To ask if you’ve ever had a “near death” experience?

[SinkGirl]

When I was 18 I almost amputated my arm on a bathroom sink - I slipped on a wet floor, landed on the sink which was cracked and broke in half, and I cut my arm down to the bone almost 3/4 of the way around. I lost consciousness quite quickly and lost a terrifying amount of blood - my mum found me in a giant pool of blood and had she not found me then I would have died - but I never experienced anything like the reports of near death experiences. Maybe because I lost consciousness so quickly. Losing consciousness was a bit like going into a tunnel I suppose as my vision gradually reduced to a point and then I was out, but I understand why that would happen.

Just wondering if anyone has experienced this, and what happened? I’m very curious about the scientific reasons for common experiences in this situation. I’ve never spoken to anyone who’s actually experienced it.

My mum passed away three years ago today and for her final 24 hours she was unable to speak and sometimes I wonder what those final hours were like for her - she did seem very peaceful. I’m not at all religious so no comfort to be had there!

DH "died" around six months ago. He says it was just really peaceful. Like floating on water with a wave like pattern on the walls of wherever he was. He says he wasn't frightened or scared just warm and peaceful. He said he started to think about me and the kids and he wanted to get back to us , so he swam off to get back to us. He said he made an effort to push forward and "come back "

Still chokes me up a bit typing that.

I have knocked myself out and had bad concussion twice - both times I had what felt like really fast dreams as I regained consciousness and I wondered if that was what people meant when their life flashed before their eyes.

Another near drowning.

I couldn't swim and I didn't realise the pool had a deep end so jumped in out of my depth.

After I kept hitting the floor with my feet and me trying to shout for help as I broke the surface only to sink again I suddenly felt really calm.

As I was calm I went down, my feet hit the floor and I thought 'walk to the shallow end' and I did.

My mum and aunt were sitting at the side of the pool chatting, when I told them what had happened they sort of shrugged and told me to carry on.

Anyone else? I don’t have anything to add but love hearing these type of stories.

I almost died of swine flu and also pre eclampsia but all I remember of both times was feeling horrendously ill.....

Mine wasn't at all peaceful — I was nearly electrocuted. Everything seemed to be in slow motion though, and I knew I had to let go of the thing that was shocking me and I just couldn't at first.

Then I think the electrics tripped. Either that or I managed to let go, and I ran to find people. I was screaming and couldn't say what had happened at first.

Luckily just a few burns (but on both sides of my body, so needed lots of time attached to a heart monitor), quite deep but nothing that's scarred too badly.

I was in a coach crash , it rolled over and I was trapped underneath it .

Near-drowning incident for me. Went on a diving trip on holiday, was 21 and didn't really understand that there should have been some sort of "training" before we dived. Malfunction with tank/mouthpiece, had a weighted belt on and the tank and just couldn't make it to the surface in time. Last thing I saw was the sun through the water. Came around after CPR but was quite ill for the rest of the holiday.

No flashes of my life, I just remember the water "burnt" my chest as I was gulping it down in my panic. I still love to swim but haven't dived again and don't like open water.

Another who almost died in childbirth. A reaction to the epidural. Meant me coming in and out of consciousness. They couldn’t reverse the drop ended in crash c section under general. As they put me under I thought this is it I’ll never see my baby, even though the surgeon started cutting before I was under I felt just a peaceful resignation but thought about my grandad I loved v much. I lost a lot of blood. My DH told to prepare for the worst. Over the next few days o was vill withv low blood oxygen levels. No bright light or anything

Not sure how close I was to being dead, but I had an acute asthma episode last year. Fortunately I was with people who could get help, but I had been at home earlier and if it had got that bad while I was home alone, I wouldn't have been able to get help. I don't remember that much about it, because I was floaty from lack of oxygen.

Twice. One when after I gave birth to my 3rd, the midwife had yanked on the umbilical cord too hard and the placenta tore. I lost a lot of blood and i could hear everything, but my thoughts got quieter and I stopped being able to talk shortly after the chunk she'd torn passed, leaving the rest in me. My vision went into and out with my thoughts. I can remember just before going into the OR, the nicest nurse I could ever hope for explaining everything to me (my legs were shaking and no one would tell me why, I can't remember her explanation now but it was very calming at the time) asked me a question and I just burst into tears as I tried to answer.

The other, I was 13. It was the night of my baptism...and my mother showed up on something. Slurred speech and everything. After the event, there were dozens of people outside congratulating me and the others and not one of them stopped my mother when she ordered me into car (I was a small child and terrified of her & this was a very honour your parents kind of church). She drove out at top speed, whipped round so much, we hit so many kerbs and I think a mailbox or two. I can't remember if she was hoping to kill us/me or just didn't care, it was one of the two, but I was certain she was going to kill me at least. We stopped just outside my maternal grandparents house (where I was living at the time, but the church was my father's which is why they weren't there), cops pulled into behind us. She was arrested but was let out the next day, but other than my grandfather telling her off in a way she took as a joke (he said she was grounded), I never heard about it again. I sometimes think if I hadn't fled into the house as she ordered, if the police had fully seen how terrified I was, maybe something more would be done and I wouldn't have had to deal with her trying again a few years later.

I’ve had two, the first When I was 10 I was walking home from school alone, no one else about the route was rural, I choked on a cough sweet, i remember feeling utter panic then fell to my knees, I remember seeing a bloke in a high vis jacket running towards me, got me up did the heimlich and got it out. He was doing some building work on the school and had stayed late. He asked if I was ok and sent me on my way, I didn’t even know his name, I’d love to find and thank him ( do would my mum!)

The second was during cancer treatment for lymphoma when I was 27, I became unwell at home with an infection and became septic during the night, the chemotherapy had left me severely neutropenic with no immunity at all, I remember being shouted at by paramedics and vaguely remember a nurse saying I was in resus and they needed to put me to sleep, it felt like I was in a cave and everything was echoing and my DH was so pale he looked terrified, I distinctly remember trying to tell him to sit down and get a sweet drink? But I couldn’t speak. I woke up a week later on ITU by my colleague and very lovely friend ( I’m an ex ITU nurse) After they’d extubated me she told me how sick I’d been, I’d arrested after I was admitted. I’m eternally grateful to those guys to still be live and kicking

@Deux you know I bet his dreams were in part reality, I remember when I worked on ITU lots of people would say they had dreams of pink balls or pink trees or others with a pink theme, we would wear pink aprons when working and we think it was them seeing us whilst “asleep”, one guy remembered being rolled in a pod by pink pencils we suspect it was us changing his position, I hope he’s well now, it’s so scary

I did a lot of research and anecdotally, found people tend to have fewer “near death experiences” in terms of a white light or a tunnel when they’re actually about to die.

I have no recollection of any emotions when I was critically ill, I remember bits and pieces like the noise of the ambulance but otherwise, I felt nothing emotionally. I had no physical pain either when I should have done. I was taken to intensive care for monitoring but my lungs couldn’t cope, I’m crashed and woke up a week later. I’ve not got over it.

I had major surgery as a child and 'died' 3 times on the table. I was completely unaware and don't remember seeing a light or a tunnel but I was heavily sedated.

My DH had a cardiac arrest so died and was resusitated and the only thing he remembers is someone pressing on his chest, they had to de-fib him. There was no light, nothing at all.

I was 19 and had been admitted to hospital with acute billaterial quinsys. Nurse forgot to attach the drip and i was in a lot of pain and tired. I suddenly was pain free and felt really peaceful. I was aware of someone (im Christian so i would say Jesus) with me and just felt utterly content. Then there was a sharp pain and everything went spinny. I learnt later a nurse had come to check during a shift change and found me with my throat closed. She performed an emergancy drain on the quinsys (the sharp pain) and saved my life. Shift change 2 mins later and i wouldn't be here. I really hope dying is as wonderful as that feeling was when i am a very old lady

(In defence of the first nurse not realising how ill i was, i am autistic and process pain differently)

When I was 13 I had a tonsilectomy to remove my tonsils and despite the fact id not long had surgery i thought I'd join in with my 'cool friends' shortly after by taking ecstasy and amphetamine on the way to the local fair.

The drugs did something to my healing throat and I was projectile vomiting blood in the street. My 'friends' left me and I called my own ambulance in which I then started bringing up clots. I was rushed to hospital where I had emergency surgery and a blood transfusion because of the amount of blood I was losing and spent the next few days in intensive care with my DM at my bedside being told I might not make it.

I made a miraculous recovery, thank god. Horrifyingly it was no big deal to me at the time but when I look back it scares me shitless that I was so vulnerable and easily lead.

I had a cardiac arrest two years ago and very nearly died. Was in my 30s so very unexpected, as I was very fit and healthy.
I didn’t see anything to report, but I was aware of dying and it felt very warm and relaxing. I wasn’t frightened at all, which is incredible really because I was literally sat in my car dying in front of my kids. Luckily, my husband got help quickly and I lived to tell the tale.

@Littletreefrog it was exactly the same for me when I nearly drowned, there was a definite moment when I gave up struggling and was resigned to my fate. I had my armbands on my feet . My mum had her back to me chatting to her sister. I remember thinking she would be pretty pissed off with herself once I was dead for not paying more attention to me!

There are a lot of drowning stories here.

I was hit by a car when I was 16. I don't remember anything about the accident but know I nearly died on the scene and then again a few times in hospital. I suffered a lot of physical and mental injuries that no one expected me to recover from. I almost died again, from intentional overdose, a year later - I remember that one, it wasn't peaceful, I just felt very very scared until I drifted out of consciousness. I also worsened some of the nerve damage in the process.

I don't have the normal 'near death experience' feelings at all. I still get quite angry about the whole thing, sometimes.

I had an awful car crash when I was 15 and when I saw the kerb coming towards me I almost felt my life flash before my eyes, it was such a weird feeling, I also lost a lot of blood having my second child, I went very cold, shivering and faint, vision was blurry but was soon back to 'normal' x

Dh driving us once on a very dark wet slip road onto a dual carriageway, we went into a completely out of control spin and at one point we're feet away from a sheer drop to a road below ( we actually hit the railings) We finally came to a stop facing the wrong way on a blind bend waiting for the next vehicle to come speeding round to get on the motorway. Main thing l remember was it all seemed in slow motion and people do say that don't they. It was like watching a film but l wasn't in it iykwim. Also l remember hearing screaming and it was only afterwards l realised that must've been me as dh wasn't screaming he was too busy desperately trying to regain control. I've heard people say that also about hearing screaming then realising it's you and that's exactly how it was.
We were ok in the end DH managed turn it round very quickly and tuck us in out the way and we got out and got ourselves away from the bend and up an embankment and phoned for help.
The worst part funny enough was not the actual ten seconds or so l thought we were going to die it was actually afterwards and the constant flashbacks and tormenting myself with what ifs.

Panic then calm then nothing. Just went to sleep

I was in a coma after an accident and experienced nothing. I think a lot depends on depth of consciousness, if not too deep you will dream and if your subconscious is aware that you are or have been in danger, the dream may be about dying.