Mr James G, formerly a member of the British Army's first Royal Tank Regiment, experienced a veridical OBE during the period he was lying comatose in the ICU, after a very serious operation for the treatment of a brain aneurysm. He was kind enough to respond to my interest and answer some questions about his experience, as well as giving me permission to publish it here.
I had a bad near fatal brain bleed when I was 27...I was a British Soldier at the time in Germany...after saving me...and when I was in intensive care...I was out of my body and out of the intensive care suit. The Military had brought one of my older brothers over...just in case I did die. I was floating next to him in the hospital corridor and I know what he said to the nurse and what she said to him...and who was down the corridor. The red light was flashing at the top of the door (the door to the intensive care unit) in the corridor.
The first thing I thought was, "This is weird, what's going on?" I could see, think and I was me. It was like looking out of a ball of energy. I saw myself (my physical body inside the unit) through the window in the corridor...but I wasn't bothered about that "thing" lying there. So I (later when he recovered)) started to read about such things. And over the years I have changed my outlook about this planet and about what matters in life.
I asked James what would he say to sceptics who would try and tell him that it didn't really happen like that. You weren't "actually" out of your body, you just imagined that you were ? He replied....
Well.. I was out of my body next to my older brother (NB*James couldn't have known he was there) who is also an ex soldier...they had brought him over to Germany just in case I did die. He was saying to the nurse, "What is happening ?"...and she said to him..."We think your brother is trying to breath on his own!"
As I looked about, I saw the red light on the outside of the door at the top (to the intensive care unit) flashing red ...and down the corridor was my RSM (Regimental Serjeant Major) and two others in suits...looking towards my brother. I could see myself (my physical body) from my vantage point (outside) through the windows into the room (from the corridor)...I knew what it was (my body) but I wasn't bothered as I was separate from it (my body).
In fact the first thing I said (thought) to myself was, "What is going on? this is weird!" It was like looking out of a ball or an orb as I understand it!. It has made me a more spiritual person...not religious.
I thanked him again and then expressed my desire to get this experience down in detail and post it on a psi forum, whilst assuring him that it was perfectly okay if he didn't want to.
Hi, I wasn't out of my body that long. Everything I have put down is as it is. ……They (The Army) had brought my older brother over to Kassel in Germany as they (always) bring someone over if you're fighting for your life, and they think you will not survive. Obviously I didn't know my brother was there. Anyway, I was on a ventilator (in a coma) in the hospital and not in a good way.
This was after the operation that saved me. I had been visited by friends and colleagues from my regiment the First Royal Tank Regiment, and I was told this later. I had had a burst brain aneurysm. But when I had this experience of being 'out of my body', I was next to my brother in the hospital corridor, outside my hospital (intensive care) room.
It was like looking out of something like a ball of energy. The first thing I thought was, "What is going on? This is weird!" Then I saw my brother (S). He stands about 6ft 1in and it was as if I was looking down from possibly about a foot taller than him (meaning above him). He was saying to this nurse (who was) to his left....but from my point of view from my right.....
….he said, "What is happening ?"... the nurse said, "We think your brother is trying to breath on his own!" I saw also down the corridor my RSM and two other people in suits. They were looking towards my brother and the nurse and the door into the hospital room (where I was in the ICU). Then I glanced at the red light flashing above the unit door. And I saw myself..... my body... lying in the far left corner of the room through the window in the corridor.
I knew it was my body but I wasn't bothered about that. I could see... but it was different than seeing with my eyes. It was as I said, as if I was looking out of a ball of energy, and I could see as if normally. I was thinking normally as well. And I could tell I was me... my own personality. The only thing that was absent was breathing and respiration.
Then nothing. I must have gone back into my body. That is it all. It wasn't long. But I will never forget this. I spoke later about this with my brother and said what I saw and heard. And what I think had occurred. Being that I had left my body, I had felt religious, but I have since become a more spiritual kind of person and rejected religion. I have become a more caring person. And I pass on to others my experience and what I think and believe now.
Please could you clarify a couple of things ? You said it wasn't an accident. Is there anything more you can say about that ? Secondly, did I read you correctly, that you confirmed all this with your brother ?
Yes, even though I had an aneurysm...I never knew (obviously) And I was having a drink with fellow soldiers when after leaving the A sqn Bar...an NCO (Non commissioned officer) who was coming down the stairs with me...pushed my head, and it (accidentally) hit the wall...and what was wrong (the aneurysm) burst.
(James advanced some personal philosophical thoughts here) What I believe is that when it is your time....you may possibly see other spirits who welcome you or (you'll) maybe see a tunnel.
Yes, I discussed it with my brother and he concurred with me about what he and the nurse had said. I believe we are a small fraction of the infinite. Some call this the original spirit?
(My brain hemorrhage occurred on the night of the last Saturday of October in 1997 in Barkar Barracks, Paderborn Germany . I was in D sqn The First Royal Tank Regiment. Thanks. Mr James G.
Many thanks to Mr James G !
Looking through an NDE forum on Facebook recently, I was fortunate to spot this very interesting and quirky account, witnessed and reported by registered nurse and midwife, Dee Holme Werner, from South Africa.
(I don't have any social media accounts but I joined (temporarily) so that I could ask Dee a little more about it. She very kindly responded in detail)
Dee's initial post on Facebook :
In Nursing School we had to do an operating theatre rotation. I think I was third year by then. A patient died on the table and was successfully resuscitated. Later I went to see how he was doing in the ward. As I walked in he said, "You are the nurse who worked that bag!"
I had assisted the anaesthetist for a very short time 'bagging' (ambu bag) the patient while the anaesthetist prepared to extubate and reintubate the patient. I don't recall what the problem was with the existing tube but it had to be replaced. The patient said he was floating around near the ceiling. He said he saw each detail of the room, adjacent rooms and corridor.
He related lots of details he could not have known about (the surgeon had his own (particular) theatre boots, identified by a funny face drawn on the toes using coloured koki pens (marker); all the intravenous bags were hanging up with the front facing forward but the unit of blood was back to front; the ampoules on the anaesthetist’s table were all in a row but not in size order and not in alphabetical order; the surgeon told a golfing joke during the early part of the surgery; there were other details).
What interested me was his visual memories. We all know about hearing being the last sense to go but how do you explain the things he saw?
And her additional response :
To answer your questions:
1. When did this occur ?
I was at Nursing School from 1967 to about 1972 and this occurred during my operating theatre rotation in my third year. So the year was probably 1970.
2. Please could you give as much detail as possible ?
Some of them were quite personal. The anaesthetist had left the bedside of the patient after the patient had been re-intubated and stabilised. Everything was going okay. The anaesthetist asked me to stand by. I was only a student at the time and would have called him back very quickly if I or anyone else on the team had been worried. The patient said the anaesthetist went to the loo. I didn’t check that out with the anaesthetist, I didn’t ask him or ever follow that up. It isn’t the type of information I would put on Facebook anyway.
3. How many other medical staff were witnesses to this patient’s account ?
The first person to get the information was the surgeon. Apparently the patient asked the surgeon about his boots. The surgeon came across me in the tea room and asked if I recalled any conversation about his boots. He asked if anyone had talked about the little face on his boots. The face was in koki pens of different colours - perhaps placed there by a paediatric patient or the surgeon’s own children?
I said I didn’t remember talking about the boots and why did he ask. Apparently the patient had said to the surgeon when he saw the patient later in the ward, "Oh doctor, I like your boots." This puzzled the surgeon as there is no way the patient could have seen the boots. The patient was already anaesthetised before the surgeon walked to the table side from the scrub room. The surgeon’s point was how could an anaesthetised patent be aware of information dependent upon visual input while he was unconscious. We all know about hearing being the last sense to go and would have accepted the patient knowing about the boots if the topic had been discussed in his presence.
I tended to talk about these things. I cannot remember when my interest in mysticism began but it seems it has always been with me and being a nurse I had a lot of exposure to things, including accounts of NDEs. I spoke to the other girls in my group. It was just one of those stories we nurses shared at the meal table. A story would take centre stage for a bit and then the spotlight would move to another. The span of stories reached wide.
I mentioned to the surgeon the way the patient had greeted me when I walked into his room, "Ah! You are the nurse who …" and asked him what he thought of the patient’s account. The surgeon said he’s a surgeon and a scientist and doesn’t know why patients say these things or have these experiences but he did find some of the details odd.
The other visual perception the patient had was the ampoules on the tray. He commented they were not arranged alphabetically or in size order. Of course they wouldn’t be, because they were arranged in order of administration but again this was a visual experience of the patient, not auditory.
I wish I had followed up more on that patient but hospital life has to remain on the hop to get everything done and one interesting thing follows another.
I trained at Greys Hospital in Pietermaritzburg in South Africa. The operating theatres were in the new block on the first floor. Greys has subsequently moved to much bigger premises. There are other experiences patients have related to me or things I have experienced myself. 50 years as a Registered Nurse and Midwife!
I asked Dee this in addition:
Just a couple of questions. When you were "bagging" the patient, presumably he was completely unconscious, is that correct? Otherwise of course, you wouldn't have been surprised at his description, I guess.
And can you remember how the patient described floating around the room ? Did he just say something like "Hey, nurse, during my operation I was floating around above you and could see everything, including the corridor outside the room etc..." Did he express surprise at such an out of the ordinary experience ?
Did you get the impression that he thought you believed him ? I don't suppose he described anything about in what "form" he felt he was in when he was up there?
Dee Holme Werner:
The patient was completely anaesthetised while being bagged. The bag is an ambu bag. It is applied to the patient’s nose and mouth (good fit) then squeezed according to the volume and rate suitable for the patient. This puts air into the patient’s lungs. The patient has a passive expiration and the next squeeze is done to re-inflate the lungs.
The patient showed no interest in being believed or not believed, it didn’t come into his account at all. He described 'floating around the ceiling' in a way I would describe what I had for breakfast. It happened and he was telling me about it.
I got the impression he was delivering an account of an experience he had gone through that surprised him for its unusualness. He was figuring out what it meant. The possibility that I would not believe him didn’t come into it.
He didn’t say anything about the form he was in except that he was able to float at will, could see and hear everything and felt no attachment to the body on the operating table.
If this patient’s account is of interest to readers that is great.
Many thanks to Dee Holme Werner !
In 1968, Nicole Dron nearly died from a haemorrhage (that occurred after a hysterectomy) and had a profound near death experience. This was seven years before Raymond Moody had even published his ground breaking book, Life after Life and coined the now well known phrase. I contacted Nicole and her husband Michel and they very kindly agreed to let me reproduce it here on Psience quest.
This translation has been painstakingly carried out by fine tuning the very crude google translation. French does not convert into English and vice versa, at all well. Appropriate synonyms and common sense have to be applied, when it's obvious that a particular word or sentence is clearly not what the author would have intended.
However, I'm confident it's a pretty accurate English representation. Nicole has specifically requested that she is not contacted, just to add. I may follow this up with the remaining part of the story if I can get it right, that is.
Nicole Dron was born in 1941 in Aisne, France She was one of the first "experiencers" to agree to speak publicly about her experience. Through lectures and radio and television programs, she has contributed greatly to the recognition of EMI's (Near Death Experiences) in the general public as well as among interested researchers and scientists. For more than twenty years (thirty years ago now), Nicole Dron has tirelessly travelled all over France and other French-speaking countries in order to assist all those (she believes) her story can help.
An experience on the frontier of death by Nicole Dron
More than 40 years ago I had an experience that broadened my conception of the world and altered all the values of my life. It was a profound and unforgettable event that touched every aspect of myself and gave me the certainty that death doesn't exist. I will never forget this experience. It is part of me, always there to remind me of the fullness, beauty and immense peace of a state that defies description and by comparison, makes the elusive search for material wealth, fame and power, seem derisory and depressing. I wish this experience could dry every tear. I hope it helps to demystify death, so that life may be more pleasant.
Forty Five Seconds of Eternity
It happened in 1968. Three weeks after the birth of my second child, I had a very big haemorrhage. I was hospitalized and operated on urgently. During the procedure (hysterectomy/removal of the uterus), a second haemorrhage occurred. My blood pressure plummeted and my heart stopped beating. I was told afterwards, that the electro-cardiogram was flat for about 45 seconds.
And during those 45 seconds, I experienced eternity!
First of all, I remember being at the height of the ceiling. I was there with all my thoughts and emotions, all that constitutes me, myself. I became aware of seeing from all sides at once, but above all, I felt a new and incredible feeling: that of existing outside my body! I can assure you it is overwhelming to know that you are (still) existing outside of yourself. I realized I was merely an inhabitant of that body lying on the operating table.
I looked down at it, cadaverous, with tubes coming out of the nose and mouth, not at all nice to see. (However) It didn't matter anymore because that body wasn't really me, it was only a vehicle. I heard the surgeon say: "She is slipping through my hands!" (this was confirmed to me a month later by a nurse who was present at my operation)
I didn't spend too much time in this operating room because I thought about my husband and father in-law, in the hospital. Just thinking of them, I instantly found myself there in a waiting room. I was aware of passing through the walls. Everything seemed natural to me, because at the time, I didn't think about it; it just happened. Later I wondered, how is that even possible? How could I have gone through walls, and how could I have found this room, because I didn't even know where it was, I'd never been there before!
I noticed there were was no seats available for them. My husband confirmed this (fact) to me later. I saw them pacing up and down and I tried in vain to get their attention. They didn't see me and I couldn't understand why. I felt a sort of despair at not being able to communicate with those I loved. In desperation, I put my hand ( subtle body ?) on my father-in-law's shoulder and it went right through him!
But at the same time, I became aware of a new ability, that of understanding everything. I never lost the sense of being 'me', but I felt as if I'd become bigger and occupied more space. I could 'see' into the mind of my husband. I knew all his thoughts, the essence of him, his self worth as a human being.
The same thing happened with my father-in-law. My in-laws had lost their first son at the age of 25. He'd died while trying to save a friend from drowning. As a result, they'd lavished all their affection on their second and last son who was fourteen at that time.
When he later became my husband, I had the impression that I'd taken him away from them and they didn't love me for myself, but only according to how happy I could make their son. And that made me unhappy! And there, in the mind/heart of my father-in-law, I realized all the affection and compassion he (actually) had for me and I was able to see beyond my own projections.
Propelled at a prodigious speed towards this Light
I then found myself in an abyss of darkness and silence, alone in the world, in an infinite nothingness where I wanted more than anything just to hear a sound and see something. I don't know how long that lasted. Maybe a split second? Time didn't exist. I thought, "This is it my daughter, you're dead", and yet I wasn't dead, since I still existed. A sentence I'd been taught by a catechism teacher came to mind: "We lived until the end of time, until the final resurrection". In this context, the idea of living in this nothingness and darkness seemed to me unbearable.
Something in me appealed for help and in the distance I saw a light. From that moment I was no longer alone in the world. I was propelled at a prodigious speed towards this light and, as I approached it, it grew to occupy all the space. The darkness was clearing; I felt presences around me without seeing them distinctly, but above all an incredible joy arose in my heart, a joy a thousand times greater than all the joys that you could experience on earth.
And I went into the light. There are no adequate words (to describe it). This light was pure love; a love that requires nothing. Immersed in an ocean of love, totally understood, fulfilled and accepted just as I was, for all eternity and so far from the worries and agitations of this earth!
I was no longer aware of time and space, just of being, of always having 'been'. I realized that I was part of this light, that I was eternal. In this fullness and immense peace, I understood the meaning of the words 'I am'. It is as if, while (still) being me, I became everything and I found my true nature. I'd found my home. I had become (pure) love and life.
If each one of us could experience this, if only for a moment, there would be no violence, no war, no misery. The very purpose of existence would be realised and beauty would be its fulfilment.
In this light I saw a resplendent young man coming towards me. My heart jumped for joy because I recognized my brother. My parents had lost a seven-month-old child when I was 11 years old. I loved this child; I was his 'little mother' (so to speak). After his death, my parents and I experienced a grief so well expressed by a quote from Alphonse de Lamertine: "Only one person is missing and the whole world seems depopulated".
But he was alive there and I was so happy! He embraced me in his strong arms. Totally connected with his thoughts and feelings and I told him "Father and Mother would be so happy to see you!"
He assured me that he has always accompanied us in our lives and I realized that the 'bonds' of love are never broken. How could I be sure that this being really was my brother? There is obviously a big difference between the physical traits of a baby and those of a teenager. Yet I knew absolutely that it was him. (It was) A soul-to-soul recognition.
I also met my brother in law, Jacques, whom I have never seen except in a photograph. I was very surprised that he seemed to know and love me so much. He showed me the circumstances of his death, how much his parents had suffered, especially my mother-in-law. He told me we could change the events around us, that we didn't have to just accept everything (and we could stand up for ourselves ?), but we had to do it with love.
I also encountered beings that I've never seen on earth. And yet I'd (somehow) known them and it was a great pleasure to see them again. They gave off so much nobility and respect that I felt like I was a little girl in front of a teacher, to whom one feels great deference....
All these meetings took place in a landscape flooded with light, beauty and peace. (Specifically) I was in a garden of exquisite nature. The grass itself was so green..there were flowers with colours I'd never seen. The sounds themselves were colours and it created a unity and harmony which enabled me to understand how sacred life is. Everything was alive, a single blade of grass delighted me, because I saw all the molecules of life, of light within it.
In this state, I thought that beyond the human grief and suffering we experience when leaving those we love, we should rejoice to know that they have returned home; they are on their way to find their real lives.
"What did you do for others and how did you express love?"
I experienced my life in reverse, from being 26 years old, right back until the time I was born. Close by, there was a being of light, a being known to my deepest self. I cannot describe the radiance and strength of love that emanated from him. I later realized he also had a wonderful sense of humour.
I heard his voice which seemed to come from the depths of the universe, a voice powerful and delightful at the same time, but one that had nothing to do with sentimentality. It is a voice of both authority and love merged into one, and is able to renew your strength. This voice asked me, "What did you do for others and how did you express love?" I felt immediately the importance of the question.
I had a vision of a multitude of beings whose arms were stretched upwards imploring. I knew that these beings were suffering and I felt it.
What had I done for them? I wasn't mean, but I didn't feel there was anything especially good to focus on. This question required more reflection on the meaning of brotherhood (fraternity), a willingness to grow in life with those around me, maybe as Emerson said, "He who does a good deed is instantly ennobled", and I understood that it required a lot of enlightenment, strength and love to set us free (from the status quo?) in life.
It also required me to bring forth the best in myself and such a transformation might then help others to be fulfilled themselves. I felt humanity as one being, though it's members were interdependent for their progress and survival. I realised I had new responsibilities.
The understanding of these two simple questions, continues to deepen over time.
All my life was there (before me), all the hopes, joys and sorrows that constituted it. I saw all my childhood emotions, revisiting forgotten events, where all my motives were uncovered. We can hide nothing. Everything is there in the story of our life ! It was troubling because, during this review, I was not just the one reliving each situation, with all the emotions that accompanied it, but also the other part of myself, the wisdom, knowledge and justice, which was not affected by it. It was the pure light (my higher self ?) the other part of me, that was evaluating my life.
Through it, everything was becoming clear. I understood my psychological traits, how they were connected and what had limited me. My inadequacies and many more subtle nuances that I haven't yet managed to adequately express. I became aware of the good and the bad I had brought upon myself and the repercussions of my thoughts and actions on those around me.
With an act of kindness, I felt the positive feeling from the person receiving it. Similarly, when I had been unkind, I felt their pain and especially became aware of how petty it all was.
How we are laid bare when this great consciousness evaluates our life according to the criteria of wisdom and love ! This is where we ultimately come to understand our weaknesses and shortcomings ! It is then that we regret all the wasted time spent chasing things that have no value. This is where we rue not having been "true" to ourselves!
But this awareness is also accompanied by compassion for oneself, because we see that ignorance, fear, and (social) conditioning have held us back from what we truly are and what we could have accomplished (without them). To change ourselves is hard; it is difficult to turn fear into trust, selfishness into altruism, etc. It takes time and a desire to actually want to do it.
But I know this is the most important thing that we have to realize here.. and I am on this pathway, struggling....from now on, the deepest desire of my life is to consciously find that state of freedom and fullness that I experienced when I arrived at the core of myself in this space where there is no more fear, conditioning or conflict, where I was no longer limited by my emotions and prejudices. What a wonderful freedom this oasis of peace was! This is certainly what is most important in this experience because, from this centre of peace, which I know from now on, is my true nature, I realized all that, in me or around me, obstructed this fullness.
I understood and I was reborn
I was shown what my future life would be like and I was asked if I wanted to stay or return. Part of me wanted to stay but I then thought of my two young children ( who needed their mother). I was made aware when I came back I would be unable to remember the many things I learnt. Despite my desire to keep hold of all this knowledge, I know that much of it has faded away. I was only able to bring back the 'crumbs' of it, regretfully.
When I say I was shown or it was told to me, it is as if I received this information from a 'brother being' or simply from the great light. It was like being in a class without a teacher.
I was shown (saw) my children growing up and I was proud of that. I saw my grandmother and in-laws departing from the earth almost at the same time. In fact two of them would leave within three weeks of each other.
My grandmother and stepfather left us 13 years after this experience (in 1981) in a period of three weeks and my mother-in-law the next year ... I revealed this information to my husband and parents which naturally alarmed them.
In that 45 seconds I experienced millennia. I remember witnessing human sacrifices (for instance)...knowing the truth about Joan of Arc and receiving information concerning lost civilizations, including Atlantis.
I was told that God was the power, movement and existence of everything and that life flourished throughout the universe. That when I die, I will not be asked what race or religion I belonged to, or what philosophy I held, but only how I treated others as an individual ....
….I also saw the future of humanity. I saw that our earth would be the object of many upheavals and that we would have to endure great trials and tribulations. We have well developed technology and a lot of scientific knowledge, but little wisdom in using it for the benefit of others. And I was shown everything that could happen "if" we didn't change. I insist on using "if" because it is us that will determine it.
We are at a crossroads where nothing is inevitable and everything depends on our ability to act wisely...
….But it is true that 40 years ago, when everything was flourishing, I saw unemployment spread over the whole earth, terrible weather, a plague that ravaged the earth, volcanic eruptions, and many other catastrophes. But I don't want to be too negative. I know too well (now) the power of thought and I know that these events will only happen if we continue to ignore our consciences by flouting the laws of love.
I also saw that I had already lived on this earth previously. I witnessed parts of other lives and the link that united them all. We come back to earth until we have acquired sufficient wisdom and love, and that everything was a question of evolution which I then understood (because it seemed obvious).
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The moment you talk of, when I’m lying on the slate rock looking down, as you rightly describe, is my soul body, though it wasn’t the same distressed body that I had left torn, cut and bruised from the accident lying in the hospital, I still recognised it instantly as being my own body. Like most of us, I’m familiar with pretty much every contour and characteristics of my body and it still felt just like me in the same body, the one I’d walked around in all my life. The only difference being that every limb in this other realm looked somewhat relaxed and healthy, as if free from the pressures and restraints of the world I hope this helps in answering your question!