Near Death Experiences

For a very long time the scientific and medical communities, as a whole, had little or no regard for any story that was related to a Near Death Experience.  However, over the past several decades, the study of Near Death Experiences has come to the forefront of the medical and scientific communities.  Now, there are several studies being conducted on this and hundreds or even thousands of articles are now being written and published about this phenomenon.

A Near Death Experience is something that no one really knows about, unless you have first-hand knowledge of it.  The Near Death Experience is something that cannot be told from a viewpoint of a person who has never seen it or experienced it for themselves.  The true fact is that most Near Death Experiences only come to those that are closest to death and have had an experience much like an out-of-body experience.  There have been reports of people hovering above their own bodies, whether they are having surgery or they have been extremely ill and very close to death.  The most common report is one that involves the vision of light, a kaleidoscope affect or standing at the end of a long hallway.  In almost all cases, the patient reports a very detailed experience, almost like in a dream-state.  That was the case with my stepmother. 

My stepmother was diagnosed with brain cancer and the doctors didn’t have a very good outlook for her.  She was going to have to have surgery on her brain to alleviate the pressure that one of the tumors was putting on one side of her brain.  After her first surgery to remove one of the tumors that was pressing on the right side of her brain, she told me that she had an experience that she couldn’t explain.  When I pressed her about it, she began to describe, in extreme detail, about a long hallway with a very bright light at the end of it.  She told me how she was ‘told’ by someone at the end of the hallway that it “wasn’t time yet” for her and that she had to go back.

My stepmother continued to battle the cancer for the next 15 months.  During those 15 months, she could often be heard “talking” to someone, although, when I would go and check on her, she would be fast asleep.  I would wait by the door to make sure that she was okay, but I never did hear anything while I waited there.  However, each time that I would walk away, I would begin to hear her talking again, as if I was I the room with her.  Although I never did find out who she was talking to, it did become apparent to me one day while I was helping to change her and get her cleaned up.  She began to tell me about this “amazing white light” and the “person” that she was talking to was someone that she had known previously, although I never did get a name.  She went on to explain to me about how soothing this light was for her.  She told me about how very relaxed she became when the light would shine on her. 

While the reality was quite clear that she would never beat the cancer, it was also clear to me that she had an “awakening” of sorts.  We began to talk a lot about God and Jesus Christ.  We began to talk about her final wishes and what she wanted to happen after she passed away.  It became quite clear to me that her “time” was becoming very close.  Although, she never told me that she was afraid.  She seemed almost relaxed and very accepting of whatever was going to happen to her.  In the end, she died very peacefully in the hospital.  I believe that is just what she wanted.  She wanted to die in her sleep.