Hal E FDE

Experience Description

I was a passenger in an automobile which, due to the driver having a seizure behind the wheel, crashed head on into a tree on the side of the road. Both the driver and I were knocked unconscious; and according to reports, I must have regained consciousness after about three to five minutes - at the time the emergency vehicles arrived. I suffered from a broken nose, a dislocated hip, and later a concussion. The driver suffered fewer injuries and was able to walk away. However, the paramedics were concerned about possibly severe internal injuries that I might have (it turned out that there were none) and so I was airlifted to the nearest trauma center. While in the helicopter, I was administered pain medication (I want to say morphine but I cannot confirm that). Sometime between when the paramedics arrived at the scene, and when I arrived at the hospital, something happened to me that I cannot explain.

During the entire process, I would describe my mental state as 'near unconscious.' I cannot recall seeing anything, but I had some vague idea of what was going on. Perhaps it came from some dim awareness of the sounds around me. In essence, I had the idea that I was in severe physical trouble (although I wasn't, in reality). Although I could not form coherent thoughts, I remember being in tremendous fear. I was at this point sure beyond a doubt that I could be facing death. The fear that I was experiencing at the time is the most fear that I have ever felt in my entire life. I had been to church (a Christian church) a few times in my life, and I remember thinking, albeit highly incoherently, 'Please forgive me for my sins.' I might have done that once or twice. All of the sudden, I 'felt' a voice. (I say 'felt' instead of 'heard,' because at that time, my ability to 'hear', or process sound was close to zero.) The voice said the following, 'You are forgiven, but it is not your time yet.'

Now, two things stand out for me about this that I cannot explain. I understand that if I were in the mindset of 'praying', then a spiritual response (the voice's answer) wouldn't be that surprising; given my state of mind and the possible drugs I was on. What I find hard to explain is that, in the midst of my utter fear and confusion, as soon as I felt those words, my fear disappeared completely, (although the pain did not). How I could have comprehended those words so thoroughly, even though my mind was hardly functioning cognitively at all, I can't understand without considering a supernatural, or spiritual, explanation.

I can't seem to find a way to explain this from a scientific, or psychological, point of view. One moment, I was in more fear than I ever have been in my life; and the next moment after those words, my fear was completely erased. I knew a hundred percent that I was going to survive this ordeal. It doesn't make sense to me to try to explain this by saying it was due to the 'power of suggestion.' Mere suggestion doesn't usually have this effect on me. Generally, when I'm uncomfortable and worried about things in daily life, telling myself 'It will be okay,' - or someone else telling me - does not have this type of powerful effect on me. Those words from that voice completely reversed the emotional state that I was in. The other thing that I find hard to understand is the clarity with which I felt those words. I knew that I had sort of prayed once or twice (again, forming any real thought was next to impossible for me), but that response had a clarity about it that I later realized that my brain could not have produced, given its state. For example, if someone had asked me my name, or where I was from, I could not have told them. However, that message from the voice was extremely clear to me. The clarity to me of that voice is something I cannot understand or explain without bringing in the possibility that I may have been in touch with a being on a supernatural, or spiritual, plane. It truly did feel like an exogenous shock to my system.

And that's my story.

To further drive home the point of how incapable of thought I was, I was completely unable to comprehend or answer any of the doctors' questions, even an hour after arriving at the hospital. The mystery to me is in having had this unexplainable (at least to me) moment of extreme clarity, and subsequent change in my emotional state, at a time when I was practically comatose and not capable of other sorts of mental functioning.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: June 2009

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Accident 'Illness, trauma or other condition not considered life threatening'

How do you consider the content of your experience? Mixed

Did you feel separated from your body? No No

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal everyday consciousness and alertness? Normal consciousness and alertness When I heard the voice responding to my prayer.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? When I heard the voice responding to my prayer.

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

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. My vision was not active at the time. If anything, I just had a sense of blackness.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. The voice that I heard was 'felt', not heard through my ears.

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere? Yes, and the facts have been checked out

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? No

Did you see any beings in your experience? I actually 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? No

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

The experience included: Strong emotional tone

What emotions did you feel during the experience? A total change from complete fear to normal, everyday happiness including a sense of awe somewhere in between. I was sure, even at the time, that what I experienced - the voice - was not a product of my mind.

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

The experience included: Special Knowledge

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? Everything about the universe

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? Scenes from the world's future

Did you come to a border or point of no return? I came to a barrier that I was not permitted to cross; or was sent back against my will

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Moderate agnostic at time

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? No

What is your religion now? Moderate 'more religious, still skeptical'

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

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? I actually 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? No

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? No

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? Again, what really makes me wonder is feeling/hearing those particular words '... not your time yet.' I had never heard of that phrase expressed in relationship to the death experience, and yet those are the exact words I heard.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? No

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? Uncertain I had heard the term, maybe on television, but I didn't know anything about it at all. What compelled me to submit this experience to this website was the phrase '... it is not your time yet.' When I learned that others coming close to death recall hearing these exact words, I thought that I might have experienced something like an NDE.

What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was probably real I first saw the experience as probably real. I was at first convinced of a supernatural explanation, probably because it was completely 'real' to me. After thinking about it for a few years, and considering the drugs and my compromised mind-state, I began to reconsider the reality of the experience. I never lost the sense of how clear and real that voice was to me. I could never accept any of the specific physical explanations suggested in my reading. I do realize that the brain has an unbelievable ability to view something as being 'real,' when it could be a hallucination or drug induced state. However, from the heart of my experience, I knew it was real. It was much stronger, clearer, and more organized than a hallucination.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was probably real Now I see the experience as probably real. I've done some leisurely reading concerning NDEs and the mind/brain problem, and while I am still not entirely convinced of either side of the argument, I would not be surprised if, in fact, what I experienced does fall into the realm of the supernatural.

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? No