Maria L NDE

Experience Description

I was a single mother, escaping the shame and confrontation of my parents in my home country. advanced pregnancy, and on my own, without any family. The friend that I had called to visit her, had abandoned me. Nevertheless, I did know a charitable soul. She made me welcome in her house and with her familiy. She was with me when the labour pains came about one month early. I had had my first child at eighteen years. It had been difficult as well, but this second time, I had definitely suffered too much. There were too many hours of pain without being able to dilate what is necessary for a normal birth. The pain and anguish were so much that it was decided, to take me into the hospital theatre in the hope of dilating me for a natural birth. I cried in intense pain and fainted between sheets. My friend was there and consoled me. She was even at the side of my bed in surgery, between the fainting and and more fainting. She was asking the surgeon if I shouldn't have a caeserean section? I resisted because I was afraid of surgery.

In a moment of extreme pain, I left my body. I found myself up on the ceiling of the theatre. I saw my body sleeping. I saw my anguished friend calling me while slapping me in the face. She wanted me to react.

For me, it was a moment of immense relief because I didn't feel any pain. The suffering had evaporated, and a feeling of infinite peace enveloped me. I felt like I never wanted to leave this peace that filled me up. I knew that if they wanted to they could raise me up and take me from here whenever they wanted, but something was going on down below. I saw that my friend was screaming at me, and the nurses were acting as if there was an emergency. Although I didn't speak English, I knew perfectly well what was happening. They were worried because the oxygen levels were getting very low. They said the baby carried a great risk of lack of oxygen. This hurt me a lot. I loved my little baby, and I wasn't going to let it die. I never thought for even 1 microsecond more that I wasn't coming back.

I returned to my body and then opened my eyes as I breathed in deeply from the the oxygen mask that they had put on my face. My baby was born and they rushed it immediately to the incubator. It weighed 2.6Kg. It's skin was blue and the oxygen had begun to fail him. When in the normal ward, my baby cried ceaselessly in the incubator. I asked to comfort him in my bed since I had had a great connection with him. Both of us had suffered and we had been at the point of dying.

The following days were as if normal. My boy grew and I never had or felt anything special about the experience. For many years, I never told anyone of my experience and through the years I had become interested in the subject of death. Nine years later, I had a brain aneurism that burst. I was in intensive care where I was unconscious for two weeks. I have no memory of where I had been sleeping during this time, but I recovered farly quickly. 60 days later, I discovered I hád a lump in my breast that was diagnosed to be breast cancer. The strange thing is that I was feeling for lumps in my breasts consantly. Without realising it, there was something in my head that made me constantly look for it, get urgent medical attention, and to carry out appropriate tests. They decided that it wasn't anything. Nevertheless, this something inside of me said that if it had been anything, they had to discover it. There were two results supposedly negative, but under my continual insistence, when the third test showed that I had been right, I had breast cancer. From then 4 months had passed, and it had advanced to grade two. I firmly believe, that something urged me to have the tests daily until they found the cancer, and then not give in to the surgeons, because my mother died of breast cancer.

It's my story – Thank you for giving me the opportunity to say it. I firmly believe that our consciousness never dies, just that we separate ourselves from our body in something we call death. When I was on the ceiling of the theatre, this was me, continuing to be me, that which I saw below was just my body. It wasn't me.



Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: 16/02/1985

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Uncertain Childbirth Life threatening event, but not clinical death. Difficult birth.

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

Did you feel separated from your body? Yes. 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 norma.l I knew without previously knowing that I had the capacity of choice. I could leave this place with total trust that it would be something agreeable. Or I could remain, and this is what I decided. Al through it I was always the absolute owner of my decision.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? To be out of my body.

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. Definitely clearer vision.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. Much clearer. I could hear and understand without barriers of different languages.

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 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? Freedom Happiness, and peace.

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? 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? I came to a definite conscious decision to return to life. On understanding that my baby ran the risk of death, I had no choice but to return to my body. Without even a moment of doubt, although I knew worriedly that I was missing this marvellous opportunity of peace and quiet that I was feeling.

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Christian- Mormon

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? No

What is your religion now? Christian- Mormon

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. At that point in time, I didn't have many beliefs and feelings on the subject of life and death.

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? 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. I acquired a knowledge that one continues existing, after quitting the body, and that the personality and everything is inherited. I continued intact, continued being and feeling as me, myself.

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 It was a love that thumped on my body again. It was an offer of love, a sacrifice of love to my baby.

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Moderate changes in my life. The event left me with the feeling that probably most people don't get.

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. It was an important event. That probably had a relevance in my life although I was still very young.

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? I feel privileged to have this opportunity to help my son being born into this world, and for me to have the opportunity to continue in it, still with lots to learn.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes 20 years ago, but people are reluctant to fully understand 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 don't especially remember a great impact, even though I know I had to take on many changes in my life at that time.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real. In these last years I have been able to realize the greatness of what had transpired.

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? Yes to hear other similar accounts to mine, since I have now become an avid reader of these types of accounts.

Is there anything else that you would like to add about your experience? No