Perry D Probable NDE

Experience Description

I was playing out on the ice with a couple of buddies, when I fell through the ice. My body was too shocked because of the cold water. I slowly started to fall deeper underwater while losing my breath. Eventually, I was coughing and inhaling too much water that I lost consciousness.

After losing consciousness while drowning, I only saw darkness and couldn't hear much of anything. I felt as if I were fading away. I was no longer attached to my body or anything else. It felt like I was floating in nothingness. My friend pulled me out of the water and immediately started performing CPR. At some point, I slowly started to regain an attachment to my body. I could hear him saying, 'I'm never going to give up on you!' Although, I could still not feel any body sensations.

It felt like I was able to decide whether or not I could go back to my body. After hearing everything my friend continually repeated, I had the urge to go back. Then I had a sudden rush back into my body.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: January 18, 2004

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Drowning. CPR given. Life threatening event, but not clinical death.

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

Did you feel separated from your body? Yes. 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? Normal consciousness and alertness same level of consciousness

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? Right before having the urge to come back into my body

Were your thoughts speeded up? Incredibly fast

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening at once; or time stopped or lost all meaning. What I was hearing was in a chronological order, but I can't say that time was experienced the same way as normally.

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. I could not see anything during my experience

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 focused on the person performing CPR on me. There were no other sounds but it felt very emotional and strong at the time.

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? Some unfamiliar and strange place. It's hard to know where I was because everything I saw was darkness. My only connection to what was happening was the sounds I was hearing, so I don't think I was in the earthly world.

What emotions did you feel during the experience? The best way to describe it was an extreme urgency to do something, but I wasn't sure what I needed to do. Although I felt that urgency, I still felt a relief due to not feeling anything else. It was like having a muscle cramp that goes away.

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? I came to a definite conscious decision to return to life. While hearing my friend's words as he was performing CPR, I had a strong urge that I needed to "come back" to my body or reconnect to it.

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? Christian- Other Christian

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. I was never too sure of my beliefs about what happens when going unconscious and how our thoughts are attached to our bodies, but it seemed like there was a weird feeling that they are less connected than I would have thought before.

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 probably exists

Did you gain information about how to live our lives? Uncertain. When having the urge to come back and reconnect with my body, I had existential thoughts of weighing the options of whether I should come back or not. My body no longer felt as comfortable or as its usual self after being disconnected. Reflecting on this moment, I thought it would be an easy choice to go back to my body but during the experience it wasn't.

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? Slight changes in my life

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? No

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes I had feelings like I never felt before, so it is hard to put into words; it doesn't compare to feelings like in dreams or regular waking consciousness. It's hard to describe being detached from the body.

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

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? No

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes I didn't tell anyone for a while as it took some time to process. I was uncertain if people would believe or understand me.

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? Uncertain. I only knew about NDEs from TV shows and dramas like House or Grey's Anatomy. It's hard to say whether that knowledge affected my experienceor not.

What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was probably real. The memory was very vivid at the start and felt profound, but slowly it started to fade in its importance after time.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was probably real. Everything felt real but in such an unusual way. I wasn't like a dream as the events still made sense. I can have vivid dreams but reflecting on them they don't make sense with the people or objects involved and what I was trying to do.

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

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? Being able to set up an interview as to clarify some questions and record the whole thing for others to see