35 People Who Briefly Left This World Share What They Saw On The Other Side

Despite all the knowledge we’ve gained across so many fields, the inevitability of no longer being among the living remains an elusive mystery. The only thing we know for certain is that, one day, each of us will take our last breath and cease to exist in our current physical form. Some may consider it morbid to wonder what awaits us on the other side, yet the question has been pondered for centuries. Every religion and philosophy offers its own explanation of what we might expect. However, rather than relying solely on beliefs and theories, perhaps the real clues lie in humanity’s own near-death experiences. Redditors who have been pronounced clinically dead or resuscitated have come together online to share and reflect on their personal insights. They describe what they saw, heard, or felt during those moments, and we’ve highlighted a few of their terrifying yet fascinating accounts in the gallery below.

#1

Image source: HorrorMovieBoy, Polina Kuzovkova/unsplash Black void. Peaceful. No body, but felt as if I was floating on my back in the ocean. Lots of waves. I knew I died, but knew everything would be ok. Was there maybe 20-30 seconds, but felt like a few minutes. Then I jolted alive. Edited to add: I’ve never been in an isolation tank, but I think that the experience would be similar. Ever since I haven’t been scared of death, but I’m still terrified by the means of it.

#2

Image source: rayrayrayray, Hanna/unsplash Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had. I never feared death afterwards and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering with an illness.

#3

Image source: anon, Cerqueira/unsplash I was laying on the operating table, the beeping of the machines slowly faded away, and the room plunged into darkness. I could feel myself drifting away from my body, an eerie sensation of weightlessness enveloping me. Suddenly, I found myself in a realm of vibrant colors and swirling mists. There, I met a council of beings made entirely of light, each radiating a different hue. They communicated with me not through words, but through pure thoughts and emotions. They showed me the history of the universe, from the birth of stars to the formation of galaxies, in the blink of an eye. But the most astonishing part was when they presented me with a choice – a choice to return to my earthly life or to explore the mysteries of the cosmos. I was tempted by the unknown, but the thought of my family brought me back. With their guidance, I descended through a tunnel of swirling energy and woke up in the operating room, gasping for breath. I can't fully explain the overwhelming emotions I experienced during that journey, but I know that there's more to existence than meets the eye. It's a story that still haunts me to this day, a glimpse into a world beyond our understanding.

#4

I lost my Dad to taking his own life in 2021 after he battled a few years of terminal illness and I often wonder how he would have felt and if he was at peace. Reading these stories being me great comfort, thank you for sharing. A couple of months after he passed I had a vivid dream where I was driving and he came to see me to tell me he was doing okay, afterwards I dropped him off back into a dark void. I also have a particular smell that comes up every now again that I associate with my godmother who passed away when I was younger. That smell was present at my Dad’s memorial. Little things like that, and the dreams, definitely make me believe that our loved ones who have passed are around us in some form. Image source: speggle22

#5

Image source: 1-cupcake-at-a-time, engin akyurt/unsplash Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, “don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming”, he was scared and yelling. Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, “no, no,” and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, “good, he was a SOB,”.

#6

Image source: mightymichael, Manuel bonadeo/unsplash Not my story but I think about it a lot. Years ago I knew a guy who was working at a theater in New York in the 90's. Someone broke in to rob the place and stabbed him in the neck, if I remember true he was clinically dead for something like nine minutes before being resuscitated. He told me he felt his consciousness slip into an alternate universe where he didn't die, that he did not make it in his original world and now lives here. You could chalk that up to a lot of things of course, but the eeriest part was his absolute and almost casual surety of it. When I asked a follow-up it wasn't a matter of "that's what I believe" it was "that's what happened." I often find myself wondering if any of us ever really die and we're not just falling through the multiverse. That's usually a post-w**d edible musing.

#7

This thread really makes me feel relief as I am fighting cancer now but don’t know if I’ll make it. I’m not scared of dying but I am sad thinking of leaving my 3 young kids behind. I’m only 39 and my youngest is still 10. My oldest is 16. It’s really sad for everyone now. Hopefully I can die peacefully and show my family everything is going to be alright. Image source: meriken333

#8

Image source: 44445steve, Curated Lifestyle/unsplash Not really the question but I have had my two grandfathers pass away recently, both on their deathbed have said their mothers were there to take them.

#9

Image source: sfmxkitty, Jaz Blakeston-Petch/unsplash My dad died for a couple minutes around 2015. He said he was driving his truck on the freeway, no traffic, just cruising. He came to when he heard one of the doctors calling his name. When he passed away five years ago, he was left brain dead. I told him it was okay to go and to just drive his truck.

#10

Image source: anon, Alexander Mils/unsplash My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck at this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her “he was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.”

#11

Image source: GrittyKerosene, Daniel Martinez/unsplash Didn’t see, but heard a voice that sounded at best description ‘like a really angry howling wind’ yelling at me that it wasn’t my time yet. Scared the hell outta me, I can still hear it like it happened yesterday. Mind you……I had tried to hang myself in the hall closet of my apartment in 2017 after my ex fiance passed by taking his own life two states away, nobody else in the house except for a dog. I woke up in my bedroom two rooms away covered up with a blanket from the living room (also two rooms opposite).

#12

Image source: Hot-Refrigerator6583, Curated Lifestyle/unsplash My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die. She's quite alive and well today.

#13

I have a near death one? My grandmother in Mexico is old and she was in the hospital getting treated for her dementia. We were with her and she was not remembering anything. Then out of nowhere she looks at the door window and stares. She tells the door in Spanish: “no, not me. Not yet. Get the girl in the next room instead. I’m not going”. Next thing you know there’s a code in the next room and the girl died sometime later. We didn’t know who were in the rooms around us… We think she saw “la muerte”, essentially the grim reaper in Mexican culture. And then she was back to her dementia self. Crazy. Image source: Nonya_bid

#14

I did see a white light, and then I was on my old bed and the sun was shining through the window. I felt very at peace but something clicked in my brain that it wasn't real, I woke up on the floor and the teacher had resuscitated me. She wasn't a naturally pretty woman but when I woke up I remember everything being bathed in kind of a golden light and in that moment I thought she was an angel. Image source: sadboykvlt

#15

I haven’t had an NDE but I was an ER nurse/ flight nurse for a decade. I’ve been present for many deaths. Let me say I don’t believe in the supernatural, I’m an atheist, but I’ll swear til my dying day that I’ve seen the Angel of Death twice hovering over a patient during a code. Probably exhaustion and lack of food because we rarely got a chance to take any kind of break, but I tell you twice I’ve seen the Angel of Death in a trauma room and he/it nodded at me. Not Charon but clothed in black with a face like any person you’d see walking down the street. Never seen it since I stopped trauma nursing. And really don’t want to again for a while but I’ve got this feeling I’ll get that nod again but he’ll be over me nodding at another nurse. Image source: sheepdog1973

#16

Image source: Inevitable-Land7614, Brett Jordan/unsplash My grandmother ( who none of us ever knew...she died in 1930). She told me to go back. I was in a coma for 2 weeks.

#17

Image source: mypreciouscornchip, vale/unsplash I've posted this before but I always like to chime in on these kinds of threads. Does near death count? I had a blood pressure of 60/40 and a 104°+ fever and was out of consciousness for a solid three days in the critical care unit in 2005 after I contracted bacterial endocarditis as a result of low immunity and a heart defect. I spent those days floating above my hospital bed, looking down at the room; my body, nurses checking on me, visitors. When I came to, days later, I could recount exactly who had been to visit me, who had stayed the night in the room with me and conversations they had between each other while I was out. While I was floating, it was warm and there was no pain, not even gravity to hold my limbs down. Although I knew that was my body below me with all the tubes and wires coming out of it, I was at peace with the situation. All of my anxieties were gone. There was no tunnel of light or dead family. Just me attached to my physical body by a thin silver ethereal cord in a state of total bliss. edit: switched diastolic and systolic. I was around 60/40 when I lost consciousness before my near death experience.

#18

Not me, but a close friend and co-worker. He got t-boned by a car while on his motorcycle. Severed his femoral artery, completely exsanguinated by the time we arrived (I'm a fire & rescue). Got him flown out to the nearest hospital, he was completely drained of blood for about 30 minutes, dead for about 20. Dr's were able to get blood back in and his heart pumping and he's alive and well today. Before the accident he was, I guess, an atheist. Had never thought of, or mentioned religion. He said he walked through a forest with Jesus for a couple days. Talked about anything and everything like old friends. Finally he said "how'd I get to heaven? I never was religious." Jesus said "I know, that's why you're going back." And he woke up. The man changed 180*, and is a devout Christian now. Image source: Dillon_Roy

#19

Had brain surgery to remove a tumor. I believe it was a dream, but I was able to walk around the operating room and then decided to fly into the cosmos. My only concern was leaving my fiancé and child behind. Image source: General_Bronobi

#20

Had major surgery a few years back and there was a period in which I felt myself “standing” in this infinitely white void; I recall just seeing my feet and then looking ahead but couldn’t physically turn my head to see either side, I could only keep my head straight ahead and even though this place was a white void with no visible windows/doors/walls..etc…it strangely still felt like a room. I still felt like myself too, but anything negative like anger or anxiety or fear or pain was nonexistent and I had very limited memories I could recall back on, I can only remember feeling everything happening as it was, being fully present in that place and being surrounded by white light and warmth. Then I woke up in the recovery room sometime later. I found out hours after waking up that I nearly died during surgery. All these years later, I still think about that place, wherever and whatever that was and wonder what exactly happened. *if* it was a preview of what’s it like to die, then I’m no longer afraid of death. Image source: ElGatoGuerrero72

#21

Image source: Fluffy-Hotel-5184, Annie Spratt/unsplash I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didnt say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired. I finally got tired of her nagging and went and thats when I came to. I had bled out during a c section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby, sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone.

#22

Image source: Argercy, Valeria Nikitina/unsplash I was in the hospital when it happened and I “died” for a few seconds, maybe up to 30 seconds I don’t remember how long exactly. This was over a decade ago. I was brought back with adrenaline. All I can remember is seeing a stone slab and hearing something like a wall crumbling. I don’t know how else to explain it. It was a plain square edged stone slab and I couldn’t (or don’t remember) seeing the other side of it, it was enormous from what I gather. It might have stood 4 feet tall. I don’t recall seeing anything else other than this gray stone slab and hearing that sound. It was an instant of time to me. Edit: it wasn’t a door, it was a platform. There was no one standing on it. There were no other people.

#23

Image source: anon, Getty Images/unsplash At the end of one semester in college I collapsed in the bathroom due to exhaustion after being up for around 72 hour. I hit my head on the sink, then the toilet, then the ground. Went completely lights out for a split second then next thing I was aware of - a loud buzzing sound and looking up at 3 fat, blue, sentient alien toad shaman sort of beings standing over me looking disappointed or contemptuous or something. They gave each other a look that reminds me of like how humans roll their eyes. Then the one in the center took this rod/staff thing and shoved it in me and felt like an electric shock. I woke up to my girlfriend doing chest compressions. Never seen anyone so scared before. I’m not sure if I was “clinically dead” but she thought I had died.

#24

I "died" for 7 minutes back in March. While I was in the hospital for shortness of breath, I had a bad lung hemorrhage. I lost so much blood that my heart had none to pump. I went into cardiac arrest and a "code blue" was issued. It took the doctors 7 minutes to get my heart started again. During that time, I had a stroke due to the lack of oxygen to my brain. I woke up intubated and only semi-conscious for two days, then fully regained consciousness and asked, "What happened?" It is hard to correlate inner time to what was happening outside, but I can make some sense of it. I saw a series of three oval ellipses, one at a time, just suspended in a black space. The ellipses were all upright, as though they were suspended by a string (but they weren't), and they all had a thickness to them, like a ring. On the inner and outer surfaces of the first ellipse I saw mountains, streams, forests, and clouds. They were beautiful at first, but then they began to sour as their colors took on a yellow tinge. It faded away, and was replaced by second ellipse that was a hot ring of iron, so hot that pieces of iron were slowly crumbling from it. I could smell the iron as the ring slowly disintegrated as it cooled into blackness. (A nurse later told me that this is what blood smells like.) I now take it that this is when I was in cardiac arrest. Suddenly the scene brightened to reveal the third ellipse that was covered with beautiful clouds that were light pink and blue, like from the most beautiful sunrise or sunset. That, I believe, is when my heart started beating again. When I regained conscious, those three ellipses remained firmly fixed in my memory. When I was told days later about my cardiac arrest and stroke, it all began to make sense to me. I even think I know the source of those images. I'm an astronomer, and had been studying Johannes Kepler's *Astronomica Nova* and trying to understand how Kepler figured out that the orbits of the planets are ellipses and not circles. It had been on my mind for weeks, and when I hemorrhaged, my dying brain latched onto that shape. The initial and final ellipses were adorned with what I value most, the beauty of our planet, the outdoors and sky. The yellowing of the initial ellipse reflected my dying brain, and the second ellipse was my brain's interpretation of the smell of blood as I faded away. The third ellipse when I began breathing and returning to life. That's all I saw. No tunnel of light or happy deceased family members welcoming me. I think that dreaming, dying reflects what happens to be most accessible in your mind during that time. Your mind tells you a story about it. I was never afraid during my ordeal, I was just a dispassionate observer. Amazingly, the only lasting effects of my seven minutes of code blue is a slightly diminished capacity of my short-term memory. I learned something from all of this. I'm sure I was a horrific sight to anyone outside, covered with blood as doctors crowded around me trying to pull me back to life. But inside, all was calm. No pain, no discomfort, no worries. Accidents and disease may be terribly painful, but dying is easy. I'm not scared of dying, not in the least. Afraid of what comes before, sure, but nature makes dying easy. Image source: BOBauthor

#25

I have “died” twice now, both during cardiac procedures. Only for a few minutes. But still. The first was 20-ish years ago. Everything was dark and I just saw still water. Know the dark water from stranger things? Totally flipped my s**t when I saw that. The second time was last week actually. Same procedure. This time was different though. It was so bright, and all white. Everyone I’ve ever cared for was there, waving and genuinely smiling at me. When I woke up, I was just sobbing. Last time compared to this time, I feel lighter. Less like the world is going to press me to death, and more like I can finally breathe. Image source: anon

#26

Image source: Admirable_Buyer6528, uriel/unsplash More of a near death experience. I was electrocuted. i felt like i was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace.

#27

Image source: blackmachine7, Curated Lifestyle/unsplash My sister, around 6 years of age that time, drowned at our local pool. Basically when she was recovered from the water, she had no pulse and was very blue, also wouldn't spit out water after the rescuers did basic life support and mouth to mouth. She was brought to a nearby hospital and that saved her life. While in the hospital, our aunt was talking with her, asked her if she remembered anything while she was unconscious (she was unconscious for probably 2 days). She said she saw a white place, with 2 figures waiting for her around 10 meters ahead, when she went near, one of the figures looked like a person wearing a jabawockee mask and the other looked like a guy fawkes mask but black. The jabawockee said to her she could go on ahead if she liked the ambiance of the place but the guy fawkes one said she could go back home as her time is still not yet up. She then took the guy fawkes advice and when she woke up, she was already there in the hospital. Still confused if that was legit or just some imaginative ramblings of a preschool kid, it happened nearly 20 years ago, I was 8 years old that time and probably missed some small details but that's all the gist of her story.

#28

I made an attempt on my life back in 2017. I was surprised at how fast I crossed over. What struck me was the lack of sensations from my body. It was so peaceful. I left behind all my worldy troubles and I was just existing. I remember the twilight looking sky, and other people in the distance. When I was there, I remember feeling happy with being there, and that it was a familiar place. I felt like I had to go somewhere there, but I don't remember where that place is now. As I began moving towards where I knew I had to go, either I thought or it was communicated to me, "Not ready yet". With that, the serene reality pulled away so fast and began to experience bodily sensation again. It feeling like I was going down a roller coaster backwards while simultaneously being compressed over my entire body. As I began to feel like I couldn't take it anymore and throw up, I blacked in my body. I knew where I was and I couldn't believe I wasn't there anymore. All my inner turmoil came rushing back in contrast with the knowledge of where I had been. I've made my peace, and I know this life has its purpose. Image source: Azul0l

#29

Appendicitis nearly got me 5 years ago. While they were scrambling for a team to do surgery I suddenly found myself in my living room quietly knitting, no more pain, no hospital noises, just my home. This was no “dream version” of my living room either, there was that weird stain on the wall I can’t seem to get clean, and the threadbare arms of the couch, the smell of the candle on the coffee table. I could feel the yarn in my hands and on my needles, and I managed to do a couple rounds before I looked over and saw my grandfather standing by the hearth. I was thrilled to see him since I hadn’t in so long but then I realized he had been dead two years. I told him that I knew he was dead and now I’m pretty sure I’m in trouble because I’m dead too but I wasn’t supposed to be. He just smiled and said “It’ll be okay baby” For some reason I said “That’s just the way it is” and then slammed back into my body in the hospital. Image source: anon

#30

I had an heart surgery with near death experience, for me atleast (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and i had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again. Image source: TooReDTooHigh

#31

I believe I died and came back once. I don't remember anything. I bled so bad and was alone 13 hours. I lost consciousness. When my family found me I had already woke up. The EMT's said they had no idea how I lived. I had such blood loss. My daughter was with some friends. She was two. They said earlier that day she gazed up and pointed saying "there's mommy, go get her. I remember no NDE. I think I wasn't supposed to remember. Image source: Poetdebra

#32

Image source: riphitter, Getty Images/unsplash Nothing. Just a doctor standing over me saying they had to abort the surgery and then laughing when the first thing I said was "ugh that sounds expensive".

#33

Image source: AquaticOwl64, DZHA/unsplash Not me, but someone I know as a kid was gone for a bit during surgery. He said he saw a car driving outside carrying a coffin with signs that it was some high-profile politician (who was actually alive at the moment). He came to, told his parents and the doctors, but no one believed him. 2 weeks later, that poltician died and was carried in the same car he saw on the same street (just outside the hospital). So, I guess he saw the future while briefly dead?

#34

I’ve mentioned this before, but I had a near death experience during childbirth. I lost a significant amount of blood and was being rushed to have a hysterectomy when my body finally started clotting and I came to. I believe they also gave me some type of adrenaline? Anyways.. It felt very very peaceful. Everything around me got bright white and I couldn’t really hear anything, I just felt very happy and at peace. No worries at all. Very surreal moment that kinda helped me get over the fear of death. I don’t know why my body wanted to come back, I was fully accepting whatever was happening to me, but i’m glad i’m here with my son. Image source: Biggmamaaa

#35

Didn't "die" but have had a few near death experiences. Last one was on my motorcycle. During my motorcycle endorsement class, my instructor was an old, kind of gruff but very nice, Harley rider. I really respected him because he was passionate about riding and wasn't afraid to tell you exactly how it is. One of the last days on the course, he told everyone in the class that when you go through something traumatic, you might see your life flash before your eyes. He described it like watching a slide show of your life only at 100X speed. He said the reason it happens is that it's your mind working as fast as it can to try to remember something to get you out of the situation you're in. It had happened to him once right before he crashed years ago. Flash forward a couple months and I'm riding my motorcycle to school. The road I'm on is 5 lanes one way with light traffic in an urban area (Woodward Avenue for all my MI peeps). The speed limit is 50mph but has stop lights about every 1/4 mile. I'm running a bit late and riding a bit too fast, but I took that class seriously and was checking my mirrors, was aware of my surroundings, all that good stuff. I go to pass a car on the left when I notice a truck passing the same car on the right. There's a wide turn a little ways ahead, and at the time I decided to pass, I could still see the road in front me quite ahead. The truck and I are going about the same speed. I speed up a little bit so I can get around the car in front of me AND stay in front of the truck so that he can see me overtake the car in front of me and I don't wind up in his blindspot. I look over to the truck, who is now speeding up as well, still going the same speed as me. This is where I messed up. Instead of slowing down, I being an ego driven 20 year old, decided to speed up further. Truck speeds up too. F**k you Mr. Truck, I'm passing you. All of a sudden the truck slows down, i look forward to see the wide turn ended and there's a red light about 50 yards out with cars stopped and I'm pushing 70 mph. I immediately hit both front and rear brakes, but went too hard on the rear. Time slows down and I see my foot moving forward and backwards but my feet are glued to the pegs. I'm fishtailing. That's when my life flashes backwards exactly how my instructor described. My mind stops at me taking the course where we were practicing hard stops. Instructor told me I use too much rear brake in my stops and that if I ever fishtail, to slowly let off the back brake and calmly squeeze the front brake. Snap back to reality and I do exactly that. I can't stop in time but with sheer luck squeeze between the lanes side by side with the cars in front of me. Got some weird looks from the drivers on both sides of me, but I'm relieved to not be flying through their back windshield. Walt, if you're reading this you saved my life. I cannot thank you enough. Image source: hogjuicer