These people died and came back to life. What they saw in the afterlife made them reconsider everything
People who died and were brought back to life reveal what they saw on the other side.
On social media, people have described what they felt and saw during a near-death incident, a vivid experience that occurs when someone is considered clinically dead.
One person who was in a car accident last year described being “knocked out of his body” and sent into a “void.”
After being revived, they spent four days in the hospital experiencing bizarre visions.
They wrote: ‘I could see insects crawling up a tree from a mile away. I could travel anywhere in an instant. Every time I blinked, a new vision.”
Another felt a “supernova of consciousness,” the feeling as if they could be in multiple places in history at once.
And a devout Christian’s faith was shaken when they got to the other side and saw nothing.
They said, “Everything I was promised in church was NOT there.”
Social media users have detailed what they saw during their near-death experiences (stock image)
Amber Cavanagh was 43 when she suffered two strokes and entered the ‘meeting point’ of heaven. She said she met guides at the crossing who gave her two options: stay there or return to her family
Their stories come as doctors try to determine what happens during a near-death experience and shortly after death, with research showing that dying people can still have sparks of brain activity an hour after they stop breathing.
Other small studies have shown that the long-term impact of a near-death experience is not significant. A report published last year found that of 19 patients deemed dead, none showed personality changes or improved quality of life after their experience.
In a recent Reddit thread, the user who had visions for four days — it’s unclear how long they were considered dead — called it “the most defining moment of my life.”
Once they decided they could no longer handle the visions because they were too intense, they thought, “I can’t handle this right now. Please take them away.”
And in an instant the visions stopped.
In the same thread, another user said they could “feel everything connected to me – forward and backward.”
They added: ‘If I had to model it abstractly, it would almost look like a suddenly activated invisible universal neural network that was connected to, I guess, everything related to fate.’
At times they saw images from ancient cultures, such as the pyramids of Egypt.
In another older Reddit post, a user who saw nothing after his death said the incident put a strain on his faith.
They wrote: “Having grown up in a non-denominational home, I was raised to believe that when we die we go straight to heaven. However, my personal experience negates this belief to some extent.
“So how can I believe what the Bible says when one of the core teachings I was raised with doesn’t reflect what I’ve experienced?
‘I used to be a super devout Christian, I went to church, prayed and even had the blessing of ‘speaking in tongues’. But now I’m questioning my faith and wondering why I believe what I do.”
In one case reporta Hindu woman claimed to have seen the three gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and a ‘brilliant light’ when she was declared dead.
And a four-year-old boy thought he was surrounded by “silver-white clouds” for months, while he was unconscious for a week – although not considered dead – from gastroenteritis.
Other people have shared their near-death experiences publicly.
Jose Hernandez, from Canada, was a lifelong atheist before his near-death experience in 2000. Now about 70 years old, Mr. Hernandez, pictured here, said: ‘Everything I believe was destroyed when I died’
Lynn Mildner, 70, from Britain, recalled a ‘beautiful white light’ and conversation with dead relatives when she technically died
Jose Hernandez, from Canada, was taken to intensive care after a car accident in 2000. Despite being a lifelong atheist, he “began thinking about God” while clinically dead for three minutes.
He said his consciousness took him through a dark, alien portal that led to a mysterious transitional realm of living light and color that left him “instantly amazed.”
Now in his 70s, Mr. Hernandez said: “Everything I believe was destroyed when I died.
“Everything I believed in science and stuff. That wasn’t the answer. No. Something else has been created.”
Amber Cavanagh was just 43 when she suffered two strokes and a near-death experience.
Mrs Cavanagh said: ‘I heard everyone saying goodbye and crying, not knowing I was still there.
“It’s still to this day one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever experienced.”
As she was flown by helicopter to the hospital, she closed her eyes and when she opened them again she found herself in another dimension, having crossed over to the “other side,” she said.
Mrs Cavanagh said: ‘I could see my physical body beneath me, but I could also see my children being driven to hospital by their grandparents. I could see my husband crying over my body.
‘There was no way to go to the light, or people calling me – I just watched over everything and everyone.’
Amber Cavanagh, from Canada, was just 43 when she suffered two strokes and heard her family say goodbye
She added: “I went to what I can only describe as Heaven’s ‘meeting point’ before I officially transitioned. There was no fear, only love.
“Then I saw all my loved ones on the right, every version of me, past, present and future on the left, and my guides standing right in front of me.
“I spoke telepathically to everyone, including my grandmother and grandmother… there was such a visceral feeling of pure comfort.”
And Lynn Mildner, 70, from Britain, recalled a “beautiful white light” and conversations with dead relatives.
She said: “I couldn’t wait to cross that threshold and meet my grandmothers. But Aunt Nellie said I couldn’t.
‘I had to go back because I still had so much to do and achieve. I begged her to come in and she said no. That threshold was final. Once you got past it, there was no going back. And I have to go back.’