought, "Maybe if I stay where I am and don't go through the tunnel, someone will pull me back to the other side." The out-of-body experience ended as suddenly as it had begun, with Sylvia looking at me and asking, "Are you all right?"

Ray had noticed me hanging face down in the water and asked Sylvia, "What is he doing down there?"

Sylvia replied, "I don't know, but he never fools around in the water." She got up and went to the side of the pool where she could lean over and reach me. She grabbed my hair and pulled my head up to see my face. According to Sylvia, I had a silly grin and just stared at her. To her question about whether I was all right, I calmly responded, "No." The weight of my body and the thinness of my hair caused her to let me slide back under the water, but I don't remember that. She called Ray for help, and he and another friend, Steve, jumped into the pool. As Sylvia held my face out of the water by gripping my hair, Ray and Steve lifted my body out and laid me on my stomach.

At first, I couldn't feel anything. Then Steve, still standing in the pool and looking into my eyes, asked, "Are you all right?"

I said, "I don't know. My right leg feels cold, but I can't move it. Take it out of the water, will you?"

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date of NDE: 5/31/1983

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes
My forehead crashed into the bottom of the swimming pool. Fracture of C6.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Neither pleasant NOR distressing

Did you feel separated from your body? I clearly left my body and existed outside it
My body had shut down. I was under the water but not breathing, so it wasn't like drowning. After a while, I heard the underwater sounds of people playing in the pool and felt that I might be able to go back, but I did not want to return to life.

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal everyday consciousness and alertness? Immediately before.
The same.

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

Were your thoughts speeded up? No

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? No

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 The same.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience The same.

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

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? Yes
The walls were moving like clouds, but there was a distinct tunnel with a 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
It was simply a bright light that seemed unreachable.

Did you seem to enter another world? No

What emotions did you feel during the experience? An overwhelming status of peacefulness, no pain, like the weight of the world had been removed from my shoulders. I sensed that my wife and children would be full of grief, but that didn't matter because it felt better to be dead.

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 no longer in conflict with nature

Did you suddenly understand everything? No

Did scenes from your past come back? No

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure? Uncertain
I seemed to float forward but stopped just before being pulled from the water.

Did you come to a border or point of no return? No

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Unaffiliated- Nothing in particular- Religious unaffiliated

Have your religious practices changed? No

What is your religion now? Unaffiliated- Nothing in particular- Religious unaffiliated

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
I am not connected with a religious faith and there was no religious association while I was dead.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? No

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? No

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Slight changes in my life
I found that there is no anger with those who dispute my claim. Like other NDE people, we understand that they cannot understand.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? No

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? No

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
I can describe it completely.

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? Having cheated death in Vietnam caused me to stop worrying about the unimportant stuff in life, but I had fallen back to the old way or worrying. The NDE brought me back to the way I felt when I left Vietnam.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes
Right away. My daughter, a scientist, said it was just a rush of beta endorphins. I disagreed then and hold the same view today.

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
My family was my only priority at the time, and when I died, I was happy to leave them.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real
Nothing has changed over these many years.

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

Anything else to add? No.