James M NDE

Experience Description

It was a hot August day, a couple of weeks before school started. I was starting 5th grade at a new Catholic school. My friend at the end of our dead-end dirt road had just been given a pellet rifle for his birthday. He wanted my brothers and I to come see it, but my father had us helping him while he remodeled our furnace room with drywall. We would hand him nails while he hammered on the ladder. I had 4 brothers at the time and each of us took turns running down to our friend's house to see him shoot his gun. It was my turn to go. Then my identical twin brother would go next.

When I got to my friend's house, he was shooting at blue jays in the tree across the field. We were standing on a covered deck and he decided he wanted to play draw. I had a toy pistol and he had the rifle with the safety on. A few minutes later, he took the safety off to shoot at the birds again. He forgot to put the safety lever back on when he turned, aimed the gun at me and said, 'right between the eyes' as he pulled the trigger.

Everything went black. Then I saw bright light above me and I headed towards it. I heard noise below me and realized I was on top of the ceiling of the deck. I turned to look down and saw my body lying on the deck. Then my friend's grandfather walked out and exclaimed, 'Look what you did! You killed him!'

My friend let out a saddened, scared moan and ran off to hide in the creek by the house. I did not think I was dead. I floated back into my body instantly. I said, 'I think the bullet bounced off'. He said he was glad to hear that. Not about the bullet but the fact that I wasn't dead.

I had heard my glasses hitting the deck as I fell. I wore thick frame glasses to correct my vision and my twin did not. The doctors said that is what saved the bullet from going too deep into my brain. It had gone through the frames, through my eye socket, scraped my retina and lodged about an inch into my brain. My friend's grandfather called for an ambulance and it seemed to take a long time. I felt the broken glass from my lens up against my eye. I was afraid to open my eyes because I didn't want to damage them. I felt the dried blood on my face as they brought me on a stretcher down to the ambulance.

They patched me up as best they could and referred me to a hospital where they would perform surgery that night.

25 years later, renting that same house with my 2 kids after their mother died, I had a much different NDE where I went into the light. . . .To Be told on a separate form.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: August 1963

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Accident. Direct head injury. Life threatening event, but not clinical death. I was shot in the head with a brand new 1.77 pellet rifle that my best friend had gotten for his birthday.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Both pleasant AND distressing

Did you feel separated from your body? Yes People talking below me while out of body. His grandfather admitted he thought I was dead for sure and that is why he said that to his grandson. 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? More consciousness and alertness than normal. I felt like I knew what was happening and wondering what came next but no fear.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? While out of my body. I seemed to realize what was happening but not fearing it. I was more worried about my friend who thought I was dead.

Were your thoughts speeded up? Faster than usual

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? No

Were your senses More vivid than usual? More vivid than usual

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. I physically had no vision after being shot, but my out of body spirit saw and heard everything as if I was in a movie.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. My hearing was very acute during the experience. I heard everything happening around me.

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 see, or feel surrounded by, a brilliant light? An unusually bright light

Did you see an unearthly light? Yes It was when I first left my body. At thought at first bit was the sun shining on my face but realized I was under a deck roof.

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

What emotions did you feel during the experience? First, Oh no I've been shot and then I went black. Then i saw light above me and was excited that maybe I was dreaming and I really had not been shot. Then I saw the ceiling and wondered why I was up there. I heard the screen door open and when he said you killed him, I was afraid for my friend. I had to correct his grandfather's mistake. I couldn't be dead if I was watching this.

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

Did you have a feeling of joy? No

Did you feel a sense of harmony or unity with the universe? No

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? Christian- Catholic I believed in God but not sure how strong my faith was at 9 years old.

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? No

What is your religion now? Unaffiliated- Nothing in particular- Religious unaffiliated. Became 'Born Again' later in life but could not agree with the conditional measures for Salvation. I had another NDE at age 34 which changed my perspective of life and my soul.

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 not familiar with out of body or near death experiences.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes I started to believe in a soul that lives on.

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? No

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? No

During your experience, did you gain information about an afterlife? An afterlife definitely exists No

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? Slight changes in my life. I started coming out of my shell more. I wasn't afraid of making mistakes as much. My self esteem became more positive and has increased since then to drop fear.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? No

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes To Explain to others what I felt and what I experienced to make it understandable. During the whole ordeal I could not see, only hear, smell and judge the meanings or feeling of people talking by the tone of their voice.

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. I remember this experience more than most events of that time period in my life.

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Uncertain I tend to feel emotion from people without them speaking, but especially with my twin brother. We have a special connection.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? The worry for my shooter and his mental state after the event. He held the guilt till his death as an alcoholic.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes I shared with my wife first 20 years later and finally with my family recently. I was not worried anymore about what they would think, only that should know the truth.

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 I thought it was my soul leaving my body.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real I had an NDE later in my life which changed my view of almost everything, I took the leap and now life is so wonderful.

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? Yes My NDE, but went into the light this time.

Is there anything else that you would like to add about your experience? I think it prepared me for my NDE.

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? Ask if one has had out of body experiences also and where did the go or why they were out of body.