Jami SD NDE

Experience Description

In 1998, on my 21st birthday in the early morning hours of Wednesday, November 26, 1998, I had gone out for 'power hour' at midnight (actually a couple of hours before that with a fake ID) to celebrate my 21st birthday with college friends because everyone would be going home that night for Thanksgiving break. Therefore, 'power hour' was that last hour when the date changed at midnight, and we had an hour before the bars closed at 1 a.m. to celebrate and drink legally.

I had about three hours of drinking, and I was not a heavy drinker. I was 5 foot 4 and about 110 pounds, and up until that point, I had never gotten sick from alcohol. In fact, I hadn't even had alcohol before I went to college. However, every person under the sun that I knew wanted to buy me an alcohol shot to help me celebrate. Being the inexperienced lightweight that I was (and letting my self-control go out the window for the first time) I entrusted my then-boyfriend (later husband), Gregory, to watch over me and monitor my drinks. However, he didn't do a very good job. I'm not blaming him, as he got busy visiting with people too and had no clue what I could or couldn't handle. He'd never had to monitor me before because I had never gone beyond 'my limit.'

It wasn't long before they had to get me into a car and take me back to the house I rented with four other college girls. Gregory slept on the floor of my bedroom that night, and I slept in my twin bed. I remember him taking a photo of me with my camera, which I still have because I jokingly flipped him off (also not like me). But my memories fade in and out before and after that, which is often the case with alcohol, a lot of blank spots in memory throughout the night.

I started to get sick in my sleep, and Gregory couldn't wake me; this was around 2 a.m. He had to call 911, and as the ambulance crew lectured him and drilled him with questions (which, of course, I don't remember), he called my parents (who were three hours away) to come, along with my sister, who was a freshman at our college and living in the dorms.

I have a memory of seeing my body being carried down the stairs of our two-story house by two male paramedics. My body was covered by a white sheet, so I couldn't actually see it. I was hovering in the corner of the living room, and my sister was standing in the opposite corner by the phone. I feel like I have a memory of her lecturing me not to die, and I felt like she looked right at me as I hovered, but she doesn't recall this. She did remember, however, that when they carried me down the stairs with the white sheet over me, she freaked out because she thought I was dead. She may not remember seeing me because of the trauma, or I may be remembering wrong. Or perhaps she subconsciously sensed me there but doesn't recall seeing me, which has also happened to me before with deceased beings.

I never actually coded, but the paramedics were definitely worried that I wouldn't make it, which is why my parents made the three-hour drive in almost two hours. They didn't know if I'd still be alive when they arrived (this was before the days of cell phones). I was never hospitalized, and my parents were able to take me home for Thanksgiving break. But it was an awful way to spend my birthday. I remember feeling peaceful as I came out of the effects of the alcohol, embarrassed, for sure.

But I had this profound knowing that everything was going to be okay in life, and that my purpose wasn't complete. I had no fear of death at all, and never did after this. In fact, I believed that I would die young and I was okay with that, even though I love life and had a good life up until that point with a great family, life, and many gifts, talents, and successes in life thus far... with many more goals to strive for. I had a thirst for love, life, adventure, and a compassion for people and the world... I always was, but even more after that. And actually, I have had 2 more NDEs (2016, 2019) after this one (not by alcohol, I rarely drank before and haven't at all since 2019), with each one becoming more profound with even more characteristics fitting to NDEs. So in a sense I almost did die young 2 more times.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date of NDE: 11/26/1997

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes
Alcohol overdose on my 21st birthday.

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
I heard my sister and roommates talking, I heard the paramedics talking, I saw Gregory.

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal everyday consciousness and alertness? Right before it for a split second, and shortly after it, and briefly while I was unconscious as they carried me down the stairs on the ambulance stretcher.
It was vivid. Despite the alcohol intoxication, I had unexplained alertness right before it and right after it. When I was out of body, it was very vivid.

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
I wasn't aware of time. I wasn't aware of any urgency that time would play in a situation like this. I was simply just "being."

Were your senses more vivid than usual? More vivid than usual

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience It was crisp, vivid, but not significantly different.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience I heard them talking audibly but only for a brief moment. I don't recall meeting any other angelic beings in this encounter.

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

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? No

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? No

Did you see an unearthly light? No

Did you seem to enter another world? A clearly mystical or unearthly realm
I was in a room in the house on earth, but I could also tell that I was in a different realm than my family because they couldn't see me or seemed to ignore that I was floating up in the corner of the room.

What emotions did you feel during the experience? It wasn't the profound joy and love that I had experienced in encounters and NDEs that occurred later, but it was a very calming sense of peace. I wasn't worried at all.

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

Did you have a feeling of joy? No

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? Everything about myself or others
I wouldn't say everything. I did have a sense of peace and knowing about my life purpose, and that life was going to be okay.

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? No

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Christian - Protestant

Have your religious practices changed? No

What is your religion now? Christian - Catholic
I'm more spiritual than religious. No religion is doing it all correctly and they all need to come together to learn from each other. I get frustrated at church sometimes with what or how they teach things. I'm Christian, but I don't believe Jesus is or was the fullness of God; he is an enlightened being with a profound purpose. I have the utmost respect and love for him, but he is not my God.

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
This was consistent with what I believed prior to the event, but there was this peace in knowing that I wasn't wrong (formerly in my body) in my intuition and discernment of that life purpose.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes

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? Yes
Yes, I knew that I was connected to the One, but it's difficult to describe. I was part of the One, yet separate. Different from the two NDEs that I had after this one. Like I was in the in-between state.

During your experience, did you gain information about the existence of God? Yes
Yes, I had this sense of knowing that I could go on to meet God or I could go back to my body. It wasn't an epiphany that God existed, I just knew God existed with no questions about the subject.

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? Yes
I knew my purpose was to be an advocate for marriage and family.

During your experience, did you gain information about the meaning of life? Yes
Yes, that my life purpose was profound and I had a lot to do and that it wouldn't be easy but that everything was going to be okay.

During your experience, did you gain information about an afterlife? Yes
Yes, in the experience, I knew that I was existing out of my body and that I had a choice to go back or go on, but not because any being told me to, I just suddenly had a sense that I needed to go back to my body because my life wasn't done living in this life.

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? Yes
Only that despite the challenges that would occur, everything would be okay, and that even the difficult times would be used for good, which is unusual because I had a pretty loving, gifted and easy life up until that point.

During your experience, did you gain information about love? Yes
Only that I knew I profoundly loved my family and Gregory and that is what made me go back to my body. The feeling of love was stronger and more vivid than in my body, but not as profound as the NDEs and encounters I would have later.

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Large changes in my life
I continued to have increased intuition and psychic type experiences, but I would dismiss them because many wouldn't come true or happen until years later.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Uncertain
My loved ones and family have always been important to me and I have always had an altruistic nature; however, I lived life as if each day mattered and I wasn't going to waste it.

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes
I actually dismissed it and thought I'd imagined it later. It wasn't until my second and third NDE and other spiritual gifts, encounters, experiences (mediumship, psychic, encountering deceased relatives, friends etc.) that I acknowledged that it was all connected and that it was in fact an NDE. I didn't really know anything about NDEs until 2023 when I finally started to look for the evidence to support all of my experiences.

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 as accurately as other life events that occurred around the time of the experience
I dismissed the events, not because I didn't recall the events, I just dismissed it as a normal experience in an abnormal situation. I later recognized this as a less strong NDE when I had two stronger NDEs and OBEs and psi encounters afterwards.

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Yes
I would have moments of profound knowing that a particular thing would later happen in my life or happen to me. For example, I'd watch the movie "The Perfect Storm" when it came out in the 1990s and I said, "that is going to happen to me, not exactly, but it will" and then 25 years later, my life experienced three catastrophic events that collided all at once which left me with profound trauma, grief, and increased spiritual experiences (like the third NDE from an assault). Things like this were when I would take a scene in a movie, or a title of something or a quote from someone and I would know that things like that would happen. I saw a picture of my husband (boyfriend at the time) with two of his friends when they were in NYC for a college basketball tournament in 1996 that they played in and they had the Twin Towers in the background, and I told him that he should cherish that photo because he wouldn't get a photo like that with the Twin Towers again. I didn't know that 9/11 would happen, I just knew he wouldn't get a picture with them again. We are well-traveled and have both been to NYC many times since then and I obtained my master's degree at Columbia and was at Ground Zero. But neither of us were there to take a picture by the Twin Towers prior to 9/11 after that photo was taken in 1996. I knew many things would happen to me or us in this way, but I dismissed them until things started coming true and my OBEs and NDEs happened after 2016... I also encountered deceased individuals a couple of times before my second and third NDE (many more after those).

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? No, just a profound peace about the whole thing. I was okay with the fact that it happened. I knew myself, I knew I wasn't a drinker and it wouldn't happen again. I wasn't afraid to die, and I was okay. Other than being a tiny bit embarrassed, I just didn't have any trauma from it.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes
I did a little bit at the time, but I sort of dismissed it as just another "unusual life experience" type of thinking despite knowing it was an out-of-body experience because I just didn't know a thing about NDEs or OBEs or that it was even a phenomenon or that it was written about or researched etc. I just knew it happened to me, and I was okay with it.

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
I knew it was absolutely real, but at the same time, I dismissed it like a memory. Not really imaginative, but sort of like a sister-experience to a life (in-body) experience because I didn't know about NDEs. I knew it was different than in-body and that it was real. And I just went on with my life. Because my mind and body were intoxicated with alcohol, I also dismissed it, thinking I could be wrong because of that. I questioned my own experience or recall of it, but deep down I knew that it was real. It just didn't seem to matter to me one way or another. But I never denied that I had an out-of-body experience with it for sure.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real
Now I realize that it was definitely an NDE, and that the anomalous and psi phenomena that occurred after it sporadically and spontaneously in life made sense. How I lived my life made sense because of that experience.

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? Yes
I'm not sure what you mean by this, but I've had two more NDEs with each one becoming more profound than this one. And my spiritual experiences and encounters increased in frequency and intensity and purpose with each NDE.

Did the questions asked and information that you provided accurately and comprehensively describe your experience? Yes

Anything else to add? No, thank you.