Tom S NDE

Experience Description

I was diagnosed with an injury, but it turned out to be pneumonia. The doctor at the time didn't give me anything for infection. By the time I went for a second opinion, my right lung had collapsed. My oxygen level in my blood dropped very low. I went to a second doctor that put me in the hospital immediately. I was almost dead. I was in the first hospital for a week just to be told there was nothing they could do for me because I was so far advanced. They shipped me to a bigger hospital. By the time it took my wife to sign me in, the doctors were putting chest tubes in to drain the fluid out of my right lung. We were told that if this didn't work, I would have to go through emergency surgery. After thirteen hours of the chest tubes, not enough was draining. I went into surgery for ten and half hours. My wife and mother were told I had a very hard time of it. The doctors took my right lung out, cleaned off the infection, inflated the lung and put it back in me, and hoped for the best.

In the intensive care unit my oxygen kept dropping. I looked at my wife and said, 'I don't feel good.' She said, 'No kidding.' I said, 'No, I really feel bad.' At this point, I had my experience.

It has changed me greatly.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: March 9, 1994

NDE Elements:

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

How do you consider the content of your experience? Disturbing

The experience included: Out of body experience

Did you feel separated from your body? Yes It was like a pop. Or a sucking feeling. Once I felt that, there was no more pain.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? I knew what was going on and heard the bells go off.

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening at once; or time stopped or lost all meaning To me, I was there for a while. Well that's not right either. That is so hard to explain.

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? Yes But, it was more like a funnel of a tornado. The feeling of love was coming from the funnel.

The experience included: Presence of deceased persons

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? Yes Hard to explain. My father had passed away about a year earlier, I felt him more than saw him. His mother, my grandmother was there but so were people I felt I knew but didn't. I felt very close to them.

The experience included: Darkness

The experience included: Light

Did you see an unearthly light? Yes The light was around me.

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? A clearly mystical or unearthly realm COLORS -- just colors and the feeling of love.

The experience included: Strong emotional tone

The experience included: Special Knowledge

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? Everything about the universe I know I'm here for something and I think I knew it at one point but not now.

The experience included: Life review

Did scenes from your past come back to you? My past flashed before me, out of my control I feel that church is a joke, 'I THINK' I don't know anymore. I was brought up in the church, but now things are different. When we pass, we are going to feel everything we did to others. If I said something that hurt somebody, I felt the hurt the other person felt. The same if I helped somebody or made them happy by listening, I felt that too. It doesn't matter if you went to church or not. What I feel matters is the kind of person that you are. Greedy, selfish, everything you can think of, you are going to feel.

Did scenes from the future come to you? No

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 Kind of, I didn't want to return to all that pain but it was something I had to do. HAD TO because I at that time, I knew I would be coming back to do something. I have tried to think over the years what it was but can't remember.

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Moderate southern baptist

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes Most definitely, my wife says I'm like a different person. I didn't care about people or what they thought. I didn't care about anything, I was going through the steps but nothing mattered. Not her, family, I was a very mean person.

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes It has changed everything I once believed in, mainly religion.

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Yes After leaving the hospital I heard voices in my head -- I really thought I was going crazy. The voices were loud and I couldn't get rid of them. I just about locked myself away. I would get bad headaches. They got real bad around emotionally charged times. It got to the point I couldn't go shopping for Christmas gifts. That time was the worst time for me. Family gatherings were out. It is something you can't shut off. It's not so bad now because I have learned to ignore it. But sometimes it's right there. I played with it a little, but it bothered me after a while. My head would start to hurt. I told a friend some things about himself that there was no way I could have known. It really freaked him out because I was right. He said he never told anybody that before, not even his wife. But I was right. Little things like that.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? WORST -- I had to come back into that body full of the pain. I had to suffer like nothing I could ever put into words. BEST -- I have watched myself change. Most for the good but some for the bad.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes I have tried, but it is so hard. People want to understand but they can't. People want to know more but it isn't that easy for me to tell them. I get emotional sometimes and it makes it that much harder for me.

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

Is there anything else that you would like to add about your experience? I just don't understand all of it. Wish I could go back and do it again. I have never felt anything like that in my life. I know I can't do something to myself to go back there.

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? I was wondering if there is a place on here I can talk with others that have been through this. It is a hard thing to hold in all the time. I can tell people, but it doesn't do anything for me. I would like to find people that do understand. Could you help me with this please -- thank you.