Gerald T NDE

Experience Description

I was 2 years old and sitting on my father's shoulders yelling, 'NO. I didn't want to go into the deep water. I remember him falling and hitting the water.

I was inside of a golden bubble looking at a child in the water. He was floating face down. At the time, I didn't know who it was. To me, it was just a lifeless body floating in the water.

This peaceful scene dissolved as I felt hands grabbing my body and pulling me out of the water.

Then I was over my father's shoulder as he was bouncing me up and down.

Back on the beach, my father put me on a blanket. He and my two sisters helped to keep me calm. Then they resumed playing on the beach, leaving me by myself.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: Summer 1944

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes I was drowning

How do you consider the content of your experience? Neither pleasant NOR distressing

Did you feel separated from your body? Yes I saw a boy's body floating in the water. 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. I very conscious but had no sensation of time.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? While in the bubble

Were your thoughts speeded up? No

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Time seemed to go faster or slower than usual. There was no sense of time

Were your senses More vivid than usual? No

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. I perceived what I saw according to three dimension (3D) at the time the experience happened. But seeing while in the bubble, was not the same as it is in 3D.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. No sound

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere, as if by ESP? No

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? No

Did you see any beings in your experience? No

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? Yes I saw the body of a young boy floating face down, with the head away from me. I couldn't recognize the boy.

Did you see, or feel surrounded by, a brilliant light? No

Did you see an unearthly light? No

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

What emotions did you feel during the experience? No feelings, except when being grabbed

Did you have a feeling of peace or pleasantness? Incredible peace or pleasantness

Did you have a feeling of joy? No

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? No

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Unaffiliated- Nothing in particular- Secular unaffiliated. I believe in God.

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? My religious experience's stated after I was diagnosed with PSTD in 1989. I was told I was ambivalent. I didn't like that and set out to change it by joining every religion to find out what they were about.

What is your religion now? Christian- Protestant I have joined a number of religious organizations to learn their teachings including LDS

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 in a new world that I have no point of reference to understand.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Uncertain

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.)? No

During your experience, did you gain information about premortal existence? No

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? Uncertain. No sense of God, just a sense of being.

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? Uncertain

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

During your experience, did you gain information about an afterlife? An afterlife definitely exists. There was a sense of being an observer of two me

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? No

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Unknown I keep thinking about it trying to understand it's meaning.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Uncertain

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes Nothing to compare it to. I was on the inside of a golden bubble that I could see. Meaning I could see myself in the bubble and in the water

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. After 75 years it is still recent in memory

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Uncertain

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? Seeing myself in the bubble

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes Talked about it recently to a friend who then shared her NDE

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. It was real when it happened and remains real today.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real. I now view it as an NDE. What I wonder is whether it was a soul exchange with a cousin I was named after, who was killed in WW2 earlier that year.

Is there anything else that you would like to add about your experience? Uncertain