People who died and came back to life are revealing what they saw on the other side.
On social media, people have described what they felt and saw during a near-death incident, a lucid experience that occurs when a person is considered clinically dead.
A person who was in a car accident last year described being “pulled” out of his body and sent into a “void.”
In the hospital, once they were brought back to life, they spent four days with strange visions.
They wrote: ‘I could see insects crawling up a tree a mile away. I could travel anywhere in an instant. Every time I blinked, I had a new vision.’
Another felt a “supernova of consciousness,” feeling like they could be multiple places at multiple points in history at the same time.
And one devout Christian had his faith shaken when he reached the other side and saw nothing.
They said, ‘Everything I had been promised in church was NOT there.’
Social media users have detailed what they saw during their near-death experiences (file image)
Amber Cavanagh was 43 when she suffered two strokes and entered the ‘meeting point’ of heaven. He said that when he crossed he met guides who gave him two options: stay there or return to his family.
Their stories emerge as doctors work to determine what happens during a near-death experience and shortly after death, and some research suggests that dying people may still have sparks of brain activity an hour after they stop breathing.
Other small studies have found that the long-term impact of a near-death experience is not significant. A report published last year found that of 19 patients who were considered dead, none showed personality changes or improved quality of life after their experience.
In a recent Reddit thread, the user who spent four days experiencing visions (it’s unclear how long they were considered dead) called it “the most defining moment of my life.”
Once they decided they couldn’t stand the visions anymore because they were too intense, they thought, ‘I can’t stand them now. Please take them away.’
And in an instant, the visions stopped.
In the same thread, another user said they “could feel everything connecting to me, back and forth.”
They added: “If I were to model it abstractly, it would be almost like a suddenly activated invisible universal neural network that was connected, I guess, to everything related to destiny.”
At some points they saw images of ancient cultures, such as the pyramids of Egypt.
In another previous Reddit post, a user who saw nothing after the death said the incident tested his faith.
They wrote: ‘Having been raised 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 fundamental teachings I was raised on does not reflect what I have experienced?
‘I used to be a super devout Christian, attending church, praying and even having the blessing of “speaking in tongues.” But now I’m doubting my faith and wondering why I believe what I believe.’
In a case reportA Hindu woman claimed to have seen the three gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and a “bright light” when she was declared dead.
And a four-year-old boy thought he had spent months surrounded by ‘silver-white clouds’ while he was unconscious – although not considered dead – from gastroenteritis for a week.
Other people have publicly shared their near-death experiences.
José Hernández, from Canada, was an atheist throughout his life before his near-death experience in 2000. Now in his 70s, Mr Hernández, pictured, said: “Everything I believe in was destroyed when I died “.
Lynn Mildner, 70, from the United Kingdom, recalled a “beautiful white light” and talking to deceased relatives when she technically died.
José Hernández, from Canada, was taken to intensive care after suffering a car accident in 2000. Despite being a lifelong atheist, he “started thinking about God” while being clinically dead for three minutes.
He said his consciousness transported him through a dark, otherworldly portal that led him to a mysterious transitional realm of living light and color that left him “instantly amazed.”
Hernandez, now 70, said, “Everything I believe in was destroyed when I died.”
‘Everything I believed in science and all that. That wasn’t the answer. No. Something else was created.’
Amber Cavanagh was just 43 years old when she suffered two strokes and came close to death.
Mrs Cavanagh said: “I heard everyone saying goodbye and crying, not knowing I was still there.”
“To this day it is still one of the scariest things I have ever experienced.”
As she was taken by helicopter to the hospital, she closed her eyes and when she opened them again, she was 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 taken by their grandparents to hospital.” I could see my husband crying over my body.
“I wasn’t going towards the light and no one was calling me; I was just watching everything and everyone.”
Amber Cavanagh, from Canada, was just 43 years old when she suffered two strokes and heard her family say goodbye
He added: ‘I entered what I can only describe as the “meeting point” of heaven before officially passing. 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 were right in front of me.
“I spoke telepathically to everyone, including my grandmother and my grandmother… there was such a deep-rooted feeling of pure comfort.”
And Lynn Mildner, 70, from the UK, recalled a “beautiful white light” and talking to deceased relatives.
She said: ‘I couldn’t wait to cross that threshold and meet my grandmothers. But Aunt Nellie told me I couldn’t.
‘I had to come back because I still had a lot to do and achieve. I begged her to come for a while and she said no. That threshold was definitive. When you passed it there was no turning back. And I must return.’