Dina A NDE

Experience Description

It was the summer after 3rd grade in 1978. We had been floating down the Yakima River. I shared a raft with my mom's best friend's son, PJ. He and I had a brother/sister love-hate relationship and we had been arguing most of the day. We reached a beach area on the river where we were meeting up with PJ's family. They had a boat on the river. PJ and I had gotten on the boat with his grandparents and we were sitting on the front of the boat. We went for a short ride down the river. When we were coming back to the beach area, where friends and family were, the boat stalled and would not restart. I remember a rope being thrown to PJ's uncle to pull the boat to the shore. PJ and I were still arguing, so I moved from where we had been sitting together on the left front of the boat to the center front of the boat.

I slipped or was pushed, I'm not sure which one it was. I fell off the front of the boat while it was being pulled to shore. I distinctly remember hitting my head on the bottom right side of the boat, 4 times as they pulled it over the top side of me. My feet were flailing around since I could not touch the bottom. I don't know if I was ever under the boat.

Next, I remember a tunnel of bright, white light. Memories were flashing by my head, just whipping past my head from the left and the right side. It was like memories flashing past my head at warp speed. I have no idea how long this lasted or if I actually drowned. I was not worried or afraid while I was in the memory tunnel. I remember facing the shore, despite facing down the river when the flashes were happening. I suddenly found my footing and stumbled up to the shore, walked out of the water, and was coughing and spewing forth water. My mom was yelling at me as I walked past everyone and out to the parking lot sobbing and coughing.

I can't recall anything after that about this day. For instance, I know it was a 3 or 4 hour drive home but do not remember any of it. That night or the next day, I recall still being very distraught and upset. I was sitting on the end of my bed, saying aloud that 'I don't want this! I don't want to do this anymore!' It was as if I was having a conversation with someone or something. I also recall trying to remember the memories from the tunnel experience. I remember thinking these memories are so amazing, I can't let myself forget them. I slept for hours after that and woke up feeling different, like I was not myself. I was no longer afraid of what I had gone through. I don't think I ever spoke with my mom or anyone else about the incident. I didn't understand what had happened to me until the 1980's, when I saw something on TV talking about NDEs. I said aloud to myself 'Oh, that's what happened to me.'

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: Summer of 1979

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Drowning Direct head injury Other: I do not know. It was a life threatening event but I'm not sure about actual death/ drowning. I may have drowned.

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

Did you feel separated from your body? No. 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 This is difficult simply because I was a child at the time.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? In the light memory tunnel

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. I have absolutely no concept of time from this event. I have no idea how long I was under the water or how long it took for these memory flashes to go by. The memories flashed past me at a very rapid speed, but that is the only concept of time I have from the event.

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. Again, I can not tell because I was a child then. From my memory of it, I would say all my senses were hightened.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. I don't recall hearing anything during my experience. Nothing audible maybe because I was underwater?

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

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? Yes It was a tunnel of intense light and memory's flashing past me.

Did you see any beings in your experience? No

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? Uncertain They may have been in the memory flashes.

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 I was under water. I was surrounded by light and memories passing by me at warp speed.

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? No

What emotions did you feel during the experience? I felt wonder, confusion, awe, and excitement.

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? My past flashed before me, out of my control. Yes I believe so in the memory flashes

Did scenes from the future come to you? Scenes from my personal future. Possibly in the memories I'm not sure

Did you come to a border or point of no return? No

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Unaffiliated- Nothing in particular- Religious unaffiliated. I had no affiliations with religion at that time that I am aware of.

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Uncertain Over the course of my life they have changed but not directly because of the experience. Perhaps, the experience changed my perceptions to accept the reality of my experience; such as from strict Christianity to spiritually.

What is your religion now? Christian- Other Christian I became an evangelical Christian not long after the experience. I remember being 9 and accepting Jesus. not because I sought it out, but more due to my mom found God and so did I.

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 I was only 8 or 9 years old when this occurred so I really don't know what kind of beliefs I had prior to the experience.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? No

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? No

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 Possibly in the memory flashes.

During your experience, did you gain information about premortal existence? Uncertain I feel like there may have been some details in the memories but as I've said before I do not recall any of them at this time in my life.

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? Uncertain I do believe I got this feeling from the memories but I have no recollection of the memories at this time. What I mean is there were so many memories that seem to exceed my eight or nine years of life.

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? Uncertain I believe I did and I believe that's what triggered the self-conversation after the experience.

During your experience, did you gain information about love? Uncertain Through the memories I got a general sense of love.

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience?

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? No

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Uncertain Yes because I had no idea what had happened to me and did not talk about it with anyone.

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 do not have many memories of my childhood. But I remember that day as vivid as yesterday. With exception to remembering what the memories were that I saw in the memory tunnel. I have no clue what any of that was. I just know post experience I thought it was important to remember those memories. Which are unfortunately lost to me now.

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Yes In my teens I had several precognitive dreams that came true, and I have a very strong intuition.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? Not really the whole experience seemed overwhelming to me at the time. Hence the after experience I did not want to continue this earthly life.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes In my adult life I have shared this experience with my husband and best friend. About 40 yrs after the experience. No real reactions from them.

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. Even at 8 or 9 yrs old I knew I had had a very profound experience. Relatively soon after the experience I wanted out, I did not want to continue this life. I assume I felt this was from thing seen and experienced in the memory tunnel. I distinctly remember being distraught and upset having a conversation with God, myself, another spirit? I don't know who it actually was and saying I don't want to do this anymore; I want out of this life.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real. I remember it like a real event in my life, maybe more accurate than most memories.

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? I often wonder if I had a soul change or walk in experience due to my emotional state immediately after the nde I experienced.

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? No, I think if I had been able to do this 40 plus years ago, I may have had more to contribute but maybe not. At the time I really had no words/knowledge to explain what had happened and did not even understand it until the 1980s when the term NDE was coined. I can say my life has been a journey in understanding the and continued search for answers and understanding of all things supernatural and historical.

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