The inquiry that has crossed all of our minds: What happens after we die? These individuals claim to have been to the other side and they tell us what they saw
10; Cicoria
After observing a woman initiate CPR, Cicoria moved onward, going up the stairs to witness his children getting their faces painted. At that moment, he realized his kids would be fine.
“Then I found myself enveloped in a bluish-white light… an immense sensation of contentment and tranquility,” he told the New Yorker. “The zenith and nadir of my life flashed before me. I felt as though I were accelerating, being pulled upward… There was velocity and purpose. Just as I was thinking, ‘This is the most magnificent sensation I’ve ever experienced’—bam! I was returned.”
But Cicoria suddenly developed the talent to play and compose piano music.) Make sure not to overlook these 10 other accounts of individuals who genuinely returned from the brink of death.
9. Anita Moorjani
After a four-year struggle with lymphatic cancer, Anita Moorjani entered a coma in 2006. Doctors were convinced it was the end, unaware that within her near-death state, her consciousness remained intact. Initially, she sensed herself floating above her body with a “360-degree peripheral vision” of the hospital room and even beyond, as she recounted to TODAY.
While she couldn’t directly perceive her late father, she could feel his presence, along with a message he conveyed.
“He conveyed to me that I had reached my limit, and venturing further would make it impossible to return,” she shared. “Yet, I felt an aversion to turning back because the experience was profoundly beautiful. It was an extraordinary sensation because, for the first time, all pain, discomfort, and fear had dissipated. I was overcome by an incredible sensation, enveloped in an overwhelming feeling of love—unconditional love.”
Roughly 30 hours after slipping into a coma, Moorjani gradually emerged back to awareness. Two days later, her organs began to regain function and the tumors commenced shrinking. Presently, she is free of cancer and has become a public speaker and author, penning books such as “What If This Is Heaven?”.
8. Annabel Beam
Diagnosed with two persistent and life-threatening digestive disorders at the age of four, Annabel Beam faced a challenging journey. By the time she turned eight, she had reached a point of surrender, until an inexplicable event unfolded.
While perched on a tree branch some 30 feet above the ground, the branch suddenly gave way, causing her to plummet to the ground and become lodged within a hollow at the tree’s base. Trapped for a span of six hours, she claims to have experienced death and journeyed to heaven:
“It was incredibly luminous, and I sat on Jesus’s lap, where he assured me that once the firefighters rescue you, you will be completely healed,” Beam recounted to TODAY. “I asked him if I could stay, and he replied, ‘No, I have plans for you on Earth that you cannot fulfill in heaven.”
Upon awakening, her ailment had inexplicably vanished. Her mother authored the book “Miracles from Heaven,” later adapted into a film.
7. Ernest Hemingway
While fulfilling his duties with the American Red Cross in Italy during World War I, Ernest Hemingway sustained severe injuries from a mortar bomb. Briefly, he appeared to have passed away, though his account remains characteristically unembellished.
“I sensed my soul or some semblance of it departing from my body, akin to extracting a silk handkerchief from a pocket by its edge,” he conveyed to a friend. “It circled for a moment, then reentered and I was no longer in a state of demise.” Delve further into the genuine sensations of a near-death experience.
6. The 4-Year Old Miracle
The Near-Death Experience Research Foundation (NDERF) gathers narratives from individuals who claim to have glimpsed the “beyond.” Among them, there’s a tale of a four-year-old girl who found herself in a hospital, grappling with a severe fever that induced hallucinations, vomiting, and elevated temperature.
During this time, she sensed her toes reaching the foot of the bed. Upon opening her eyes, she beheld her own form resting on a gurney, only to perceive her consciousness gradually ascending, departing the confines of the building.
She reflects, “I embarked on a journey through time. I recounted events that transpired before I could even articulate… As I continued to ascend, tranquility enveloped me. Uncertainties and questions dissolved. Time folded in on itself. The conventional divisions of past, present, and future melted into an amalgamation of the present moment. Fear and concerns dissipated. I drifted closer to an exquisite light, a light I yearned to make contact with. Abruptly, a sensation similar to a release transpired. It felt as though I were tethered to a cord, which someone suddenly grasped and tugged, pulling me downward.” Explore more accounts of remarkable medical recoveries for further inspiration.
5. Jane Seymour
During the production of the 1988 film “Onassis,” actress Jane Seymour encountered a life-altering incident. She slipped into anaphylactic shock when her bronchitis antibiotics were mistakenly injected into a vein instead of a muscle.
Reflecting on the episode, she shared, “I found myself envisioning a radiant white light. From that vantage point, I gazed downwards and observed myself within a bedroom, witnessing a nurse engaged in a frantic effort to rescue me, administering injections. I watched this entire scene with a composed demeanor.”
In 2016, she recounted this to the Omaha World-Herald. In a subsequent interview with HuffPost, she delved further into the impact of the experience on her perspective:
“I vividly remember gazing down at my own body, recognizing that I existed beyond it. I realized I wasn’t confined to it. This revelation profoundly resonated with me—the notion that one’s body functions as a vessel,” she explained. “It’s imperative to care for it, much like maintaining a car.”
4. Mary C. Neal
Around two decades ago, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Mary C. Neal had a near-death experience while kayaking in Chile, during which her heart ceased to beat for over thirty minutes.
“Shortly after departing from my physical form, I encountered a gathering of entities who carried both a sense of familiarity and unfamiliarity. It might appear peculiar, yet I was enveloped exclusively in serenity and joy in their presence,” she conveyed in a piece on mindbodygreen. “During my separation from my corporeal self, I was concurrently attuned to the happenings of the celestial realm and the events unfolding along the riverbank where my drowning occurred. I contemplated my spouse, my children, my parents, and siblings (with little thought directed towards my work or earthly concerns).” This profound experience motivated her to pen the book “7 Lessons from Heaven.”
3. Laurie
At the age of 19, Laurie, a contributor to NDERF, found herself caught in the currents of rapids during a rafting expedition. Submerged beneath the surface, the sensation of drowning and imminent demise overwhelmed her. As her vision transitioned from darkness to radiant whiteness, as if traversing a tunnel, she recounted a remarkable encounter.
“Surveying my surroundings, I beheld a chamber seemingly constructed from immaculate white clouds, yet without a solid form,” she recounted. “Within this ethereal space, three entities manifested, composed of glistening crystal. Light radiated through them akin to a glass prism, casting forth a rainbow spectrum. While one entity stood larger than the others, each communicated with me. Although I was initially fearful, they appeared to grasp my apprehension. In an instant, their forms transformed into what I recognized as angels. These beings didn’t possess avian wings; instead, they bore fibers reminiscent of optic cables, shaped into wing-like forms through which pure light streamed, manifesting an array of hues. Their messages were conveyed through telepathy.”
Guiding her, the angels revealed a golden expanse accompanied by harmonious melodies, alongside a tree and a serene lake. Ultimately, a kayaker intervened to rescue her from the predicament. Intrigued? Explore these insights about life gained from interactions with the dying.
2. Eben Alexander
In 2008, Dr. Eben Alexander, a neurosurgeon, fell into a coma due to an extremely rare form of meningitis, afflicting just one in ten million individuals. The medical prognosis was grim, with only a 10 percent chance of survival. Reflecting on his extraordinary journey, he recounts on his website,
“I was ushered into an alternate reality by a gentle, slowly revolving luminous white light accompanied by a harmonious melody. This light acted as a gateway leading me into vivid and hyper-real dimensions.” He continues to describe the expanse he encountered, referring to it as the Gateway Valley, which brimmed with both Earth-like and spiritual attributes: a dynamic and vibrant plant life teeming with flourishing blooms, untouched by death or decay; waterfalls cascading into crystalline pools that sparkled; multitudes of joyful beings dancing merrily beneath the sky adorned with gliding golden orbs; angelic choirs resonating with chants and anthems that resounded through his consciousness; and a captivating presence, embodied as a girl on a butterfly wing. After being unconscious for an entire week, he awoke to the astonishing reality of having suffered no brain damage. Dr. Alexander’s account of his experience is further chronicled in his book “Proof of Heaven.”
1. Zack Clements
Back in 2015, during his Christian high school’s gym class, 17-year-old Zack Clements suddenly collapsed. His heart ceased beating for an entire 20 minutes, while medical professionals diligently worked to revive him. During his unconscious state, Clements asserts he experienced a glimpse of what he believes was heaven. He recounted,
“I beheld a procession of radiant white angels. In the center stood the most beautiful among them, initially unknown to me until he drew nearer. It was then that I recognized: It’s Jesus.” As he recounted in a People magazine feature, Clements continued, “He placed his hand upon my shoulder and assured me that all would be well.”
Although some individuals have raised doubts about the authenticity of the teenager’s account, the undeniable truth remains that being successfully resuscitated after 20 minutes without any enduring brain damage stands as a remarkable medical marvel. If these narratives send shivers down your spine, you won’t want to overlook these 21 genuine stories of individuals who claim to have received messages from departed souls.