Carolina NDE

Experience Description :

In November of 1991, I was struck by a car which left me in a deep coma and I was instantly unconscious. When the driver started up his car he ran over me, (the tires left marks even on my underwear) and caused internal head injury, ruptured eardrum, broken pelvis, ribs, shoulder, my kidneys ceased to function. I tell this to put the experience into proper context.

I was transferred to a hospital, revived, connected to several machines such as respirator, etc. and was in a complete coma. I suppose during this time was when I had my experience. I felt a very strong pull, like a powerful shove that makes me think that was the moment when I saw myself in that place. This 'impulse' as I call it was what knocked me into a large park. When I found myself there I was surprised but at the same time not worried. At that time, I felt completely enveloped in great peace, a marvelous sensation of fulfillment. There was no sense of time or space. Everything WAS and nothing more existed. The temperature was embracing, enfolding - I looked around, curious, but without a feeling of curiosity, (I can't explain it better). It was like accepting what was without any other reference. Everything was very green, with nature everywhere. Behind me was a great closed door (impossible to jump over it was so tall) with large bands the color of brilliant gold. In front of me was lots of grass with a straight, but not long, road in the middle that disappeared at the nearby horizon. There were a few people whose faces I never saw, but each one was in his own world. There was a fountain of water. All the people were dressed in white. The only sounds where those of nature and they were not loud. No one spoke, except when my grandmother appeared and met me (until this moment I remained in the same place I had been in since being impelled into the park).

She said to me, without uttering a word: 'Hi! It's been a long time since I saw you. What a joy to see you!' I don't remember if I responded, but my joy and happiness at that moment were without measure, since I was seeing my grandmother whom I had loved so much in life (without relating to the fact that she was now dead). As soon as we met up we began to walk on the straight road that I mentioned before, but it was like suddenly changing position, I mean, from where I was standing we moved to where the road began but without moving. Then we began walking but it was like floating and slowly moving forward. She was at road level but did not touch it - I don't know. My grandmother never touched me. She was younger than when she died (eighty-nine years old), perhaps thirty years younger with loose long hair, white blouse, black skirt, barefoot, really, really happy to see me.

Suddenly, as we were walking along, she became very agitated and seemed in despair. She told me again without speaking words, 'I have to go, I can't continue here,' and at the same time, she picked up her pace. I stayed behind not understanding anything while my grandmother very energetically and decisively, without ever looking back to where I was and without saying goodbye, continued on down the road.

I don't know if the great pain I later felt was because of what I experienced during my NDE and then brought back with me when I came out of my coma - a sense of great anguish and loneliness. I don't know for sure, but what I can say for sure is that returning from my 'experience' has been, shall we say, a traumatic one, the feeling of abandonment is very unpleasant.

At that time my kidneys began to function and I peed (something I wasn't doing up until then) and, well, other things of a medical nature transpired that indicated my immediate and total recovery from the coma. The doctors couldn't explain my recovery, but one of them approached my mother and told her that her faith was stronger than his own diagnosis.

I don't know how long the experience could have lasted, but when I was pulled into that place I was dressed the same as when I was involved in the accident which was about 7:00 in the morning on a Sunday (this coincides with the feeling that it was very early when I found myself in the park). I was in the coma for four days - and I DON'T HAVE ANY RESIDUAL EFFECTS.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: November 1991

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Accident Direct head injury TEC cerrado y coma profundo. Life threatening event, but not clinical death Estado de coma profundo, traumatismo craneo(cerrado), inicio de disfución de riñones, reanimación. I was in a coma on the verge of death (at the time there wasn't anything that could be done according to the medical diagnostician) without hope of recovery and had been given extreme unction - the doctor even suggested to my mother that they disconnect me from the machines, but she never lost hope and told them, 'No, please wait awhile longer.'

How do you consider the content of your experience? Wonderful

Did you feel separated from your body? Uncertain 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? Less consciousness and alertness than normal I don't know if we can call it a higher or lower state of consciousness. I saw myself there and although I felt, I was in a different place and I was surprised to see my grandmother and to experience what happened all of a sudden, at the time everything seemed normal and happened without making me feel uneasy. The difficulty began when I came out of the coma and I remembered the experience, when I give meaning to the feelings I had there...

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? When I found myself in the park I had the feeling that everything caught my attention, but at the same time nothing was unusual because the abundance, the relaxation, were such that the marvelous surroundings enveloped me in a kind of warm protection. The environment was brilliantly lit with sunlight, timeless (although it was morning) because there was no consciousness of time-space as we perceive here in this world (it's very difficult to explain). Shortly my grandmother arrived who had died three years earlier and we experienced great emotional connection. We communicated but without spoken words. We never touched each other, but the meeting was extraordinarily happy. Suddenly, she became uneasy and told me she had to go, that she couldn't stay there.

Were your thoughts speeded up? Incredibly fast

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Time seemed to go faster than usual I realized there was no time or space like we know in this life, but this seemed normal. I wasn't conscious of being in a different state. I can't explain it better.

Were your senses more vivid than usual? Incredibly more so

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. Everything was illuminated, the temperature ideal and could be nothing else but ideal. TOTAL PEACE above all else, an indescribable sense of well-being. Something - I don't know, perhaps the ambience surrounded my feelings and the fact that there were no unanswered questions, nor fear, nor worry, nor anything frightening - COMPLETENESS. Perhaps I can say now that this sense of completeness was happiness itself and universal love (I don't know if this comes as a reflection I have made in hindsight).

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. As I said before, everything was perceived in great detail, but I wasn't conscious of this heightened awareness at the time. It's a way of telling about it in an understandable way but not exactly as it was.

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere? Neither

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? Uncertain No tunnel, but yes, I was inside a large park enclosed by a large door with enormous and thick gold-colored bands.

Did you see any beings in your experience? Saw them

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? Yes I met my grandmother who had died three years previously. There were a few other people but I didn't recognize anyone, at least nobody drew my attention. Only my grandmother came to meet me and told me, 'It's been such a long time, what a joy it is to see you,' without speaking, that is to say, without words coming from her mouth.

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 sunlight was impressively brilliant and enveloped everything.

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? Clearly mystical or unearthly realm El lugar en general era muy tranquilo, mucho verde, árboles, flores, las pocas personas que había (no ví sus caras)cada cual hacía lo suyo, todos vestidos de blanco, excepto mi abuela que iba de blusa blanca y falda negra, más joven que cuando murió (89 años)quizá 30 años menos, pelo más largo y suelto, ágil, descalza y estaba a ras del suelo, caminaba sin pizar, los desplazamientos eran rápidos como con el pensamiento.....El lugar era la paz total.

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Happiness, peace, nothing sad or painful (even when my grandmother suddenly decided to leave I was upset and reacted, but I suspect that was the moment when I came out of my coma).

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? United, one with the world

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? Everything about the universe

Did scenes from your past come back to you? Neither

Did scenes from the future come to you? Neither Well, I have had more dreams of premonitions and hypersensitivity. I don't know if this is what the question is referring to.

Did you come to a border or point of no return? Neither

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Liberal Creyente en Dios pero no guiándome en una religión específica, sino que pienso que todas las religiones oficiales son válidas y respetables culturalmente......respeto la libertad de culto descartando eso sí, las no oficiales donde se practiquen sacrficios

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Yes Well, I continue thinking the same as before, except more spiritually and more clearly with the idea that something greater exists. Of this, I now have no doubt, independent of any religious belief.

What is your religion now? Liberal Igual qu elo anterior, pero con una fé más grande y más espiritual

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes Well, I continue thinking the same as before, except more spiritually and more clearly with the idea that something greater exists. Of this, I now have no doubt, independent of any religious belief.

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? Neither

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? Saw them

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? Uncertain As I mentioned before, I perceived things at the time of the experience but I wasn't aware that it was anything out of the ordinary. Only later, after I came back, was it possible to understand this (at least in my case) because at the time there was only the present to serve as a reference point for what I was seeing and feeling. Life on earth remained completely outside my frame of reference at that time.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes Yes, definitively. My degree of spirituality is infinitely greater, prejudices tend to disappear, superficialities become completely of secondary importance, and I have a greater awareness of living in the moment and living it more righteously. Obviously, it creates a kind of existential contradiction between how I now perceive things and the reality that others live by.

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes The most difficult part to express and faithfully present in words were (and are) the feelings and sensations that I perceived during the experience because they are far greater in magnitude than the language we have to describe them.

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Yes More premonitions in my dreams, but I had them before the experience including one foretelling my own accident and death which drew closer with the passage of time.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? Yes, the 'impulse' that I felt in my body, that type of strong pulling that coincided exactly when I found myself in that place. Also, meeting my grandmother, the fact that she never touched me, and when she suddenly left without explanation and without ever turning her head to look back where I was standing.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes The first time, I shared it with my father about three days after coming out of the coma. I didn't tell him about it before because I was so upset with my grandmother leaving me behind that I was unable to speak. I could only cry inconsolably. Also, when I told my father about the experience I told him I had a dream (because that's what I thought at the time) and that's why I was crying. At this point, no one had told me that I was in an accident and almost died. And although I had come out of the coma and was in the hospital, I was not able to make associations because I was completely disconnected from reality. I was unable to comprehend what was going on. I remember that my father listened to my story and was silent. Later, with the passage of time and being more conscious of everything, I told a few other people who I knew would at least listen with interest. I don't speak about this with just anybody.

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? Yes Many years ago, almost when I was a child, I had read a book related to this, but only the typical account of the tunnel, nothing more.

What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was definitely real I saw it as real because it coincided with many things that were all happening at around the same time (I would have to explain this in more detail because it is very long). I'm sure I had to have died because the doctors told my parents I was dead. I wonder if I came out of my coma and returned to this life when my grandmother suddenly became uneasy and left me standing in the middle of the road.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real The experience changed my life, my expectations and my feelings. The experience showed me what things are of real value. Perhaps this realization has some purpose.

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? With the question dealing with 'was there separation of consciousness from your body', I marked it the way I did because I didn't notice any separation from my body in the sense of seeing my body on the bed with me floating above it (as some people have said)' But yes, I felt the sensation of leaving because I felt impelled, as if a force abruptly pushed me and made me stand inside a large park enclosed by a great door with enormous brilliant gold-colored bands. At that point, yes, I could see my body because I was looking at myself and surprised to find myself suddenly there, but I wasn't worried.