Dee D's Experience
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Experience description:

My son Mark, aged 19 had come home from his studies at Un. Calif. at Berkeley for Thanksgiving week with me.  We spent a wonderful week together and he visited all his old high school teachers and friends.  The day after Thanksgiving, he left with friends to spend the weekend at Salton Sea in a friends cabin.

I went to bed early that evening. tired and happy.  I was brought up from deep sleep when I heard an authoritative voice say, " Your heart will stop beating".  I was not afraid but wondered if it would stop suddenly, or slowly.  I started trying to count my heartbeats.  (I was still asleep but in an altered state of sleep) Suddenly, I was out of my body with nothing but my consciousness.  It was dark and silent.  I was extremely curious about my new state of being and how to function without a body.  I had a sense of adventure and fun - no fear or anxiety.  As I was trying to figure out how to move, I noticed a scene far below, so I knew I was high above in the night sky.  I saw what I thought was my prostate form lying on the ground and a person in great distress over me.  I was filled with a feeling of compassion and wanted to go to that person and tell him not to worry- I was in a blissful state.  As I got distracted trying to move myself, I noticed lights below - a convoy of vehicles and as I noticed the lights, I was pulled towards them, much like a light beam. I arrived as the convoy parked next to a building and a van opened and 2 men brought out a gurney with what I thought was my body.  I could hear their voices and thought, "Great, I am going to learn what is happening.  At that moment, my mother opened my bedroom door and I awakened.  I looked at the clock and it was 11:15 PM.  The next morning I told my mother about the dream and that if that was what death was like, there was nothing to fear.  I learned later that morning that my son had died after being thrown from a vehicle in the Bombay Beach area of Salton Sea.  One friend stayed with him while another ran for help.  After the police and coroner finished their work, his body was taken to the Imperial County morgue - the building I saw in my dream.  The coroner reported he died at 11:17 PM.

Later I talked with Dr. Raymond Moody and asked if he found other cases like mine and he said only one, in which a nurse had experienced her father's death.

 Any associated medications or substances with the potential to affect the experience?     No           

Was the kind of experience difficult to express in words? No      

At the time of this experience, was there an associated life threatening event?          Yes     My son died in an automobile accident at the time I had the OBE which mirrored the events and location surrounding his death.  I learned about his death the next day, but the OBE happened at the time of his death.

 What was your level of consciousness and alertness during the experience?           I was asleep but hyper-alert.

            Was the experience dream like in any way?   I was asleep but the experience was not like a dream.

 Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?     Yes     I had no form - no 'edges'.  The closest I can come to a description is that I was like an amoeba or cloud.

 What emotions did you feel during the experience?            Wonder, sense of adventure, love, compassion, curiosity.

 Did you hear any unusual sounds or noises?           Only the voice, pronouncing my heart would stop beating, then the men's voices at the morgue.

 LOCATION DESCRIPTION:  Did you recognize any familiar locations or any locations from familiar religious teachings or encounter any locations inhabited by incredible or amazing creatures?    No      

Did you see a light?           No      

Did you meet or see any other beings?           No      

Did you experiment while out of the body or in another, altered state? Yes    

Yes, I witnessed part of the experience of my son's death, or what happened after his death.

 Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later?     Yes     I related my dream to my mother and daughter the next morning, before we learned what had happened to my son.

 Did you notice how your 5 senses were working, and if so, how were they different?          Yes            I had no physical form but my consciousness was intense.

 Did you have any sense of altered space or time?   Yes     There was no sense of time.  Dr. Moody pointed out that the dream was precognitive because Mark's body would have arrived at the morgue hours later.

 Did you have a sense of knowing, special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose?    No            Not until much later, when I realized the experience probably saved my life.  Both Mark and I believed that death is the end, but this experience made me KNOW that is not true.

 Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure?             No      

Did you become aware of future events?       Yes     Only the immediate future - I saw what was happening as my son died, and later had other mystical experiences that helped me survive the loss.

 Were you involved in or aware of a decision regarding your return to the body?       No       Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience that you did not have prior to the experience?         Yes     A few precognitive dreams or visions.

 Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?   Yes     Certainty that something survives death.

 How has the experience affected your relationships? Daily life? Religious practices? Career choices?       Years later, I was led to the hospice movement and was instrumental in pioneering inpatient hospice services in Arkansas

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience?         Yes     In every way.

 Have you shared this experience with others?         Yes     Friends were interested, amazed.

 What emotions did you experience following your experience?  Wonder, peaceful, until I learned my experience was a mirror of the events surrounding my son's death.

 What was the best and worst part of your experience?      Best was knowing that my son's spirit survived.  Worst was learning that he had died and that I had not got the chance to join with him spiritually.  Had my mother not awakened me, I wonder what would have happened next.

 Is there anything else you would like to add concerning the experience?        I am not of any religious faith and have more questions than answers, but I find great comfort in knowing that somehow my son or 'the universe' gave me enough knowledge of life after death to help me survive the depths of grief and lead a productive life.

 Following the experience, have you had any other events in your life, medications or substances which reproduced any part of the experience?         No      

Did the questions asked and information you provided accurately and comprehensively describe your experience?                     Yes