Carlos Manuel V NDE

Experience Description

Hello, my name is Adrian. I am writing in the name of my brother Carlos Manuel, who was the person that really had the Near Death Experience due to a stroke. He is now a permanent hemiplegic with difficulties speaking and writing among other things. Here is his experience:

The stroke happened on the 13th September 2009 during a weekend which I spent with my wife and other family members in Costa Rica. The first event began with a loss of balance. I noticed that my right side didn't function normally.

They phoned the emergency services and they took me to the hospital. My wife accompanied me. I signalled a gesture to her, communicating that 'If I have to die like this, it would have to be due to the situation being very serious.' I remember that while I was travelling in the ambulance and losing consciousness little by little, I began to feel a strange peace. In this state of consciousness, I could listen, feel, and experience the movement of the palm trees by the side of the road. It was an incredibly serene sensation.

Later they told me that I had entered a comatose state. This was caused by the stroke due to a thrombosis in the carotid artery on the left side of the neck. This condition greatly threatened my life.

Nevertheless, at that moment I wasn't conscious of my physical condition. I felt gently pulled away from my body. I was far from the Planet. At the same time, everything around me was expanding. The Universe opened infinitely and lit up my surroundings. I could still see Earth but it was reduced to a very small point of light in the distance. This gave me a sensation of the greatness of our planet through this spectacular vision but at the same time it made me think how tiny we are compared to the presence of this enormous universe. It is difficult to speak chronologically about the events, because I can't say that there was time there or that one event happened after another. Then I was in a place full of light. I knew that there were many people who had been here; not in the body, but like souls who were like light. All the time, I felt an extraordinary peace and happiness. I felt very happy and content to be there.

I remember that in this incredible place where there were so many souls, so much light, so much peace and happiness, that there was also a border. This border was like a great open door. I somehow knew that if I crossed it, I would never be able to return. Suddenly my father-in-law came up to me. It's difficult to describe because the feeling of space or of movement was very different than what we know on Earth. I was very emotional. I also recognized other people, like my cousin Mario. There was really no verbal communication; it would be better put to call it a direct mental communication and understanding. My father-in-law communicated to me, ‘Carlos, it is not yet time.' I replied, 'This place is beautiful and I don't want to go back.' He said, 'Yes, it is beautiful. But it is not yet your time, you have to return.' I think he also said, 'There is a mission.'

At this moment I knew that I had to return, and this is what happened. My father-in-law had been dead two years at the moment the experience had taken place.

Then in the hospital I awakened. I was very confused because I didn't know where I was. I didn't recognize anyone, talk, or move my right side due to the stroke. It took many days to understand what had happened to my body. There had been a cerebral ischemia in a certain part of the brain that gave me permanent damage. I have hemiplegia, dyslexia, and difficulties talking, among other things.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: 15/Set/2009

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Accidente. Cerebrovascular ACV. Life threatening event, but not clinical death. Coma induced for almost one week caused by the stroke, and risk of death.

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

The experience included: Out of body experience

Did you feel separated from your body? Yes I remember that while I travelled in the ambulance and little by little lost consciousness, I began to feel a strange peace, that allowed me also to listen / feel / experience the movement of the palm trees by the roadside, it was an incredibly serene sensation. 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? More consciousness and alertness than normal There was a sensation of expansion, peace and happiness, that I had never felt before.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? When I found myself in this incredible, peaceful and light-filled place, surrounded by so many ‘people’.

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 It was as if things were not linked in time, or in chronological order.

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. More vigorous, more light, I was more connected to the understanding than to the vision.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. I do not remember in detail.

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

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? No

The experience included: Presence of deceased persons

Did you see any beings in your experience? I sensed their presence

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? Yes My father in law and my cousin. Both had passed on.

The experience included: Unearthly light

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

Did you see an unearthly light? Yes Like an enormous room without walls, that was pure light with many people that were like the light.

The experience included: A landscape or city

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? Some unfamiliar and strange place The Universe expanded first, and then there was a great enclosure filled with light.

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Deep peace and happiness. It was emotional, I was very content. I didn't want to come back.

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 seem to understand everything? Everything about the universe The vision of the expanded universe made me feel and think just how small we are.

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? I came to a barrier that I was not permitted to cross; or was sent back against my will

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What importance did you place on your religious/spiritual life prior to your experience? Not important to me

What was your religion prior to your experience? Unaffiliated- Nothing in particular- Secular unaffiliated Educado en un ambiente Catoligo pero no ligado al catoliscismo ni a ninguna religión en particular al momento del suceso

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Yes I always pray a lot, and tried to achieve calmness and peace in my daily life.

What importance do you place on your religious/spiritual life after your experience? Greatly important to me

What is your religion now? Unaffiliated- Nothing in particular- Secular unaffiliated Sigo sin afiliarme a ninguna religión en particular pero mi fe en Dios se ha incrementado enormemente a raiz de la experiencia

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 Consistent with the smallness of the human being, and Earth compared to the Universe. Inconsistent with life after death.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes My spirituality and faith in God has increased very much. The certainty of life after death has continued.

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 My father in law spoke to me. He had died around 2 years before.

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? I sensed their presence

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 The vision of the expanded Universe and the certainty of being in a place where there were many people without bodies, not in a physical sense, with just a feeling of certainty and connectedness

Did you believe in the existence of God prior to your experience? I was uncertain if God exists

During your experience, did you gain information about the existence of God? No

Do you believe in the existence of God after your experience? God definitely exists

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? Yes The Universe is infinitely enormous and filled with light and life continues after death.

Did you believe that our earthly lives are meaningful and significant prior to your experience? Are possibly meaningful and significant

During your experience, did you gain information about the meaning of life? Yes

Did you believe in an afterlife prior to your experience? An afterlife probably does not exist

Do you believe in an afterlife after your experience? An afterlife definitely exists Yes To talk vividly with my father in law who had passed on, and to know that my passed on cousin gave me the certainty that life continues after death.

Did you fear death prior to your experience? I did not fear death

Do you fear death after your experience? I do not fear death

Were you fearful living your life prior to your experience? Not fearful in living my earthly life

Were you fearful living your life after your experience? Moderately fearful in living my earthly life

Did you believe that our earthly lives are meaningful and significant prior to your experience? Are possibly meaningful and significant

Did you believe that our earthly lives are meaningful and significant after your experience? Are meaningful and significant

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

Were you compassionate prior to your experience? Slightly compassionate toward others

During your experience, did you gain information about love? No

Were you compassionate after your experience? Moderately compassionate toward others

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Large changes in my life. My spirituality and faith in God has increased enormously. There are many more changes that we simply perceive with our senses and everything is in accordance with a certain order.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes The need to share this experience and this hope. I have become more compassionate, and understanding of others, that have had serious accidents, that have caused them a physical disability.

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes The damage caused by the stroke, and the natural setting of the experience, made it very difficult to explain so as it could be understood by someone else.

How accurately do you remember the experience in comparison to other life events that occurred around the time of the experience? I do not know how my remembrance of the experience compares to my remembrance of other life events a

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? The vision of the smallness of the Earth, in the expanded universe. The peace, pleasure, and happiness experienced vividly like nothing I had ever known before, and that I had never experienced afterwards. To talk with loved ones that had already died, and to know that they were in a magnificent place.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes With family and friends

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 A beautiful reality filled with light. Life on Earth is only a shadow of this majesty.

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? No