Glimpses of heaven that prove we see loved ones again. When brain surgeon DR EBEN ALEXANDER wrote that he saw the afterlife when he slipped into a coma, hundreds wrote to us. Here are their stories that show death is nothing to fear…

When the Mail serialised a book by brain surgeon Dr Eben Alexander, in which he wrote about his fervent belief that he had seen the afterlife while in a coma, hundreds of readers wrote in saying that his writings sounded eerily similar to their own experiences. Here we share some of their stories.

SAVED FROM DROWNING BY MY DEAD AUNT

Sharon Joseph, 73, who lives in Brighton, said:

In the summer of 1959, when I was seven, my family went on holiday to Hayling Island, just off the Hampshire coast, with my uncle David and his three children.

Uncle David was a daredevil and that year he decided it would be fun to go swimming with me at high tide, when the waves were crashing against the harbour wall.

He told me he would hold me tight and threw his arms around me after we ran into the sea laughing, but within moments a huge wave swept us off our feet.

I remember the force of the water rising between my uncle’s arms, throwing us apart. The next thing I knew, I was lying on the seabed, staring around.

What has stuck with me ever since is that I felt no fear. It was beautiful down there — full of plants and color — and I paddled calmly like a dog along the bottom, taking it all in.

Then I saw a figure coming toward me in the water—ethereal but fully formed and beautiful, like a Greek goddess. I felt as if she were going to take me somewhere, but instead she gently shook her finger to say no and left.

The next moment I remember my uncle picking me up and carrying me onto the sand, where my mother was sitting there crying hysterically.

It was only later that I discovered I had been gone for seven minutes. To this day I don’t know how I managed to go that long without breathing.

I didn’t name the lady — my mother was traumatized enough and I didn’t want to upset her further. But the experience changed me immensely. For years, I felt older than my peers, as if I had a deep knowledge.

A few years later, when I was 13, I was leafing through a family album of black and white photographs and saw the woman’s face in the sea.

It was my aunt Mary—my father’s brother Derek’s wife—who had died of TB when I was four. She had been unable to have children of her own, and she loved me so much that she wanted to adopt me.

Even then I kept what had happened to myself. It wasn’t until years later that I told my ex-husband.

I have always found the memory strangely comforting. I don’t know if our loved ones are waiting for us when we die, but I do know that when we die on earth, it is not the end.

MY DECEASED GRANDFATHER REVEALED NEW WORLD

Hollie Beattie, 47, originally from London, said:

One evening in Italy, a few years ago, I was visiting a friend and her boyfriend. We were chatting and drinking some wine when I got up to go to the bathroom.

I remember turning on the light and hearing a loud noise. I would later find out that this was the sound of my body falling to the floor and hitting a metal container under the sink. I had passed out.

Suddenly I realized I was taking a step to the left and I was somewhere else. And there, in front of me, was my late paternal grandfather, William.

We weren’t particularly close and I was surprised to see him — but there was a feeling of love that was quite overwhelming. He took me under his arm and began to show me around. There were fields and houses and people — so normal up until now — but the feeling of peace, of coming home, was indescribable. Then I heard a voice say, “You’re not going to remember this” — and I felt like I was falling back into my body.

When I came to, I was lying on the bathroom floor, looking at my girlfriend and her boyfriend, who were screaming violently.

They had come into the bathroom and found me unconscious and not breathing, and they had given me mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. They insisted that I go to the hospital, but I was so upset that I refused.

I remember shaking with fear. Even though it had been peaceful when I was there, I didn’t want to go back there.

That feeling stayed with me for a while. But now, as time goes by, I feel more at peace about it.

Although I’m still not sure if there is life after death, it has helped me to realize that there is a beautiful ending.

A GHOST FORETOLD GRANDMA’S DEATH

Full-time mother Ruby FitzGerald, 51, said:

When I was 20, I had an experience that had a profound effect on me and has stayed with me to this day. I was living at home with my mother, Elizabeth. My grandmother, Barbara, who had been living with us since my grandfather had died seven years earlier, had recently moved into a nursing home.

One night I dreamed of my Grandma and Grandpa. I was standing on a beach in Worthing, West Sussex, where we used to live, and there, to the right of my field of vision, my Grandpa appeared, wearing the kind of green V-neck tank top and smart shirt he always wore.

I was so happy to see him — although he looked quite serious — and then my grandmother came out from the right and put her arms around him. I said to her, ‘Grandma, look! It’s Grandpa! How incredible is this?’

My grandfather looked at me and said that I should tell my mother tomorrow morning that Grandma would die very soon and that she should prepare for it.

Then they both turned around, arm in arm, and walked a few steps together across the pebble beach.

I wanted to follow them so I could talk to my grandfather for a moment, but he turned around and told me to stop and go back to tell my mother what he had asked me.

When I woke up, I knew I had to get the message across, even though I didn’t want to upset Mom. I told her that I had seen Grandpa and that he had told me that Grandma was going to die soon and that Mom had to be ready. Of course, Mom didn’t make much of it — she thought it was just a dream — but I knew that I had experienced something different.

Three weeks later we received a phone call saying that Grandma had died from complications that no one knew about.

I was angry, of course, but I felt comforted by my belief that Grandpa had warned me. I have always been quite spiritual, but now I have no doubt that when I die, it will not be the end of my journey.

GUIDED TO MOM BY A BRIGHT LIGHT

Jenny Ryall, 63, from Glasgow, said:

My mother Joan and I were incredibly close. When she died in January 1998, after a series of strokes that had led to vascular dementia and pneumonia, I struggled to come to terms with my loss. Sometimes I wondered if I would ever fully recover.

As the first anniversary of her death approached, I found solace in the knowledge that I had booked a ski holiday with friends. But on the anniversary itself, despite the warmth and company of those friends, the loss of my mother hit me acutely.

I felt so empty that I went to bed early, completely destitute.

The next morning, before I woke up, I had what I can only describe as a very vivid dream. Over time I came to realize that it was much more than that.

I became aware of a great light and a voice – unspoken but somehow palpable – telling me that I was going to see my mother, and then I had to move on and live my life and give her the chance to move on too.

I was led through a door into a room where an astonishingly bright and uplifting light shone – so bright it was blinding – but I knew Mom was there because I felt the most incredible, unconditional love, the kind greater than anything I have ever felt on Earth, before or since.

It was all-consuming and when I woke up it was with a sense of renewed peace. My mother, I felt, had given me the freedom to move on.

From that day on I could look ahead and make plans for the future, helped by the feeling that my mother was with me.

Unlike a dream, which evaporates over time, the experience has stayed with me and grown stronger. I feel that my mother is guiding me in her own way and that I will see her again, and that gives me great comfort.

• This article was originally published in November 2014