Janice F NDE

Experience Description

I was at the community swimming pool with my father and older sister (by three years). My sister and I had been playing in the water but were told we needed to come out for 15 minutes for an adult only swim. I didn't understand why we had to get out because there weren't very many people there and the pool was plenty big for us to stay in the water while the adults swam, but I obeyed, sort of. Our towels were by the deep end so while my father swam and my sister sat, I was looking into the water thinking I could probably jump in really hard and sink straight down to the bottom and as soon as my feet touched I could push myself back up and grab the side of the pool and pull myself out. I wasn't totally sure if that would work but before I knew it I had jumped in. The second I jumped I heard my sister yelling for my father, which was a good thing because it didn't go as planned. I started spinning and spinning and had No control. I was taking in a lot of water because I wasn't holding my breath but just frustrated with not being able to stop the spinning.

I kind of woke up on the bottom of the pool and felt so relieved that the spinning had stopped. I felt really good and totally in control of my movements, and I was able to swim now (didn't think at all about breathing). I thought I should probably go back up to the top and pull myself out like I had planned but as I was heading up I could see my sister standing by the side of the pool looking down at the ground, and not at me, and my father and others were doing something on the ground. The first thing that entered my mind was they must have seen that I could swim now and was doing fine so they were busy with something else. But then I became curious about what they were all looking at so decided to go up and take a look. As I was heading up all of a sudden to my left there were people under the water. It looked like a living nativity scene. I was totally shocked seeing them there and found the colors of their clothing to be so vivid making them look completely out of place. I just stopped and stared trying to make sense of what they were doing there. They were all looking down as if in a play waiting for someone to yell action. I was focused on Mary as she was first and wearing the most intense-colored blue robe. I assume baby Jesus was there in the manger but don't recall seeing him. I know I saw a man in brown holding a shepherd's staff, but really didn't look closely at anyone other than Mary. Then she lifted her head and smiled at me. I was suddenly filled with so much love and felt like I was so very important. It was the best feeling I had ever had. I smiled back at her and it was as if I knew her. I just wanted to be with her and started moving towards her when suddenly it felt like I was being yanked out of the water and took a huge breath and I was on the side of the pool with my sister and father. My father was standing by the fence and my sister was close to me. I looked around because I had No idea who had just pulled me out of the water. I felt confused and realized my father was really angry with me. He looked like he had tears in his eyes. My father never got mad at me but he was telling me I was so selfish and saying other things that I can't remember. I didn't understand because just a minute ago he didn't seem to even care that I was in the water. When my father was done scolding me I looked at my sister who was glaring at me with her hands on her hips but then her face softened and she asked me if I had been scared. I looked around to make sure my father wasn't near then I shook my head No and told her it was really fun. Then she yelled at me and told me I better not do it again.

When we walked back home we talked about other things so I was relieved that my father seemed to be back to his old self again, but as soon as we got in the house he went directly to my mother and told her that he thought he'd lost me and was agitated all over again. My mother quietly talked to me later and told me that I had really upset my father and better not do anything like that again.

Later that week we went to my uncle's house and my aunt was asking me a lot of questions. She asked if I saw Jesus but she held up a statue of a grown Jesus so I said No. Then she asked me to point at who I saw so I pointed at a nativity scene and she said, "oh, baby Jesus, you saw baby Jesus". Then looked at my parents and said, "so she died". My dad got super upset again and that was the last time it was ever brought up other than one time years later when my dad and I were watching TV and he said to me that if he had lost me that day at the pool he wouldn't have been able to go on.

For years the incidents of that day didn't make sense to me. I thought that maybe when a person begins to drown it must make them feel really good. I assumed I must have hallucinated seeing Mary and the others, and that really confused me because at my age I knew nothing about religion or death and a nativity scene, as far as I knew, was totally associated with Christmas, so why in the middle of summer did I hallucinate a Christmas scene. My father being so mad at me didn't make sense. He was always fun and loving and hardly ever got mad at us. I felt his reaction was over the top, and totally not typical of him.

I would think about the events of that day from time to time but would just shrug about how it really didn't make sense. One day in the summer of 2021 my sister and I were talking about that day and I said, "I must have been really groggy when I was pulled out of the water". She looked at me totally surprised and said, "You weren't breathing. You needed to be resuscitated." I was shocked. I would accept groggy and hallucinating, but I knew I definitely wasn't unconscious. More confusion.

Months later I was watching Youtube videos and came across an NDE. I found it fascinating and searched for more. I watched as many as I could find. As people were explaining what happened to them I immediately knew that what they were saying was true. Eventually I realized that something about their stories felt familiar and started to search through events of my past in my mind to see if I could pinpoint what was familiar. When I thought about the day at the pool I thought that couldn't be it because I was just in the pool swimming, and it hit me that I didn't know how to swim because that's how I got into trouble in the first place. Then I realized that I never came up for air once I woke up on the bottom of the pool. But what really shocked me was when I realized what everyone must have been looking at on the side of the pool while I was in the water. Of course, my father wouldn't have been ok with leaving me in the deep end while busy with something else. They were busy with my body trying to resuscitate me while I was having a great time in the water. Everything made sense. My poor father would have had every reason to be horrified.

My first thought was, "thank God, children don't suffer when they die". Then I thought, "we don't really die, we just move on. And we bring our whole personalities with us". I was so much myself when I was still in the water that I had No idea I was dead. For some reason I don't think I was supposed to see that I had died. The nativity scene stopped me from going up to see what was going on.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: 1968

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Drowning Clinical death (cessation of breathing or heart function) Drowning. Wasn't breathing. Needed to be resuscitated.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Entirely pleasant

Did you feel separated from your body? Yes I could see my sister and father and others interested in something on the ground, which I later realized was them working on my body to resuscitate me. 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 Not sure whether I was more alert than usual.

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

Were your thoughts speeded up? No

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? No

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 was under water in the deep end for the first time so changes in my senses was hard to notice since the whole thing was new to me. The people in the nativity scene were very crisp and clear while everyone looked hazy when I was out of the water.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. When I saw the nativity scene under water I said, "Huh?!" And for some reason it felt like the action words you'd see in a super hero comic. I know that sounds strange.

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

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? 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? Peaceful, lots of love, extremely important.

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 was very young so didn't have a strong religious background. At that time don't recall going to church other than at Christmas.

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Yes Pray more and have a better understanding of God. Not so much because of my NDE, but because I've had one I totally believe others so learning from their messages.

What is your religion now? Christian- Other Christian Spiritual but not belonging to any religion.

Did your experience include features consistent with your earthly beliefs? Content that was entirely consistent with the beliefs you had at the time of your experience Although my family is catholic, at my age I knew nothing about the religion and the people at the nativity scene, in my mind, were only related to Christmas.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes I now feel everyone of us is as important as the other. We're all from, and going to, the same place. We need to be more forgiving and kind.

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 A nativity scene, but mainly the Virgin Mary.

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 The Virgin Mary, plus others at the nativity scene.

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? Uncertain the experience led me to be certain of life after death.

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 In the experience, I was able to feel Mary's love just by her looking at me. Not sure if it was telepathic.

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? After the realization of what my experience was I now feel that I need to make changes in my life being more involved and helpful with people and being more careful of what I watch on tv.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? No

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes I was only three and the entire incident had baffled me. Also, it upset my father so I never talked about it.

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 don't remember anything else about that day other than the experience and conversations around it.

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? When Mary smiled at me, the love and importance about myself that I felt makes me feel that in heaven we will not have any insecurities like we do here.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Uncertain Because it took me so many years to realize what had happened on that day, I've only given a few details to a couple people. I don't think they really believe me but I think as I was telling them I was expecting they wouldn't believe me so partly my own fault.

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 knew it happened and I knew I was definitely totally alert in the water, but it was only years later that I realized it was my spirit only in the water while my body was not breathing on the side of the pool.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real 100% real. I totally understand that others might think it was imagined or a dream, but there's No doubt in my mind that it happened.

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? Over a year ago I started learning to meditate. I believe the questions that I've been asking during meditation about what happens when we die is what lead me to the realization that I had an NDE many years ago, and it has answered so many of the questions I was asking.

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? I felt the questions were very thorough.