Sam B NDE

Experience Description

Prior to the experience I had accidentally discovered the effects of inhaling compressed air. As a young and dumb teenager, I decided I would do it again because it felt good. I was 14 years old, and living with my parents and older brother. I had discovered the effects of the air duster the night prior to the event. At the time of the experience, I had done it 2 times the night before. I waited for my parents to go to sleep, and decided I would try it again.

I sat on the edge of my bed, and inhaled from the can for one large breath. This caused my vision to go black, limbs to grow warm and heavy, and my coordination was barely there. I then took another large breath from the can, to my lungs capacity. I heard a ringing in my ears, similar to the beeping that you hear in the video game Halo when your shields are depleted. It's the closest thing to describe it; almost identical. The beeping grew more distorted and louder as I was breathing in. About halfway through the inhalation, I could no longer hear thor the cane duster air blowing. I lost all sense of feeling, vision, and sound except for the loud beeping. I felt myself hit the bed, but couldn't feel myself as I was falling.

In this same moment, I floated out of my slumped-over body. I could see my body in perfect detail lying on my bed. I floated into the corner ceiling of my bedroom. I saw the can of air duster on the floor, and my motionless body slumped over on the bed. I couldn't hear anything other than the beeping, which had now grown fainter. Time seemed to stand still. I felt like what I was experiencing was real. I had the consciousness to think, 'Wow, I'm looking at myself. What the hell?' This wasn't making sense to me, because when I was in my body, I couldn't form a thought due to the effects of the air duster. After a while, it felt like forever. I was completely at peace and didn't feel scared. I was sucked back into my first-person perspective.

I sat up from my slumped over position and saw the can on the floor. My body was in the exact position I saw it in while floating. Everything else in my room was in the place where I saw it from my floating perspective.

Immediately after this experience, I was in awe of what I had experienced. After describing it to a close friend a week later, he said, 'Dude you probably almost died. That's serious!' and I think I realized then that he was likely right. I do believe that I was on the brink of death, and given the lack of oxygen in my brain from two full lung-fulls of air duster, it's certainly a possibility. I never heard any voices or saw any people. At the time of the event, I wasn't thinking about death. I was simply in awe of what was happening. To this day I'm not sure what to make of the event, but I'm very grateful that I didn't suffer any long-lasting damage to my brain due to my young stupidity.

I actually struggled briefly off and on for about a year with doing it again to try and replicate the experience. I only did it 3-4 times in that year and olver long span. Thankfully, I stopped. I've never done it since and never will, because I now realize that actions have consequences.

At 21 years old I think this experience has shaped my perspective quite a lot. It's still something I think about on a regular basis. I'm in school to get my Bachelor's in IT, and am working part-time. I'm still left with the curiosity and unexplainable nature of the experience. Yet, I'm not sure I'll ever get the answer.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: 03/2017

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Misuse of canned air duster. Inhalation. Life threatening event, but not clinical death I was unconscious after inhaling a lot of air out of a compressed duster can. Misuse of inhalants like this often causes sudden death/ irreversible brain damage. I was a foolish young teenager. I must have been unconscious for at least 3-7 minutes.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Entirely pleasant

Did you feel separated from your body? Yes I saw myself unconscious on my bed, and everything in my room was like it was in real life. My computer was on, and I remember seeing the main menu screen of the game I was playing prior to the experience. It wasn't static and the graphics were changing in real time. 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

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? The moment I left my body, and for the duration of the event.

Were your thoughts speeded up? No

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening at once; or time stopped or lost all meaning. Time stood still, I had no concept of time and didn't even think about it. I felt completely unconcerned with time or unaware of its existence in that moment. I was unconscious for 3-7 minutes, likely closer to 7. I can't judge the time spent floating retrospectively either. Thinking back, it seems like an instant but I remember having thoughts and being in that perspective for a while.

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. They were equivalent.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. Ringing in ears.

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? No

Did you see an unearthly light? No

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? A clearly mystical or unearthly realm. While floating it felt like I was no longer in the world, but rather on another plane of existence that occurs simultaneously to it. It's hard to explain but I felt encapsulated by an invisible shell of air, separate from the one in my room, but at the same time there.

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Awe, Peace, Calm, Stupor

Did you have a feeling of peace or pleasantness? Incredible peace or pleasantness

Did you have a feeling of joy? Happiness

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? 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- Protestant I grew up as a Baptist because my family were devout Christians. At the time of the event, I was involved in church and believed everything regarding my faith. It was important to me.

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Uncertain As described above, I started questioning my faith/reality more.

What is your religion now? Unaffiliated- Agnostic Currently, I'm uncomfortable with organized religion and don't attend a church. I feel there is more than meets the eye, and world religions are likely either entirely or partially incorrect. I'd consider myself agnostic and I do believe it is probable that a higher power/realm/etc. does exist.

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. My beliefs at the time were that if I died I would instantly be in heaven or hell. I also believed that the soul was separate from the body, and the body was simply a vessel for it. There wasn't a belief of existing as a 'spirit' or ghost in the physical realm of the Earth, however (So this contradicts my beliefs at the time.)

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Uncertain. I deconstructed from my faith in my junior year of high school, and I think my experience played a role in causing the initial questioning of the things I was told were facts growing up that don't actually have definitive proof.

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? Uncertain Seeing my unconscious body was jarring in a way, and it definitely made me feel like my body was real, in addition to my now-floating form.

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. It felt to me that what I was experiencing in that moment was real, but I didn't think about death/afterlife during the experience.

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? Slight changes in my life. I don't know if the changes are due to the experience or simply maturity. However, I am a lot more compassionate towards others than I used to be. I strongly believe in treating others with respect and I'm a lot less judgemental towards people especially when it comes to surface level things or even differences in beliefs, values, or preferences. I now see the good in pretty much everyone I meet, whereas before I used to look for negatives in people. I do feel some sense of curiosity/insecurity now that I didn't feel then when it comes to the meaning of life and my relationships. I feel more confused about that then ever before, and I think my experience might have made me more curious/unsure about the afterlife, the physical world, and what we 'know' to be true about our experiences.

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 I have ADHD, and my memory is really bad. I don't remember much about my life 7 years ago, or in the days after/leading up to the experience. I do however remember my experience in extremely vivid detail as well as the events leading up to it that day.

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? No

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes 1 week - shared with my close friend Johnny. He was shocked and thought I had done a very stupid thing; he was right. He also thought that it was likely I had almost died. I'm not sure if he was influenced by the experience. I haven't told anybody else, and keep to myself most of the time.

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 probably real I grew much more curious of the reality I was experiencing, and my experience made me wonder about whether ghosts were real. I also lost my grandpa around that time, and I remember wondering if he was still here on the earth as a spirit instead of in heaven like my religion taught.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real. I don't see how my experience could have been a hallucination due to the live-action nature of it, and my real-time thinking during the experience. I was definitely separate from my body, but I still had that internal voice I'd always had. I think my experience was real and that I was on the brink of death.

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? No

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? Questionnaire was thorough and good. No suggestions.

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