Andrew B NDE

Experience Description

Drifting in and out of consciousness, I recall parts of the journey to hospital and being in the hospital entrance or a dark corridor. The next recollection I had was seeing my family around me in a hospital bed in a ward crying. But I wasn't in my body and it felt like I was somewhere behind the bed and above myself. I remember a warm brightness above and around me. Someone was telling me, 'It is not your time yet. You're not ready.' It was dream-like and I can't remember a face. The voice was a calm, loving male voice but I don't know who it was.

I came around 2 weeks later and was told by my tearful mother that I'd been unconscious the whole time. She told me that they nearly lost me. I've always remembered the out of body experience as a real thing that actually happened to me and can even still visualize it in my mind's eye. I told my Mother about seeing them cry when I was in the hospital bed. She said that I was unconscious the whole time.


Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: March 1981

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Accident Life threatening event, but not clinical death. I had opened a large plastic bottle of homemade punch that was at my friend's house and fermenting for many months. I took the bottle and gave it a shake but the lid would not come off. I put it in my mouth and started to turn the metal cap with my teeth. The bottle cap fired off with the force of a shotgun because it deformed the cap into a sharp metal object which tore my throat open. After running around bleeding and choking for a minute or two, I managed to get the cap out of my throat and an ambulance was called.

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

Did you feel separated from your body? Yes I saw my family around the bed crying. 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? Less consciousness and alertness than normal. It was like waking up but not being in my body and not being able to say anything. I think it became more dreamlike as I felt like I was drifting away. Although I remember the experience, it is more vague than when I was first aware of my family crying around me.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? When I was looking around at my family all sitting around me in the hospital bed, but I felt like I was standing up. I was looking at them crying and not being able to say anything to them.

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. It was the same but became more dream-like

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. I remember hearing my family crying and I was aware of a voice from above/around me. But the voice may have been more subconscious, I'm not really sure since I heard it in my mind.

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere, as if by ESP? No

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? Uncertain. I remember the warm, bright light around me but I can't remember if there was a tunnel.

Did you see any beings in your experience? No

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

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

Did you see an unearthly light? Yes There was definitely a warm bright light around me but I couldn't get to the source of the light

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? A clearly mystical or unearthly realm. As my memory serves me, it felt distant but close by. It was like being in bright clouds, even though I wasn't in the clouds.

What emotions did you feel during the experience? I felt calm and peaceful. I was not a bit scared.

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 seem to understand everything? No

Did scenes from your past come back to you? No

Did scenes from the future come to you? 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- Other Christian. I regularly attended church at the time. I was christened as a baby.

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Uncertain. I have studied the bible and creationism. My experience joined together with what I have learned and has really made me a strong believer in God and his creation. It hasn't directly changed me but has added to everything.

What is your religion now? Christian- Other Christian. I am deeply christian in faith and pray regularly. I do not, however, attend church regularly.

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. As a teenager, I was a Christian in the sense that I believed in something mainly because I was scared not to believe in anything at all in case I was wrong. My experience felt so real that I have believed in God and life after death ever since.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes I went from thinking that maybe there was a God to absolutely believing there was a God. But as teenager, I didn't really change my life. As an adult I have.

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? I heard a voice I could not identify. I was aware of a voice telling me that it wasn't my time. I can't remember the exact words though, since it's been 36 years.

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? 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.)? Uncertain I have always felt that Jesus was behind the words, but it has always just been a feeling.

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? An afterlife definitely exists. It certainly felt like a real experience and not simply a dream. I believe there is life after death because of my experience and the fact that so many others have similar things happen to them.

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 I felt loved

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Moderate changes in my life. I absolutely believe that God created us and that everything we see was created by God. This could never have happened by accident and my experience of a glimpse into something beyond this has cemented this. I believe that our lives here are the testing ground for what's to come of us. God loves us all and wants us to join him in heaven but we have to prove ourselves here.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Uncertain I think it has made me a better person knowing that there is something after this life and that I will have to answer to someone for my actions here.

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 as accurately as other life events that occurred around the time of the experience. I can picture it in my mind's eye and always have been able to. It does feel slightly more vague after moving away from my family around the hospital bed. I do remember it happening.

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Uncertain I have seen several ghosts as an adult. One ghost was a woman in Victorian clothes and she was very real before she vanished in front of my eyes.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? It's just been a good memory that has come with me through life. It keeps me feeling positive about life and death.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes I told my Mother almost as soon as a could when I came out of the coma. She told me that I was not conscious at all for the whole time I was in the hospital. So it wasn't a case of me looking at them through my physical eyes. She believes in God and life after death anyway, so she understood what I was telling her. I have told my wife but I think she thinks that I must have been dreaming.

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. Certainly felt real and has stayed in my memory ever since

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real. My experience fits with my beliefs and knowledge, so I have no reason to question it.

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? No

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? Seemed good to me