Joseph Y NDE

Experience Description

It was the summer before third grade. My friend and I were riding our bicycles together around his neighborhood, as we often did. The last memory I have in my body before the event is starting from the top of a hill and doing bike tricks. One of those tricks was 'pretending to sleep while riding.' I suspect that is what led to this experience. I was told by my friend that I crashed into a parked truck on the side of the hill. We were riding down the hill and I had my head down.

The next memory I have is being roughly 20 feet above my friend and my body. I suspect the weather was nice as I recall bright white behind and around the edges of my view. I was observing my body and my friend making our way back to his house. My body was crying uncontrollably. From my view above, I felt no discomfort. I was simply observing as my friend tried to console me and help prop up my body and my bike as we walked our way back to his house.

Then I woke up in my body, while in his house on the couch. I was in a daze with his mom looking at me very worried. My mom arrived and took me straight to the hospital for an evaluation. They said that I had brain trauma with a brain hemorrhage. My helmet had cracked in half.

I told my mother of my OBE and she recognized it but did not know what to make of it. Following this, I went through lots of physical therapy as well as showing symptoms of traumatic brain injury such as short-term memory loss. I believe I made a full recovery in roughly 7 years. But I did not socially recover until I left for university, where I was surrounded by people without a preconceived notion of me. This is when I began to excel in school.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: September, 2000

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Direct head injury Life threatening event, but not clinical death. I was riding a bicycle while wearing a helmet and crashed into a car head first with my head looking down.

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

Did you feel separated from your body? Yes I watched my body sobbing uncontrollably. I saw it barely walking, with the assistance of my friend and our bikes. My friend verified this scenario of me sobbing and him helping me get back to his house with our bikes. 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. I don't recall a different level of consciousness or alertness. I was an observer.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? I remember being conscious out of my body for a short time while my body was attempting to walk back to my friends house.

Were your thoughts speeded up? No

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. Something unique about my vision is that I was not just ~20 feet in the air. I recall seeing myself from above but also up-close. The viewing angle and distance was not constant.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. I could hear myself crying uncontrollably and my friend consoling me as if it was me hearing it, though my sight was from a different view-point outside of my body.

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? No

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? No

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

Did you see an unearthly light? Uncertain. I recall seeing bright white surrounding my view as I observed myself.

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

What emotions did you feel during the experience? I did not feel any distressing emotions. Mostly I was watching as an inert, very calm observer.

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? I felt no longer in conflict with nature

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- Other Christian

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? No

What is your religion now? Unaffiliated- Agnostic I do not practice a religion but do exercise spirituality.

Did your experience include features consistent with your earthly beliefs? Content that was entirely not consistent with the beliefs you had at the time of your experience. At the time, I did not believe someone could perceive from outside the body.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Uncertain. Being so young, I'm not sure if my values changed.

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? Uncertain. Being that my body was still clearly alive at this point and crying/walking, I can't definitively say my experience pertains to the 'afterlife' or was part of my 'life'. I was able to perceive out of my body.

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? Large changes in my life. I now believe fear is only experienced from within the body. I feel that I approach life with more appreciation and zest because of this experience. I try to make people close to me feel loved and spend my time doing things that matter to me or with those I care about most.

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 as accurately as other life events that occurred around the time of the experience. This experience happens to be very memorable because of how unique it was and I've replayed it thousands of times.

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Uncertain. I have had it happen only a few times where I had a vision where I sensed a scenario with specific objects, colors, textures, sounds with no idea what it was pertaining to. At the time, I thought it was just my mind wandering like a day-dream but they were strangely specific. Years later in life these scenario's took place.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? I specifically had the strong sense of calmness I felt as I was sobbing uncontrollably.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes I shared this experience with my mother directly after the experience as she was driving me to the hospital. She knew it was an OBE but did not know what to make 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 definitely real. I recalled the experience vividly as if it happened. It was somewhat like a dream but what I was watching was exactly how the events actually happened as verified by my friend.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real. I viewed what was happening as it was happening but out of my body.

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

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