Gretchen T Probable NDE

Experience Description

It was 1975 or 1976 and I was 7 or 8 years old. I was having surgery to remove a benign growth in my neck and was under general anesthesia.

I suddenly left my body. I was floating above everyone in the surgery room and watching them operate on me. I recall feeling completely calm, just looking down on them and my body. I was curious as to what they were doing. After some time, I started floating up towards the ceiling of the operating room.

Then I moved into what looked like a tunnel of white fluffy clouds and towards a bright light. I sensed the presence of two entities, one in front of the other. The being to the right of me had outstretched hands. There also was a being in front of me but just beyond. As I approached them, I felt as though I floated upwards towards them. The being to my right met me first and immediately offered to take my hand to guide me. While the other entity was much larger and brighter. This entity seemed to lovingly observe me with open arms.

The light of these two beings was pure love and they were so gentle with me. I do not recall what the faces of these two beings looked like, but I was able to see some aspects of their bodies. In particular, I saw their hands and arms outstretched and open towards me. I also felt as though they wore some sort of white cloth but I only say that because I was not surprised by their appearance. I cannot recall seeing a lot of bare skin on their arms or anything like that. I cannot recall their facial expressions but I somehow felt their concern and the unconditional love and caring for me. I do recall a familiarity with these two beings and felt very comfortable with them and in my current state.

As I was about to put my hand in the first beings hand, I immediately and without hesitation communicated without words that I needed to go back. I was worried about my mother. I recall feeling no sense of guilt or sorrow or much emotion other than the need to return, like I was on a mission and I needed to get back. I felt an overwhelming pure love from these two beings. They understood me without spoken words and accepted my decision instantly. There was no discussion or questions for me and I did not ask any questions. I remember they nodded and while still looking at me intently, I immediately began my descent back to my body. But before going back into my body, I watched the surgical team for the remainder of the procedure while floating above the surgeons' heads. I do not recall the moment when I re-entered my body.

I recall waking up from the procedure normally after general anesthesia.

I never felt fear or anxiety during this experience, nor did I feel fearful while observing the procedure. I did, however, feel pain and fear upon subsequent procedures when they were trying to figure out what the cause of my collapsed lung was from.

Of note, I always believed that the first being was my maternal Grandfather and that the other larger being was Jesus, who I believe comes for all children. Of course, I cannot prove this but this was my hunch at the time.

Years later, when I was 32 years old, I went to see a clairvoyant woman who did readings and she confirmed that my maternal grandfather was in fact a guardian angel of mine and that he has watched over me since I was a little girl. He died when I was age 4. After this experience, I never spoke of it out of fear of being picked on. I felt that no one would believe me including my parents and Grandmother. I was asked recently by a friend who brought to my attention some recent research information pertaining to NDEs. They asked me if I had ever had a NDE and I told him "Yes." I described the experience. What is so amazing is that although there were decades that passed since my experience, and many years when I never once thought of the experience, I remember it like it was yesterday. Everything about my recollection is so vivid. What I can recall, I recall like it was yesterday but there are parts of the experience, such as the faces of the two beings, that I could never recall even earlier in my life.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: 1975 or 1976

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Uncertain Surgery-related Other Sustained pneumothorax while in surgery under general anesthesia I developed a collapsed lung during surgery but unsure if I actually became unstable

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? Normal consciousness and alertness It felt absolutely normal to me during my out of body experience, meaning, I was not shocked that it occurred.

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

Were your thoughts speeded up? No

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

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. Same

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. Same

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

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? Yes

Did you see any beings in your experience? I actually saw them

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? Yes My maternal grandfather

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 just beautiful

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? A clearly mystical or unearthly realm see story, tunneling white clouds

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Pure love and acceptance and completely calm surroundings, even in the surgical suite

Did you have a feeling of peace or pleasantness? Relief or calmness

Did you have a feeling of joy? Happiness

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 see my story

God, Spiritual and Religion:

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

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Uncertain I believe in God and Jesus and I try to work on my spirituality daily

What is your religion now? Select I believe in God our creator and Jesus Christ and I consider myself very spiritual but do not attend church or belong to any particular denomination

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 Its hard to say given my age at the time. I can't really recall what my exact beliefs were at that time.

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? I encountered a definite being, or a voice clearly of mystical or unearthly origin see my story

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? I actually saw them

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.)? Yes see story, I believe I was in the presence of Jesus

During your experience, did you gain information about premortal existence? Uncertain not exactly BUT I was 7 or 8 years old at the time and I felt comfortable during the entire process, almost as though I had been around them before, like I had a familiarity with the whole process. Very difficult to explain.

During your experience, did you gain information about universal connection or oneness? Uncertain well the two beings I saw seemed to be not of this world

During your experience, did you gain information about the existence of God? Yes I saw a being of light that I feel was either Jesus or God, and I believe what I saw

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? Uncertain I would say I expressed that I needed to return and they accepted my request and this may have something to do with regard to my own purpose in life.

During your experience, did you gain information about an afterlife? Uncertain I feel that I saw my maternal GF as well as Jesus and that I was not afraid in the least.

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 felt enveloped in pure love when I was in their presence

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? I was a child when I had this experience. I developed a strong interest in medicine as well as a connection to animals. As an adult I believe in God and Jesus and feel as though I am a spiritual being that is here to experience all that life has to offer. I feel as though we utilize a physical body to learn from our life experiences through our senses and that we move on to other challenges after this life time is complete.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? No

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? No

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 What I do recall is crystal clear as though it happened yesterday, but its almost as if certain parts were never available to my memory like specifics of the faces of the two beings, but I recall everything the same as I did years ago.

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Uncertain I do believe I am fairly sensitive and can read people fairly well but that may be due to my medical training. As a child I flew alone yearly sometimes twice a year and I was fascinated by clouds which still is a great interest to me today. I have a knack of seeing faces and animals in clouds. All sorts, all kinds. I think they call it Pareidolia. Or maybe I'm just good with patterns and succumb to apophenia. Once on an overseas flight, I even saw Jesus speaking to others gathered around him. I remember staring in disbelief thinking 'that looked just like what Jesus might look like! I must be going nuts!!'. I looked away and rubbed my eyes then looked again at the same cloud but a slightly different angle since the plane was traveling at a fairly fast speed and as I looked again, Jesus turned his face towards me, his eyes fixed on mine and smiled as if to say 'I know you saw me! I know you did'. I teared up and smiled back at him. I have never forgotten this experience and I do believe it was the second time I was lucky enough to be in his presence. I've said that story to a few people and no one believes it.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? The two beings were extraordinary to me and the way we communicated effortlessly through our thoughts rather than words was incredible and yet as a child going through this experience I did not seem surprised but rather I recall feeling familiar with the process.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes several years to decades. One of my friends was genuinely interested and remained nonjudgmental but the few others I have shared the story with seem to not think much of it.

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 probably real It happened so long ago I think as a child I was just dealing with life and recovering as after the surgery I endured another small procedure which was rather scary to me. I don't think I thought much about it at the time.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real I recall everything as though it just happened, better than today's events of my day. Crystal clear like it has been seared into my brain so that I will never forget the interaction with those two beings

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 but thank you for creating this forum for sharing experiences. It is very important.

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? questions that might relate to a child's state of mind at the time of the NDE might be helpful because as an adult I recall it like I was a child, seeing it through the eyes of a child.