Dustin M NDE

Experience Description:

I had been poisoned from the water in a duplex apt my fiancΘe and I had rented after eloping. The local hospital was a private facility and sent me home with antibiotics and pain killers. We had no heat and the temperature was in the twenties at the time with a wind chill in the teens. We had one blanket and no money to get help. After battling for one and a half days with diarrhea and vomiting, I passed out. While unconscious, I stopped breathing and my fiance could not find a pulse or heartbeat. She administered CPR and revived me. During this time, I had either a hallucination or some kind of event where I spoke with a group of deceased family members. They greeted me but quickly told me that it wasn't my time. Shortly afterwards I was pulled backwards away from them as if I was tied to a tether and after a popping sound, like Eustachian tubes clearing, I returned to consciousness.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: Oct 1989

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Illness Other Clinical death not verified via physician. No heart beat detected & no respiration. Happened at home. Had acute amoebic dysentery, severe dehydration and fever.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Mixed

Did you feel separated from your body? Yes 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? Normal consciousness and alertness

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? During the vision, then several hours later.

Were your thoughts speeded up? Neither

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening all at once No surface tension under my feet. No sense of gravity.

Were your senses more vivid than usual? Neither

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. The area surrounding my family members was blurred, almost like tunnel-vision.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. There was a fluid background, like waves in open sea or a container of water being shaken.

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

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? Yes It was like a tube on arrival, with a sudden stop at my family. I was pulled backwards in the same fashion.

Did you see any beings in your experience? Saw them

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 Behind my relatives, illuminating them.

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? Unfamiliar, strange place

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Fear and sorrow at first, then a brief moment of happiness when I saw my family.

Did you have a feeling of peace or pleasantness? Neither

Did you have a feeling of joy? Happiness

Did you feel a sense of harmony or unity with the universe? Neither

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

Did you come to a border or point of no return? A barrier I was not permitted to cross; or 'sent back' to life involuntarily

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Moderate

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Yes Conservative Christianity, as taught to me in organized churches, takes a hypocritical view of the paranormal. It depicts instance after instance of these events in the Bible but modern clergy refute them as either misunderstanding of the scripture or metaphors not to be taken literally. I have begun to take time to learn about the history of my faith, its politics and most of all its self-editing. I still believe in the power of the teachings of Christ but now I search for more than the sources of knowledge I was apportioned in childhood.

What is your religion now? Liberal

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes Conservative Christianity, as taught to me in organized churches, takes a hypocritical view of the paranormal. It depicts instance after instance of these events in the Bible but modern clergy refute them as either misunderstanding of the scripture or metaphors not to be taken literally. I have begun to take time to learn about the history of my faith, its politics and most of all its self-editing. I still believe in the power of the teachings of Christ but now I search for more than the sources of knowledge I was apportioned in childhood.

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? No

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes My death no longer is a source of fear, except for its effects on my family. Whether there is a heaven or hell in the classical sense, I am certain there is another plane of existence and that has allowed me to take a more laid-back approach to crisis management and freed me resources to focus on my family.

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? No

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Uncertain I had psychic events prior and have had several paranormal experiences since but I do not know if they are caused by me or if I'm just a spectator.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? Not at the time because I was so young, but later, as I matured, it helped to solidify my belief that there is an afterlife. It also allowed me to become an intercessor or comforter in family death situations afterwards.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes I immediately told me fiancΘe, (now my wife), and then years later told friends. Unknown if it affected them.

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? Yes I am a voracious reader. I also had been visited by deceased relatives in previous years.

What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was probably real I was very young and initially saw it more mundanely as a byproduct of my fever and little more than a hallucination. I knew the instance was real for my mind but was still uncertain of the source.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real Since the event I have had other re-enforcing events that have helped shape my view of that night. Having asked direct questions of an unseen entity and received direct answers finally changed my world view.

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? Yes Similar events were reproduced via meditation and attempts at OBE's, i.e. astral projection or remote viewing.