Sherry S NDE

Experience Description

I was 22 and had bronchitis so was given cough syrup with codeine to help with the coughing. I had just woken up from a nap on the couch when I walked into the kitchen to get something to drink. My mom, dad, and older sister were all in the kitchen. I said, 'oh my God,' as I slid down to the floor, everything went white. My mom picked me up and I kept bobbing in and out of consciousness. My sister ran to get the truck. I lived in a very rural area and the nearest hospital was 35 miles away. My dad had had hip surgery so he could not lift me but he half walked and half carried me to the front door.

I remember seeing all of this happening. I saw the look on my mom's face as she sat in the chair, I saw my sister backing the truck up to the porch and my dad yelling he couldn't lift me because of his hip. I have no idea how I saw this all because the events were happening at the same time. I remember being in the doorway of the house and thinking, I am not sure if I actually said it or not. 'I love you all.' This is when my sister said that I turned green like the wicked witch. As I thought, 'I love you all,' I was gently guided to the light. I felt unconditional love, immense joy, happiness, contentment, although I did not see God, I knew he was with me. I wanted to stay because I was happy and at peace.

Suddenly I woke up in the truck, looked around and saw we were about 10 miles from home. My sister was looking at me like I was dying and asked, 'Are you ok?' I started crying because I wanted to go back. I was heartbroken I could not stay with God and I cried for the rest of the trip to the hospital and I am crying as I write this because I wanted to stay. They brought me to the hospital and I was told I had gone into anaphylaxis shock from an allergic reaction to codeine and had turned green due to my heart stopping.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: 1992

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Allergic reaction

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

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? More consciousness and alertness than normal I was aware of all events happening at the same time.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? Right before I went to the light.

Were your thoughts speeded up? No

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? No

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. I could see everything happening.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. I could hear everything happening.

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere? No

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? No I felt like I was being guided towards the light but not into a tunnel.

Did you see any beings in your experience? I sensed their presence

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? No

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? No

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

The experience included: Special knowledge or purpose

What emotions did you feel during the experience? I felt joy, love, 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? 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

The experience included: Content that was entirely not consistent with the beliefs you had at the time of your experience

Did scenes from the future come to you? No

The experience included: Strong emotional tone

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure? No

Did you come to a border or point of no return? No

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What importance did you place on your religious/spiritual life prior to your experience? Moderately important to me

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

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Yes There is one God; no religion is right or wrong.

What importance do you place on your religious/spiritual life after your experience? Greatly important to me

What is your religion now? Christian- Protestant More spiritual based

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 grew up Christian, and I felt God goes well beyond any form of religion now.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes I rarely attend church as I no longer feel I need it to be at peace with God.

The experience included: Unearthly light

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? No

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? I sensed their presence

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? Yes I felt at one with all souls, we are from one, we go back to one.

Did you believe in the existence of God prior to your experience? God definitely exists

During your experience, did you gain information about the existence of God? Yes Absolutely God exists and is called by many names.

Do you believe in the existence of God after your experience? God definitely exists

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? No

Did you believe that our earthly lives are meaningful and significant prior to your experience? Are meaningful and significant

During your experience, did you gain information about the meaning of life? No

Did you believe in an afterlife prior to your experience? An afterlife probably exists

Do you believe in an afterlife after your experience? An afterlife definitely exists Yes Yes, there definitely is continual life after the body dies.

Did you fear death prior to your experience? I moderately feared death

Do you fear death after your experience? I do not fear death

Were you fearful living your life prior to your experience? Slightly fearful in living my earthly life

Were you fearful living your life after your experience? Not fearful in living my earthly life

Did you believe that our earthly lives are meaningful and significant prior to your experience? Are meaningful and significant

Did you believe that our earthly lives are meaningful and significant after your experience? Are possibly meaningful and significant

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

Were you compassionate prior to your experience? Moderately compassionate toward others

During your experience, did you gain information about love? No

Were you compassionate after your experience? Greatly compassionate toward others

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Large changes in my life Large changes in my life.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes Yes I am able to share this with people who are losing loved ones so they know where they are going is much more beautiful than they could ever imagine.

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes It is hard to explain the light; no words can express what I felt.

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

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Yes I know things that I really have no way of knowing.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes It was at least a year after my experience before I shared it with others. I shared it with my mom and sister first. I know they believed me as they were there when it was happening.

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 questioned it, not if it was 'real' but why it happened.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real I no longer question it or why it happened.

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? After my experience, I did not understand why I could not stay so I went through a period where I kept trying to get that 'feeling' back and experimented with chemicals to revisit that feeling. Obviously, it never happened and I am now in full understanding and grateful for the gift.