Fredna D NDE

I was sitting on the low water crossing in the country, myself and three friends. It had rained upriver for about a week, but the water was clear where we were at the time. My friends were fishing and I was just sitting and watching.

There was a rushing sound coming from around the corner of the river, but the trees were in the way and I could not see what the noise was. Suddenly, flood waters came rushing towards me, and it felt just like I had been grabbed by the ankles and flipped off the bridge. The water current was so strong, I could not swim against it, and I wound up inside the large pipes that passed under the road where the water normally flowed through. The only problem was the other end was clogged up with tree limbs and grass, and I could not pass through. So I was just stuck inside the drainage pipe with the flood waters.

At first, I was panicking trying to get out and then, all of a sudden, a peace and a calm just came over me. I remember that I felt like I laughed and, all of a sudden, it was like I was standing on top of the bridge looking through the road. I could see my body flopping around in the water, but I could not see my Self on top of the road. It was really like I was looking through my eyes at myself in the water, and I remember saying to my Self in my mind well this is it! I never thought that I would drown though, and I remember thinking to my Self, I am not afraid, this is just it!

Suddenly, the pressure from the flood waters burst through the debris and it shot me out on the other side of the bridge and washed me upstream. My friend helped pull me out of the river.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: May 1981

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes near drowning Life threatening event, but not clinical death near drowningNear drowning.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Positive

The experience included: Out of body experience

Did you feel separated from your body? Yes As I was standing on top of the bridge looking at my body through the road flopping in the water. I was very separate.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? I felt like I was totally conscious.

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening at once; or time stopped or lost all meaning Suspended time.

Did your hearing differ in any way from normal? My own thoughts.

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? No Although I was in a pipe under water.

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? No

Did you see an unearthly light? No But the body that I was looking at through the road (the one in the pipe) strangely seemed white.

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? A clearly mystical or unearthly realm The time in which I was separated was a suspended time, it seems to me.

The experience included: Strong emotional tone

What emotions did you feel during the experience? A surprised calmness and realization that there was no fear, only a longing or excitement, relief of some strange sort.

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? Everything about the universe I just knew that there was nothing to fear. I was safe.

Did scenes from your past come back to you? My past flashed before me, out of my control

Did scenes from the future come to you? No

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

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Conservative/fundamentalist at the time I was Pentecostal

What is your religion now? Liberal I believe strongly in life after death, enlightenment, Buddhism, and read frequently from the words of the Dali Lama

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes Everything changed.”

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Yes I may have had the sensitivity to spirits and energies prior to this experience, but blocked it somehow. But after and until this day, I crave touching, and/or knowing anything on the other side.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? The best was the peace and the realization that there really is something more. The worst is that it seems that I am incapable of obtaining that peace here in the everyday world - that pure acceptance and stillness and knowing that I know, I know something deep, deep within, but it seems as if it is hidden behind a veil.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes Some think I am crazy. Some think I made it up. Others just listen. And I guess or wonder if there really is something out there.

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? It is as vivid today as it was the day it happened.

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? There really are not enough words or the right words to describe the feelings I felt during separation, but I tried to use the best words that we have here.