William E Father NDE

Experience Description

Dad had heard about the typhoid outbreak and had ridden about a hundred and fifty miles to get home to help. He had evidently picked the fever up already because by the time he reached home he was already badly of. He remembers the fever and terrible hotness of it, then came the darkness and the agony then he felt like he was on a bucking horse in total darkness. So much agony that he wanted to scream. As the horse finally threw him and he landed hard on the ground, he was suddenly relieved of the pain and felt so calm and good. He looked around and saw the tunnel with the light, got up and went to it. Everything was so peaceful and he felt so alive. He was met at the light by his father, grandfather, grandmother, and some other old family members but if he told me who, I don't remember. His father said he couldn't come in yet, he still had many important things to do. His father also gave him some messages for his mother and some important legal information she would need. Dad and his father never really got along before and dad was not happy that he couldn't stay. That was uppermost in his mind and it took a while before he even passed on the information to his mother.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: 1919

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Illness Other 'non clinical death if by clinical, you mean certified by Doctor' Massive typhoid fever outbreak. All victims were quarantined in local hotel until death or recovery. Dad had been in the death coma for a few hours. His cousin Dewey was sitting with him when he went into the death convulsions. As the convulsions ceased and a large breath of air left him, he went limp and eyes starting glazing. Dewey could not find a pulse nor breath, so went downstairs to get the doctor and burial detail. As soon as the doctor certified death, they were buried due to the disease. Dad's cousins Joe and Griff were on the burial detail that day. All four returned to the room at the same time. Dad was sitting up pulling on his pants and just cussing a blue streak. All he would say is 'I saw dad and the bastard wouldn't let me stay.' (His father had died six years earlier).

How do you consider the content of your experience? Mixed

The experience included: Out of body experience

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 As above.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? He said from the time he got up until he reached the light was the greatest feeling he had ever experienced.

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 From cousin Dewey's account and father's account, the times seem to match up to reality. The darkness, (coma) the horse ride (convulsions) and the agonizing throw to the ground, then the peace and serenity (death) the short walk to the light, the short talk, and the return to the dark and waking up coincided with the time it would take for Dewey to go get the others.

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. Other than his own euphoric feeling, he didn't say or I don't remember anything else.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. Other than his own euphoric feeling, he didn't say or I don't remember anything else.

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? Yes

The experience included: Presence of deceased persons

Did you see any beings in your experience? I actually saw them

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? Yes His father, grandfather and grandmother and some other deceased family members. He was told he couldn't come in yet and was given some other personal messages.

The experience included: Darkness

The experience included: Light

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? Yes

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? No He wasn't specific about the locations, just the warm wonderful light and the euphoric feeling of peacefulness.

The experience included: Strong emotional tone

What emotions did you feel during the experience? He was elated and euphoric until he was turned away, then he felt anger and disappointment.

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

The experience included: Special Knowledge

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 He did not 'review'. He was given information to bring back. He was always calm about death after that. He never took chances but he never feared death either.

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? Conservative/fundamentalist none

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Yes He settled right down, and studied religion with a fervor and joined the LDS church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) a short time later.

What is your religion now? Conservative/fundamentalist LDS

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes He settled right down, and studied religion with a fervor and joined the LDS church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) a short time later.

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? No I specifically asked him this question and he said there was nothing like that except that life goes on in the next dimension and it is a much better life than what he had faced here.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes See above information for his cousin's appraisal of the change. I never knew the wild side but only saw him as a very helpful courteous man.

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes He only talked about it once to me. I first heard the story from his cousin who was with him at the time of his first death. My older siblings and mother were only told a part of the story but after hearing about it from his cousin, I asked him and he told me the whole story. Even then he did not want to say much.

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? No He said no, but cousin Dewey said he was very changed. From a hard living cowboy who was ready to 'scrap at the drop of a hat and willing to drop the hat himself' to a calm, friendly person who never had a bad word about anyone and would do anything to help anyone, including his worst enemy, which he claimed he had none.

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? The only answer here is he told me not to fear death, but the journey can be miserable.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes He only shared it with my mother and older siblings once, then again with me. I am the only one he told the whole story to.

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? No He thought this was unique to him, for many years felt it was just a dream or something. He only told the others after hearing about another NDE in the community. When I asked him about it and was told, I also asked about his thoughts and he knew it was for real, but tried to rationalize and come to an understanding by thinking of it as a dream.

What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was definitely real As I said above, he knew it was real but tried to come to grips with it by blowing it off as a dream because he had nothing to relate it to.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real Both my thoughts and my father's thoughts say it was definitely real.

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? No I asked him specifically about this. He was badly mauled by a bull at the age of sixty-eight, had all kinds of medications thrown at him in his eighties and at age eighty-five, he said even though he had all kinds of hallucinations etc. nothing ever came close to duplicating this experience.

Is there anything else that you would like to add about your experience? Me speaking. I spent time every day with him those last few years. Some days he was not in the present anymore and living way back in his past. On those days, he recalled exact details of conversations that had taken place seventy years earlier. I checked those details and found that those 'gone back' times were very accurate. I believe everything he told me was extremely accurate even though the elapsed time was extreme.

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? Very thorough. As a second party to this experience, maybe you don't want my input but if you do, then gear a second set of questions to a second party accounting.