Marie S FDE

Experience Description

The time was 6:00 pm. The school bus was bringing us back from our high school. When it arrived at Chichy, it dropped off two students, and then started out again. As we were rounding out a curve in the road, the bus came face to face with a truck. We all thought that we were going to die.

At that moment, I felt weird. I was still and unsmiling while looking straight ahead.I saw my young life quickly flash before my eyes, like in a movie. I saw myself in primary school with other students during break and then in class. Then I saw myself in high school during break and then in class. Then I saw my communion. I saw the meal we ate with my family and godmother after my communion. Then I was a teenager in the patio of our house during summer. In the evening, I saw my parents and half-brothers on my mother’s side, my grandmother on my mother’s side. They were happy under the sun umbrella during dinner. Then I saw myself with the same people during the meals marking my birthdays. I was fine.

At some point, I barely felt the truck hit the back of the bus. At that moment, I came back among the students. I could hear them talk, as if their voices were a bit far away from me. I was still not moving and my eyes were staring straight ahead. I heard, 'It’s over, it’s over! We’re safe.' My girlfriend, who was seated next to me called out, 'Marie, Marie? Are you OK? What is it? You look weird. Hey, do you hear me?' Yes, I could hear her and yes, I lightly felt her hand on my shoulder. But I was still absorbed by what I had just gone through. Then I slowly turned my head towards her and I asked her with a strained voice, 'We did not die?' She smiled and answered, 'No way, it’s over.' I answered, 'Oh, good! I thought we were dead because I saw my life flash before my eyes, as happens when you’re near death.' The other students laughed.

Having gone back to normal, I got off the bus when the time came. My girlfriend told me, 'You know, you scared us before. You were white as a sheet, and you seemed to be elsewhere. Your eyes didn’t move.


Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: 15 June 1985

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Accident Life threatening event, but not clinical death. The school bus was driving us back from our high school. We came face to face with a truck as we were coming out of a curve in the road on that narrow road. Logically, it was impossible to come out alive.

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

Did you feel separated from your body? No I lost awareness of my body

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal everyday consciousness and alertness? Less consciousness and alertness than normal. I was not my normal self, but I saw clearly my life flash before my eyes.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? I felt dazed.

Were your thoughts speeded up? Faster than usual

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Time seemed to go faster or slower than usual. The movie of my life was flashing by like a movie in a theater, but much faster.

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. Normal vision

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 weak and it’s impossible to describe the ambiance in the bus.

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere, as if by ESP? Yes, but the facts have not been checked out

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? Yes My parents, my half-brothers on my mother’s side, my grandmother on my mother’s side, students from my class in primary school, and from my class in High School.

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? None, but I felt calm.

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? My past flashed before me, out of my control. My years in primary school, in Middle School, in High School, my communions (first and solemn.) My parents, my half-brothers on my mother’s side (not on my father’s side), my sister-in-law, my godmother.

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. I came out of my daze when the truck hit the back of the bus. I wanted to go back to my family, my life as a teenager, and to live.

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Unaffiliated- Atheist. Against my will, I had done my first Communion and my solemn Communion, in 1981 and 1982. My mother was religious, even if she did not practice her faith. She wanted me to do so.

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? No

What is your religion now? Unaffiliated- Atheist

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. What one of my half-brothers on my mother’s side had told me was confirmed, meaning that you see your life flash by like in a movie when you think you are going to die. I was surprised to have experienced it so young, because I thought it happened when you were older, around 30, 40, or 50 years old.

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 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? Yes I am loved even more than usual by my family.

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Moderate changes in my life. Since that experience, I am no longer afraid of death. But also, because in part, after the death of my parents due to cancers – in 2009 concerning my father, and in 2010 concerning my mother - they came to kiss me during my REM sleep. I felt their mouth touch my cheek. I felt them holding my hand. I felt the heat of their hands against mine and they told me they were protecting me. Since then, they have come to me. I have had others like close relatives and even some artists who died some years ago and whom I never met while they were alive come during my REM sleep practically every other night. My father even encouraged me to pursue research on my paternal grandfather and his experience as a fighter who had been made prisoner of war. He died some years ago, even advised me on how to get a job. Very recently, I saw during my REM sleep the white tunnel some people who have NDEs report seeing, but I was not scared. I also dream about things that will happen, just like my mother.

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 as accurately as other life events that occurred around the time of the experience. I remember it as if it happened yesterday, even though today, I have trouble remembering some events of my childhood or my teenage years.

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Yes I had premonitions. Like when I told my family that I would have suffer from appendicitis before I was 18 years old. They did not believe me and told me that it was all in my imagination. Too bad for them, I was right because I got it at age 16 on Mother's Day. There is a rocket (named after Challenger) whose name and date I cannot remember, which was launched. As I listened to this information on the radio I had a flash and saw the rocket explode. Half an hour later they announced on the news that the rocket had exploded in flight, but there was no one on board. On the other hand, I dreamed about the circumstances of the death of my parents and the cause of their death, which happened 3 years later for my father and 9 months later for my mother.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? NO, not particularly

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes I told my parents in the evening on the day the NDE happened. My father believed me, my mother did not say anything. Then afterwards I told two long-time friends who believed me but advised me to say nothing for fear that I would not be believed. When I told one of my brothers and one of my cousins after the death of my parents, they asked me if I was unhinged, if I was normal. Well I'm doing very well as a confirmed and convinced yogist, and I have practiced this discipline daily for almost 21 years. And let me state that I do not consume drugs, no tobacco and no alcohol but I walk every day.

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. Because as I said above, one of my brothers had stated during a family meal that one saw his/her life flash by when one thought he/she was close to death; so, I was not too surprised when it happened to me one day but I did not think it would happen when I was so young, so early.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real I was conscious enough at the time of the NDE to realize that I was not dreaming.

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? Yes I thought when I saw the white tunnel during one of my paradoxical sleep. Actually, when I saw it, I was sitting on a chair in the office of a hypnotist. During hypnosis, while I had never done this before, with my parents by my side who had brought me there. I was in this scene, very still, face frozen, gaze fixed as during the 1985 NDE.

Is there anything else that you would like to add about your experience? No, except that the children in the bus were all witnesses of my dazed condition. Concerning the driver of the bus, I do not know, I did not focus on that.