Alex T NDE

Experience Description

On April 23, 2010 I was in a fatal car wreck on the highway. I was T-boned at the intersection, wasn't wearing a seatbelt, and was thrown across the car breaking my pelvis on the gear stick. I slammed my head on the passenger door armrest which caused a severe traumatic brain injury and lacerated my temporal artery almost bleeding to death. I have no memory of the accident itself or the roughly 5 weeks I spent in the Hospital in both critical care and inpatient rehab. I had terrible short-term memory loss issues that still plague me some to this day. I was non-weight bearing for months due to my hip injury.

The first time I spoke of the NDE was 5 days after the wreck. My brother and aunt were in my hospital room at the hospital. My brother had read that playing music was good for TBI patients because of how strongly music is tied to memory. He would sit by my bed for hours playing old favorite songs etc. At this moment, he was playing my favorite hymn, 'In the Garden' performed by Willie Nelson. I used to hear it all the time as a boy while riding in the car with my grandfather. I hadn't said more than a few words together yet and suddenly I began crying. My brother and aunt asked me what was wrong. I said, 'I'm not crying because I'm sad, I'm crying because I'm happy! God and his son have been hugging and holding me all week long. Jesus Christ touched my scalp and healed it!' My brother and aunt were jaw dropped shocked and ran out of the room to waiting area to others to tell them that I could talk and what I had just said.

According to my family, while at the hospital, I would often talk about seeing Heaven, seeing my deceased paternal grandparents, and seeing and talking to Jesus. I am unable to recall doing this due to my short-term memory issues.

When I was released to outpatient care, I stayed in my old bedroom from childhood. I was given a prescription of nerve pain medication to help ease symptoms of the brain injury. One of the side effects was very vivid lucid dreaming. I didn't dream 'dreams' though. I would dream often of memories from my time in the hospital that I could not consciously recall. I would tell the dreams to my father and he would reassure me that was a real event, but I can't remember it because the brain is repairing itself and establishing new neural pathways. All that information is in there, I am just now processing it. I had one final memory dream. I called my dad who is a cardiologist to come home and talk to me.

He and I sat out on the porch and I began to tell him I had a memory dream that was the most lucid and real I had ever had.

I was looking down at my body on a hospital gurney. I had the respirator tube down my throat. There was blood all over me. I told my dad, 'You were lying on the floor beside my gurney.' My dad began to turn white. He said son, 'You were unconscious and unable to breathe on your own. I refused to leave your side once I got back to you and I just laid on the floor next to your gurney while waiting. There's no way for you to know that, I've never spoken of it!'

I turned to my right and Granny and Pappy were there. They are his deceased grandparents. I asked, 'What are you doing here!?' They said, 'We're here to protect you!' At this statement, my dad began crying harder than I'd ever seen him cry in my life. He said, 'Son, after we got the call about your wreck, your mother and I were flying down the highway. I was driving and panicked. I had an out of body experience while driving. I saw this frantic man driving and thought he needs to calm down. Repeatedly, all that man, (that was me) could shout was 'Momma and daddy, find him and protect him!' He said, 'I've never spoken of it since. But you repeated verbatim what I was praying to them.

He asked about them. My granny died in 1987 when I was only a little over 1 year old and my grandfather died in 2001 when I was 14. I said they both looked young, like in their late 20's. Even though I'd never seen them alive like that, the instant I saw them both I knew exactly who they both were. They felt just as familiar to me as my family that had been with me in life. They were dressed differently. I would later learn this was kind of how you could tell how long someone had been in Heaven. My granny was wearing a white robe-like, almost stereotypical angelic garb; yet, my pappy was wearing a button down shirt and pants still earthlike. They both had a glow or aura to them. My granny had a stronger and brighter one than Pappy's. Later they would take me to Heaven and I would see in the multitudes of people, angelically and earth dressed people with various levels of glows or auras. He asked a All of a sudden, we were no longer in the hospital room. We were in a gray void, no features visible, and maybe like a gray cloud. We suddenly came upon a convertible-like vehicle that for lack of a comparison resembled a floating gondola above the gray 'floor'. We got in, Pappy drove while Granny sat with me with her arm around me reassuring me. My father, said 'you talked about this in the hospital. That it didn't have a motor, it just moved and made a whooshing sound as it went.' I said 'yes, that's right!' We began going somewhere.

Again, suddenly, a hole opened up at the top of the gray void and red light poured through as a menacing vehicle like thing came through. It looked like a train that flew and it was pulling dozens of cars of cages with people in them. The people were being tortured by demonic beings. I could feel their thoughts and feelings. On the other side, I call it 'instant comprehension', you just look at something and immediately know everything about it. I knew when I looked at them, that these were wicked, evil people on their way to Hell. The feeling I could hear the most from their thoughts was anger at God for punishing them, feeling sorry for themselves, but not feeling any remorse or longing for forgiveness. I also knew by looking, even then as they were on their way to Hell if they truly felt remorse and begged for forgiveness, God would forgive and free them. But their anger, self-pity and pride wouldn't let them.

Suddenly, a hole opened up at the bottom of the gray void and the train vehicle went down it and it sealed up behind it.

Pappy kept driving and we came over a 'hill.' I saw the most breathtakingly beautiful sight I have ever seen. I saw heaven in all its glory. There aren't words to describe how awesome and magnificent it is. The colors are radiant and there's colors there that don't exist on earth.

My dad told me I talked about this in the hospital. I described towers of gold that went up into the clouds and out of sight. The picture towers were a hundred times larger than the empire state building and made of pure gold.

As we rode into heaven, it was like being downtown in a busy city. People were all walking around, going to places, had the look of purpose to them, no one was idle. All types of people, not just Christians. There were gay and straight people too. Some were dressed in robes others earthlike attire. We drove up to a ridge, parked, and got out of the vehicle. There was a cloudlike object in the distance with radiant colored-light coming from it. I heard the loudest, most booming voice I have ever heard. I don't know if it was aloud or in my head or both. As it spoke, every hair on my body stood up and I felt tingly, like electric surges running up and down me.

The instant comprehension let me know as soon as it spoke, it was the Voice of God. Nobody had to tell me, since I knew as soon as I heard it. It was in a language I couldn't understand and had never heard before. But I knew it was the language of God. As soon as He stopped speaking, I knew to turn and look at my grandparents. They both told me they loved me and that I would be ok.

I turned and saw a golden, double sliding door. I walked up to it and the door opened on its own. I stepped inside. I felt it silently going down. It stopped moving.

When the doors opened, I could see a man seated on a chair in the far end of the room. I took 3 steps forward and caught sight of his eyes. They were light brown with a bright, golden amber hue to them. The man was large, muscular, olive skinned complexion, with long black curly hair. I knew immediately it was Jesus. His size and strength were consistent with being a carpenter in ancient Israel. Of course, he would be big, strong, and look middle eastern. At that moment, I realized that I was truly dead and that it was judgment day for me. I dropped to my hands and knees and began crying begging for forgiveness, trying to name each sin I'd committed.

Jesus began laughing, but not meanly. He was laughing like a parent would at a child that spilled chocolate milk on the carpet, knew they weren't supposed to be in there, went to parents crying and owned up to it knowing they were going to get a spanking, and it is so pitiful that a parent can only laugh.

He said aloud, 'You don't think I know who you are!?' I shut up and stood. He looked at me. I heard him in my head without his mouth moving, 'I know everything about you!' He then cocked his head slightly to the side and squinted slightly and said, 'Your biggest and only sin is you don't appreciate the natural beauty in the world. You have no idea how hard God and I work each and every day to make beautiful things happen and appear from a cloud or rainbow in the sky to a small flower. You never appreciate it, thank us for it, you never even think to!' In that moment, I was 23 at the time and in college. I had been in a fraternity, and partying a lot. I thought I had to be dreaming if my biggest sin was not appreciating natural beauty.

As soon as I had that doubt, he and I are instantly whisked away. Jesus was showing me the birth of the universe. It's beyond comprehension. My dad said that in the hospital I said he took me over the abyss. I immediately knew it was real and not a dream. I begged forgiveness and as soon as I did we were right back in the chamber and Jesus back in his chair.

He looked at me and didn't say anything else. As he nodded, I knew I was going to get a second chance at life and going back to my body. Instantly, I was lying in a bed, hearing all these beeps from the machines I was hooked up to and seeing little neon lights on hospital equipment. I was in searing pain, scared, and confused. I was about to scream and suddenly I saw my other grandparents asleep in chairs next to my hospital bed. I knew something bad had happened, but that they were there and knew about it. I fell back asleep. That is the only real memory I have from the hospital.

When I finished telling my dad, he said I had been telling him the story in chunks and details ever since I could start talking in the hospital. This was the first time I told the whole thing start to finish. He said it was the most incredible thing he'd ever heard and that I needed to write it into a book.

I did write the experience down, tried to publish it. I was able to self-publish it as April 23rd: The Day I Journeyed to Heaven by Alex Tyson as an ebook in 2012. I have always felt a need to share it and let people know there is an afterlife.

The experience changed everything about my life. I drastically improved and it changed the path I was on. I ultimately met my wife and she and I will be having a daughter in March 2024. I have changed several people's lives who I have shared the experience with who helped regain their faith.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: 4/23/10

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Accident Direct head injury Clinical death (cessation of breathing or heart function) I was in a car wreck. I was t-boned making a left turn on an open green light at an intersection. I wasn't wearing a seat belt, was thrown across the car, broke my pelvis on the gear stick had to have 8 screws put in it and slammed my head into the passenger door armrest. The impact gave me a Traumatic Brain Injury and the impact of my head broke the armrest which the shards lacerated my temporal artery. I basically bled to death. My hemoglobin was at near death levels and I had to have a blood transfusion and was put on a respirator as I was not breathing on my own. I had 18 staples to the right side of my head to seal it back up. The doctors at the hospital said my head was spraying blood when they lifted the bandage off.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Both pleasant AND distressing

Did you feel separated from your body? Yes I saw my body and my father lying beside my hospital gurney next to my body, he verified later that that happened I clearly left my body and existed outside it

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal everyday consciousness and alertness? More consciousness and alertness than normal I could learn everything about something simply by looking it and instantly all the knowledge would come to me.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? When I was speaking with Jesus face-to-face

Were your thoughts speeded up? Incredibly fast

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening at once; or time stopped or lost all meaning no real sense of time, seemed like forever and instant at the same time

Were your senses More vivid than usual? Incredibly more vivid

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. I have glasses in normal life, didn't have them in the experience and saw crystal clear

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. my hearing was super sensitive and remained so after coming out of the experience. I can hear things and detect sound in ways I never could, it also can very annoying in public as I can overhear way more than I want to.

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere? Yes, and the facts have been checked out

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? Uncertain I went to a gray void, don't remember it being like a tunnel, it was like I was just instantly in a gray, featureless void

Did you see any beings in your experience? I actually saw them

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? Yes I saw my deceased paternal grandparents

Did you see, or feel surrounded by, a brilliant light? A light clearly of mystical or other-worldly origin

Did you see an unearthly light? Yes the light coming through the cloud when I heard the voice of God is indescribable. There were colors coming from it that don't exist on earth.

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? A clearly mystical or unearthly realm Heaven had awesome majestic towers of gold on a scale beyond our imagination on Earth. Colors that we don't have, universal knowledge and understanding and a total sense of peace.

What emotions did you feel during the experience? love, peace, compassion. did feel fear when seeing people going to hell and when I came face to face with Jesus because I knew I was a sinner

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 united or one with the world

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? Everything about the universe I felt like I understood the universe and the instant comprehension ability let me know that I could and would ultimately learn anything and everything I would ever want to know.

Did scenes from your past come back to you? My past flashed before me, out of my control When I was before Jesus, I had the life review flash before my eyes and I tried to name each sin and beg forgiveness for each

Did scenes from the future come to you? No

Did you come to a border or point of no return? I came to a definite conscious decision to return to life Jesus after showing me the birth of the universe, looked at me and I knew I was getting a second chance at life and I definitely wanted it and took it to go back

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Christian- Protestant I was and am a strong protestant Christian, but was not big into churchgoing. Still not a big regular churchgoer.

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Yes stronger and more tolerant

What is your religion now? Christian- Protestant Looking for a church since moving to Winston-Salem last year in 2023.

Did your experience include features consistent with your earthly beliefs? Content that was both consistent and not consistent with the beliefs you had at the time of your experience Most was consistent. The things that weren't was that people in Hell could still be saved, and that gays and non-Christians could be in Heaven, but this experience changed those beliefs

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes More tolerant, less judgmental,

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? I encountered a definite being, or a voice clearly of mystical or unearthly origin I encountered my grandparents who looked young and mature like late 20's. All the people I saw in heaven were all youthful and mature like late 20's. Jesus looked like late 30's man. God was just an unidentifiable voice, but loud and booming.

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? I actually saw them

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.)? Yes I saw Jesus and spoke with him. I only heard God.

During your experience, did you gain information about premortal existence? No

During your experience, did you gain information about universal connection or oneness? Yes There was all types of people in Heaven, not just Christians. I knew God loved all people. The only ones in Hell were truly wicked and evil

During your experience, did you gain information about the existence of God? Yes I heard God speak, he definitely is the master of the universe. Jesus existed as well, He and God are in tandem.

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? Yes I feel special that I was allowed to see Heaven and to see and know what I experienced and I feel a need to share it with people who hopefully have an open mind and listen

During your experience, did you gain information about the meaning of life? Yes I just knew that God loves us, wants us just to try our best and appreciate all the small things and natural beauty of life along the way.

During your experience, did you gain information about an afterlife? Yes there's a heaven and a hell from my experience and it's based on how we live our lives how we get there

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 Just that my relatives still loved me and I them on the other side and that God and Jesus do have love for all mankind.

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Large changes in my life I try and notice at least one naturally beautiful thing every day or as often as possible. When I do, I try to take a few moments and appreciate it and thank God for it and letting me live to see it

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? some folks distanced themselves from me after hearing of it. found out who my real friends were Yes

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes There's colors there I can't describe because I can't relate them. It's hard to describe the instant comprehension. Or the glow or aura to people.

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 have told it countless times over the last 14 years, I remember it more clearly than most events I actually remember.

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? How much knowledge and understanding were valued immensely in Heaven

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes Most are open to it and receive it well. Has helped many get close to God again. I have had a few doubters or non-believers.

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 you know it's real, because the feeling of it is unlike any dream or hallucination. it's as intense as life.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? Yes My grandmother had a similar NDE when she was clinically dead and had many similar experiences in her NDE

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? very thorough

hh5het7_nde