People who died and were brought 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.
One person who suffered a car crash last year described being ‘knocked out’ of their body and sent to a ‘void.’
In the hospital, once they were brought back to life, they spent four days with bizarre visions.
They wrote: ‘I could see bugs crawling on a tree from a mile away. I could travel in an instant anywhere. Every time I blinked, a new vision.’
Another felt a ‘supernova of consciousness,’ feeling like they could be multiple places at multiple points in history all at once.
And a devout Christian had their faith shaken when they got to the other side and saw nothing.
They said: ‘Everything I’d been promised at 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 when she crossed over who gave her two options: remain there or return to her family
Their stories come as doctors work to determine what happens during a near-death experience and shortly after death, with some research suggesting dying people may still have sparks of brain activity an hour after they stop breathing.
Other small studies have found the long-term impact of a near-death experience isn’t significant. A report published last year found of 19 patients who were considered dead, none showed personality changes or improved quality of life following their experience.
In a recent Reddit thread, the user who spent four days experiencing visions – it is unclear how long they were considered dead – called it ‘the most defining moment in my life.’
Once they decided they could no longer handle the visions because they were too intense, they thought: ‘I can’t handle these right now. Please take them away.’
And in an instant, the visions stopped.
In the same thread, another user said they ‘could feel everything that connected to me – forward and back.’
They added: ‘If I had to abstractly model it, it’d almost be like an invisible universal neural network suddenly fired that was connected to, I suppose, everything related to fate/destiny.’
In some moments, they saw images from ancient cultures, such as the pyramids of Egypt.
In another older Reddit post, a user who did not see anything after death said the incident strained their faith.
They wrote: ‘Being raised in a nondenominational household, I have been raised to believe that when we die, we go straight to heaven. However, my personal experience negates this belief, to an extent.
‘So how can I believe what the Bible says, when one of the core teachings I have been brought up on does not reflect what I have experienced?
‘I used to be a super devout Christian, having attended church, praying, and even having the blessing of “speaking in tongues.” But now, I am doubting my faith and wondering why I believe what I do.’
In one case report, a 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 had spent months surrounded by ‘silvery white clouds’ while he was unconscious – though not considered dead – from gastroenteritis for a week.
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, Mr Hernandez, pictured here, said: ‘Everything I believe was destroyed when I died’
Lynn Mildner, 70, from the UK, recalled a ‘beautiful white light’ and talking with deceased family members when she technically died
Jose Hernandez, from Canada, was raced to intensive care after getting into a car crash in 2000. Despite being a lifelong atheist, he ‘started thinking about God’ while he was clinically dead for three minutes.
He said his consciousness transported him through a dark otherworldly 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 all that. That wasn’t the answer. No. There was something more that was created.’
Amber Cavanagh was just 43 when she suffered two strokes and had a near death experience.
Mrs Cavanagh said: ‘I heard everyone saying their goodbyes and crying, not knowing I was still in there.
‘It’s still, to this day, one of the most terrifying things I have ever experienced.’
As she was flown by helicopter to the hospital, she closed her eyes and when she opened them again, she was in another dimension, having crossed to the ‘other side,’ she said.
Mrs Cavanagh said: ‘I could see my physical body beneath me, but I could also see my kids being driven by their grandparents to the hospital. I could see my husband weeping over my body.
‘There was no going toward the light, or people calling me – I was just watching over everything and everyone.’
Amber Cavanagh, from Canada, was just 43 when she suffered two strokes and heard her family saying their goodbyes
She added: ‘I went into what I can only describe as the “meeting point” of heaven before officially passing over. There was no fear, only love.
‘Then, I saw all my loved ones to the right, every version of me, past, present and future to the left, and my guides stood right in front of me.
‘I spoke telepathically to everyone, including my nan and grandma… there was such a deep-rooted feeling of pure comfort.’
And Lynn Mildner, 70, from the UK, recalled a ‘beautiful white light’ and talking with deceased family members.
She said: ‘I couldn’t wait to pass that threshold, and meet my grandmothers. But Auntie Nellie told me I couldn’t.
‘I had to go back because I had so much yet to do and to achieve. I begged her to just come in for a short while and she said no. That threshold was final. When you passed it there was no going back. And I must go back.’
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