Cynthia D STE

Experience Description

I went to bed on that night in 1995. I had already had a Heart Ablation attempt done on me that was unsuccessful. I was seeing a new doctor who was called in to try to help me get the heart arrhythmias under control. Since childhood, it wasn’t unusual to have bouts where my heart was beating really, really, fast and on a daily basis. A lot of the time when I was monitored by my doctor, the heartbeats would be 200 to almost 300 beats a minute.

The day before my second Heart Ablation attempt, my heartbeat was 411 beats a minute. I had so many doctors in my room that day. No one could believe that my heart could survive that kind of reading.

I eventually fell a sleep that night and started dreaming. I was moving fast in a make-shift, wooden wagon and in the middle of the dark woods. I was in the front seat. There were two other carts attached to the back of the front seat. In the seat behind me was my sister and brother-in-law and my aunt was in the last seat of the wooden wagon.

All of a sudden the darkness of the woods opened up into brightness in front of us. I remember holding my hands up to the light, then looking back into the other two seats saying, 'CAN YOU FEEL IT?' Then I was in the most beautiful, brightest, and indescribable place. I knew immediately that I was Heaven. The music was so beautiful. There were gorgeous golden waterfalls shining so brightly. Angels were all around, singing in a tone that is not of this earth. (I’m getting tears writing this all down.) Everything was paved in the most beautiful, golden light. The love I felt there, was unlike any love on this earth. I’ve tried to find an earthly word to describe it, but there isn’t one. It was indescribable. Amazingly beautiful, is all I can come up with. I wanted to be in that place forever!

Then I looked down on my body lying on my bed. I could see my children asleep in their beds. My husband worked nights, and hadn’t made it home at the time this happened. All of a sudden, I heard a voice from God himself saying, 'You can stay, or go back.' I looked at my children again. My earthly soul couldn’t leave them all alone. That’s when I felt my soul reenter my body.

I reflected on where I had just been, and started crying from the beauty and peace that I was just shown. I then got out of my bed, and it felt like I was floating towards my children's bedrooms. I wondered if I was still alive. I felt so weightless at the time. I went to my oldest child, and touched him so lightly. I didn't want to wake him, but wanted to see if he could feel me touching him. After 2 attempts, he finally moved, then slightly woke up and looked at me. I told him to go back to bed, and everything was fine. I still didn’t believe I was really back on this earth. I had about 2 hours to wait until their daddy got home. I sat in my living room still trying to process the fact that I had just seen Heaven. This was before cellphones, so I couldn’t call my husband at work to see if he could hear me talking to him. It was a very strange feeling. I wanted to be there with my children, but I also wanted to go back to where I was at.

Finally, I heard my husband’s truck coming down our long driveway. I sat right by the door waiting for him to walk in. The minute he opened the door, I just looked at him and said, 'Mike, can you see me? Can you hear me?' He was so confused on what was going on, that I immediately knew that he could. I started telling him everything that I had seen in Heaven. He was so amazed at what I was describing to him. He knew that there was NO WAY I could be making any of it up. He had never seen me like this before that night. Being a strong Catholic at the time, I signed up to teach high school catechism classes a week later. I couldn’t wait to let my senior class hear about my story of Heaven. Everyone I told this story to was amazed with what I was telling them. Two years later in 1997, I had a successful Heart Ablation surgery done to burn the chamber in my heart that was causing me to have these arrhythmias. I was cured, and have never had another attack again.

Although my 13 year marriage ended a few years after this, my ex-husband will never forget my story of Heaven that I described to him on that beautiful night.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: 1995

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Uncertain Illness Other I had heart arrhythmias since I was a child. The last recorded heart rate before I had surgery in 1 I don’t know how fast my heart was beating on the night that this happened. It was not unusual for my heartbeat to get well over 200 beats a minute on a daily basis.

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

Did you feel separated from your body? No 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 There is no way to explain it clearly to anyone who hasn’t been there themselves. It’s indescribable. You know 100% where you are in Heaven.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? The minute I saw the light.

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 There is no “time” in Heaven.

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. No comparison. I could see so clearly in Heaven

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. The sounds were so intense in Heaven. I could hear so clearly

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere? Yes, but the facts have not been checked out

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? Yes

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? A light clearly of mystical or other-worldly origin

Did you see an unearthly light? Yes It was a light that I will never be able to see on this earth

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? A clearly mystical or unearthly realm I knew it was Heaven, I wasn’t in this life at the time.

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Pure Love, and Peace, filled my entire body. I wanted to stay in the love I was in.

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? 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? I came to a definite conscious decision to return to life It felt like I wasn’t on this earth anymore. I felt like I was in that Heavenly realm for hours after I came back to earth

God, Spiritual and Religion:

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

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Yes I live my life for God only

What is your religion now? Christian- Other Christian I believe in God Almighty, and in Heaven. I no longer attend a true church. My church is with God. I strive to not only be back in Heaven, but to also tell my story to as many people as I can until that day returns!

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 I knew about God, and Heaven since I was a child. We went to church every single Sunday.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes I started teaching high school catechism classes a week later

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 believe in God Almighty, and I immediately knew it was his voice talking to me

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.)? 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 There IS A HEAVEN

During your experience, did you gain information about the existence of God? Yes God was by my side the whole time. I could feel his presence

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? Yes Just the knowledge of where I was

During your experience, did you gain information about the meaning of life? No

During your experience, did you gain information about an afterlife? Yes I was in Heaven. I knew exactly where I was from the moment I entered

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 could feel it all around me, there was no denying the live there

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Large changes in my life I live my life to share this story with others. I want everyone to be in that place with me when we all die.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes If you are not careful, Satan will try to control your life. I let him for 4 years straight 2 years after I saw Heaven. I will never waver from God Almighty again

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes Indescribable

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 Your level of awareness is multiplied by infinity. I will always remember exactly what happened

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Yes Too much to write down, but there is 100% a hell that non-believers will be thrown into in the end of their lives. I have been shown hell in detail a few times in my “Dreams”. It’s horrible

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? Just believe in God Almighty

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes Immediately

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? Uncertain I had a ruptured appendix when I was 7 years old. The Doctor that did my emergency surgery told my parents that I had about an hour left to live before they got me to the hospital.

What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was definitely real Unexplainable

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

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? Can’t think of anything that you haven’t thought of