Mary NDE

Experience Description

Personally I do not believe in these things at all. I like to look at such subjects from a scientific point of view. I am agnostic, that is if I do not see something, I do not believe it. But in November, 2007, I had an operation, and a vein was left unclosed. Through the night, I felt more and more bloated, and when I got up next day so they could change the sheets of the hospital bed, I started to feel sick and my body was hurting all over, more and more. They got me to sit down on a sofa, and my vision became blurred.

I was listening to the nurses talking, when suddenly all my pain was gone, and immediately I heard my mother, who was in the room, calling to me in a very worried voice. As I tried to turn my head to show her I was okay and was not hurting any more, I continued to hear everything with great clarity but with an echo, and straightaway I began to have the feeling of (being in) a tunnel, with the other end being my external ear-passage. At this moment I was as if floating in this tunnel, and I tried to feel my hands and I analyzed the situation, thinking as follows: One, I am without pain. Two, I am hearing with an echo. Three, I feel I'm in a tunnel. Wow!!!! It looks like I'm dying!!!! I started to notice that I was getting further from the end of the tunnel, very slowly. I was very scared and got extremely nervous, saying to myself: 'Wake up, wake up, wake up' and trying to turn round and move so that I would not get any further away. At that point, I noticed I was leaving the tunnel at great speed, recovering all of a sudden and completely my vital functions, sight, hearing, touch, etc.

My mother, who was at that moment in the hospital room with the nurses, told me that when she called to me I turned my head and looked at her with lifeless eyes. Just at the instant, they started to give me electro-convulsive shocks - I think that coincided with the point at which I realized, in the tunnel that I was leaving, dying, and started to say to myself: wake up, wake up, wake up!!! Late in the evening, they took me back to theatre to close off the vein, and gave me three units of blood and one of plasma. The truth is I do not know if there is life after death or if this was the process one experiences while dying. But what surprised me about the situation was that I had the ability to analyze the situation and was thinking with the same clarity as when fully awake. What is certain is that I am very glad to have had a return ticket on this strange journey through the tunnel.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: Novembrr 2007

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? No Surgery-related Clinical death (cessation of breathing or heart function or brain function)

How do you consider the content of your experience? Mixed

Did you feel separated from your body? Uncertain 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? More consciousness and alertness than normal The whole time.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? The whole time.

Were your thoughts speeded up? Faster than usual

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening at once; or time stopped or lost all meaning The time inside the tunnel was perhaps slowed down or perhaps not, but when I realized that I was slowly getting further down this tunnel, and felt afraid, I was thrown back through the tunnel at great speed.

Were your senses more vivid than usual? Incredibly more vivid

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. At first everything looked fuzzy, I could only see a blurred light, but at this time I was still breathing.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. This is what struck me the most, that I could hear everyone clearly, and distinguish whose and from where the voices were, (the nurses and my mother) although I heard everything with an echo.

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere? Yes, and the facts have been checked out

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? Uncertain I didn't get through the sensation of a tunnel in which I was floating, but felt that I was getting gradually further and further from the point where the voices of the nurses and my mother were coming from.

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

The experience included: Darkness

Did you see, or feel surrounded by, a brilliant light? A light clearly of mystical or other-worldly origin

Did you see an unearthly light? Uncertain Before entering the tunnel and when I sat on the sofa I saw blurred whiteness.

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

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Peace and happiness that all my pains were gone. When I came to the conclusion that I was dying, I was overtaken by a real panic in the tunnel.

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

Did you have a feeling of joy? incredible joy

Did you feel a sense of harmony or unity with the universe? I felt united or one with the world

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? Everything about the universe

Did scenes from your past come back to you? My past flashed before me, out of my control

Did scenes from the future come to you? Scenes from the world's future

Did you come to a border or point of no return? I came to a barrier that I was not permitted to cross; or was sent back against my will

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Liberal

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? No

What is your religion now? Liberal

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? I encountered a definite being, or a voice clearly of mystical or unearthly origin

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? I actually saw them

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? Uncertain I had no belief in the subject of the tunnel, but now I have taken note of it.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? No

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? No

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? Yes, when I came to the conclusion that, at best, I was dying.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes Some are amazed, another said to me that the tunnel is perhaps the form taken by the death of the brain.

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 As soon as I recovered consciousness, my mother left the room to speak with the nurses, my sister came in and I started telling her about the experience I had had.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real I recall it all with great clarity.

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? Simply, I would have liked to know if there is anything after the tunnel. (I would have liked to be able to see someone familiar, but even then I think that I would have taken it for a hallucinogenic effect, since they say that when the brain feels great physical pain it can generate a substance which could be similar to a drug.)

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? Actually, it seems to me that this is fairly complete.