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30 People Share What Death Is Like After Being Declared Dead And Then Resuscitated
Article created by: Indrė Lukošiūtė
The term "clinical death" usually describes the moment when the two criteria necessary to sustain human life stop: the beating of the heart and breathing.
However, death is a process, and with the invention of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), defibrillation, epinephrine injection, and other treatments, we now have the possibility to reverse it — at least temporarily.
So let's take a look at a discussion on Reddit where people who have been clinically dead and revived describe what the state between this world and the next felt like.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
My wife and I discussed this at length. 4 years ago, she died twice in 3 months, needing full resuscitation both times. Both were lengthy rescues (one resuscitation was off-and-on for nearly 40 minutes).
I asked her later when she had recovered if she remembered anything at all during the times she was clinically dead. She remembered nothing. Blackness. No light. No relatives and former pets waiting for her. Just...black. Thankfully, also no pain.
She finally passed 18 months ago, and I hope she felt no pain or worry the final time.
{EDIT TO ADD}
It started with two spontaneous brain bleeds (technically, it started with her having Lupus).
The 1st brain bleed lead to her passing, but they did a craniotomy, revived her, then a re-bleed.
The trauma from all that caused her lupus to set fire, which lead to complete kidney failure and another cardiac arrest (passing and recovery), which lead to two strokes.
She recovered enough to be home and mostly independent, but having to go to dialysis 3 times a week for 3 years.
She passed the final test to get on the kidney transplant list on Wednesday, and had a massive cardiac/respiratory event at dialysis on Friday where she passed again, but was kept alive on life support. I waited a week hoping for recovery, but we disconnected life support per her wishes (a topic we had talked about many times).
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#2
When I was 15 I was scheduled to do a tilt table test (they lean you up at an angle on a table) because I was consistently experiencing dizziness and fainting spells. After about 20 minutes the doctor tilted the table back and I could feel myself passing out. I got severe tunnel vision and lost like 95% of my eyesight, like looking through a straw and then I blacked out. I remember hearing the dr call the code and my father cussing at the dr that he "k****d" me. I remember hearing alot of slamming and banging around, which I assumed was the crash cart and nurses shoving into this small testing room. I felt a pressure on my chest, like when you have someone stand on your back to crack it, which I found out later was the nurses doing CPR. I saw an array of vivid colors kind of dancing around forming objects in the dark. The scariest thing was how peaceful it felt, just pure 100% peace. No panic, no pain, no sadness, nothing just bliss. I coded for just under two minutes and as soon as I came too and opened my eyes, I felt seriously angry and hostile, I started ripping off whatever I could get my hands on and yelling at the dr to get me off the table.
#3
I coded after surgery. I remember being able to see and hear everything and understand what was happening, but I couldn't physically feel anything. It was deeply unsettling.
#4
A friend of mine described death (she was technically dead twice) as being surrounded by darkness and floating with some sort of warm gel-like substance covering her. She never wanted to leave that state.
#5
Friend of mine described it as deeply relaxing and that she could feel herself drifting away, but was brought back just as she was ready to "leave".
After that, she embraced life and death. She said she doesn't fear death anymore since it was so relaxing to experience.
#6
I was electrocuted by about 13,800 volts. The doctors say it's likely the first hit stopped my heart and the second one started it (before I was pulled like a lifeless corpse to safety).
I remember experiencing the darkest dark and the most silent silence. I ceased to care that I was dying; time seemed to change, it could have been hours it seemed. It was only about 30 seconds.
I felt as though I was floating and floated toward something that I eventually realized was my body and reality. Upon joining with whatever it was I was floating towards, I became self aware in my body and heard the electricity making horrible noises and knew I was in danger.
From there it was a horribly painful experience where I lost most of my toes due to tissue death and had severe electrical burns on all four limbs. More surgeries than I care to count and seeing the round bone ends of my toes that were freshly amputated still haunts me a little.
#7
I was dead for 6 minutes . I was laying on the gurney and I was getting colder . Somewhere my body started warming up and everything became really calm and peaceful . I was not longer in pain . All the noise from ER just went away . Itwas really enjoyable .. I was thinking about my daughter and I was remembering all the things we had done . Slowly it was just black and nothign . There was no knowledge of anything . I explain it as it was like before I was born . Then the worst thing in the world is being revived . I starting hearing loud noises , I felt this massive pain . Then there was the nastiest stench ever . The smell was like every dead animal had crawled in my nose . The smell was so bad I started vommiting . I remember the Dr's turning me on my side and watching my vomit spray on a nurse . Dying was the most pleasant thing I have ever experienced and being revived the worse.
#8
Not necessarily"clinically dead" but I was pronounced dead two times in the same night after a car accident I was in when I was 16. My great grandma pulled me out of the car and we walked through this really peaceful field of flowers. When I woke up two weeks later she was sitting on the edge of my bed and told me to tell my mom that everything was going to be okay.
My great grandma died when I was 10 and before that she had been bedridden after a stroke. I never saw her walk or heard her talk in my entire life. It was amazing and beautiful.
#9
I'm going to have to speak for my Dad here... he passed away a few years back. I wrote this out while back actually... but maybe this will be a relevant place for it to be also.
Dad was fearful in his last days. He had been to the hospital many times and every single time he came close to death, what he remembered didn't reconcile with what most people report when having a near death experience. He, in fact, had a lot of bad experiences. One in particular where he relived a day 3 times in a row where doctors sedated him but he was still fully aware of what was happening to him. He could hear the conversations, feel the pain, feel the choking and suffocation. When I saw him the next day he had tears in his eyes as he tried to communicate a question on how many days he was out. When I told him 1 day he was confused and it took him a while to wrap his head around it. He thought he went to hell and this was his eternal punishment. He pondered for a long time on what he could have done to deserve that as a punishment. He did not ever want to be in the hospital, he hated them his whole life and that experience made him hate hospitals even more.
Dad's last trip via ambulance, he actually walked out to the ambulance and it wasn't because of the usual shortness of breath, it was because of chest pains. I was sure this was going to be a short stay and he'd be back soon.
During his last stay, he experienced more sedation, more hallucinations and more disorientation. I went to visit him every single day to get an update on his status. One night in particular they had trouble getting his heart rate down. It was steadily beating at about 160 and would calm to 120 or so before going back up to 160. It wasn't good for him.
Then, the next time he was up, I walked in right around his dinner time. He couldn't wait to talk to me but he could barely talk. It took all of his effort and energy, but he had some things to say.
Dad: Son... I know without a doubt that there is an afterlife.
Me: Really?
Dad: *nods*
Me: How are you so sure? You've been seeing guns on the ceiling and all kinds of hallucinations...
Dad: That wasn't me, I wasn't here.
Me: You weren't here?
Dad: I was there.
Me: Okay well.... did you see anyone you knew?
Dad: *shaking his head no*
It's not like that...
you can see souls being born into life and its the most beautiful thing you can see. Everyone has their own color and they're trying to get to white.
Me: trying to get to white?
Dad: *nods yes*
Time doesn't exist there. Time is here because of us and we're here because of time. Ohhh, I should have done more.
*looks at his hands* I could have been another Jimmy Page (he's referring to his skill as a guitarist) I could have done more.
Me: But you were the greatest Dad and...
Dad: *smirking a little to indicate that isn't what he meant* Do more, do everything you can...
Me: So... like carpe diem? Like seize the day?
Dad: *brightens* yes! Do everything you can. Don't worry about the consequences. Everyone finds their way. People worry to much about the consequences... just do good and do as much as you can. Everyone eventually gets there. Tell the family...
Me: Can I tell everyone?
Dad: Yes, tell everyone...
Me: okay Dad... I'll tell everybody
Dad: *nods in agreement*
I can tell he's tired by this time...
Me: I love you Dad.
Dad: I love you too Son.
This was the last conversation that I had with him. I miss him terribly and have been trying real hard to find myself again after his passing. It's been a long time and I've been able to cope with it enough to finally write this all out.
I hope this finds someone that needs to hear it.
With Love
Edit: I just wanted to thank everyone for the wonderful, heartfelt and deeply personal comments and messages that have been sent my way. I also want to thank the wonderful person that gilded this... I am truly overwhelmed by all of your kindness.
#10
I know 3 people that have been clinically dead and have come back. What they described is something much different than what people are talking about here.
They all said, if you paraphrase, that if feels as if you're passing out. Someone compared it to OD'ing on whippits (Nitrious oxide) – a feeling of your conscience slowly getting focused into one point in the exact middle of your head, while your limbs lose feeling in a tingling, pleasant way and then you lose consciousness.
One girl said that when she came back into conscience she was hallucinating because she had no idea what was going on and that she started dreaming of something 'safe' - i.e her mother hugging her in a warm bed.
#11
Not really sure what happened and it still freaks me out to this day. May daughter was 4 and developed pneumonia. Her breathing would stop in her sleep so we took her in to the emergency room. She was there for a total of 5 days. For the first 3 days her health kept deteriorating. And on the 3rd day my girlfriend got a call that her mother had collapsed and was taken to the hospital. She was without oxygen for 20 minutes and was declared brain dead. That night my daughter woke up and asked about grandma. No one had said anything to her or in the room with her. We asked her what did she mean. She told us that grandma came to her in a dream and said it's not your time yet. I'll go for you. Immediately the next day she was almost 100 percent better.
#12
One of my old frat brothers was clinically dead for like 40 seconds because of xanax. He said that he saw himself floating above his body in the hospital room. He said that he could see doctors and nurses working on him and family in the room. He said he slowly floated above the hospital and towards a light. He said the most peaceful feeling he has ever experienced washed over him. This is a person who has done mdma and coke in college. He said its almost impossible to describe the feeling with our vocabulary. He said it feels like a weight was lifted off you. He said he saw some long gone family in the light but they told him it wasn't his time. He said he was angry because he felt so good but floated back down to his body. I have no idea if he is telling the truth but he is a trustworthy friend. He never used d***s again.
#13
Anaphylaxis, wasn't breathing, I considered all the hallucinations I experienced likely due to hypoxic episode until I told my Mom what I saw. A middle aged man who wasnt in scrubs standing still at the end of my bed while all staff were running around and doing their business. I was having a non-verbal conversation with him and he was telling me to calm down, focus on breathing. He wore a tropical style button down shirt, one of those old school news boys hats and had a very pleasant demeanor. Mom showed me a photo of my grampa that I never had seen before, and it was the guy at the foot of my bed, and he died before I was even born.
* Edit; Didn't know this would comfort so many people, just remember not to worry too much about death and remember to enjoy your life while you have it.
#14
There are some researchers who have been collecting and quantifying the data of Near Death Experiences (NDEs) for years now. They have created 6 categories/stages of NDEs that generally sum up most experiences.
1. The hellish experience. It can be either a mildly uncomfortable experience, a cold, dark, damp, loveless experience, or the traditional flames and devil experience. Sometimes say they are drawn out of this realm by an indescribable love. Very few people recount experiencing this.
2. There is another type of experience where one has an out-of-body perspective, and can travel freely. Often times this happens in an operation room where one's heart has stopped and the doctors are working to revive the patient. The individual many be able to go to other rooms in the hospital, or travel across the country. If they remain in the hospital room, they do not always recognize their own bodies on the table, and can feel confused. (quick note: there have been a surge in NDEs since the 1960s when resuscitation techniques became more advanced.)
3. Much like many of the other redditor's comments, there is another experience of blissful, warm darkness that just feels comfortable. It is indescribable nothingness, often without memory or any inkling of consciousness at all.
4. The next experience is similar to the last, but with an additional light that is usually far away, that emanates warmth and love and forgiveness. The individual is either attracted to this light and goes toward it (or the light itself comes to the person.) It allegedly gets better and better the closer one draws to the light, and so they continue. (Obviously this is where the phrase "go/don't go to the light" likely comes from.
5. This experience continues where the last leaves off, where the person has broken through the light (to the other side). They now are experiencing a love/compassion/forgiveness/state of consciousness that is unlike anything they can put into words. Sometimes they encounter a sort of guide (this could be a loving anonymous being, or a religious figure (if they experience this, it is sometimes linked to their beliefs on Earth, but not always.)) This experience is sometimes accompanied by the most beautiful music. This being may present them to loved ones, or show them a life review (this is a very common experience of those who have had NDEs.) It may be at this point where the NDEer decides, or is told to return to their body (there is sometimes a choice) because they have "work left to accomplish in their lives." And I put that last part in quotes because of how many people cite that as their reasons on coming back.
6. The final experience goes beyond the previous state of love and consciousness and is experienced only by a relatively few people compared to the previous others. They say that they experience a becoming one with the universe/universal energy that unites everything/God. They have stated that they understand everything; that knowledge is known just by thinking of a topic.
(Disclaimer: people have different words to describe all these experiences, but what they typically agree on is that words themselves can not come close to explaining their encounter, for all of the aforementioned NDEs.) Most experiences are overwhelmingly pleasant, they lose fear of death, and they cannot wait to return to this state. However they know they must wait.
The NDE's that I've looked into pretty much all fall into these categories, so I'd like to hear any others that might not. As you can tell, this interests me greatly!
I want to end this by saying that if you wind up researching NDEs, come to your own conclusions about them. Is there a reason for someone to be pushing a certain belief on you? I have confidence that what people say about their NDE's, they themselves wholly believe to be true. Whether or not you do is up to your own judgement. There are people who make videos and give talks about NDEs they supposedly experience, but to me some seem to be fake and over rehearsed. Take what you want from my spiel, and if you have any questions about this, I've done a fair share of looking into the topic, and would love to discuss further. If you want any directions on where to look first into gaining your own knowledge of NDE's, I can definitely help you find something. Your NDE plug, out.
#15
I have two stories. When I was 9 I used to have fainting spells. One time I fell down the stairs and lost consciousness. My mom said I went as stiff as a board. I remember, as if floating near the ceiling, watching my mom run to the phone and calling 911. I could see my dad start to do CPR on me. Then I looked behind me and saw a bright light and heard a voice say “it’s not your time”. Then I went back into my body as I heard my dad yell “come on, d**n it!” I was really scared when I came to, and it took me a while, like years, to figure out what I had experienced. I can’t explain what happened. I felt calm though while I was out. I don’t know if I was really dead or just unconscious and my mind made it all up. The other story I have I know was real.
6 years ago my brother died from adrenal cancer. His wife and I slept in his hospital room that night. His friends and the two of us sat around his bed as he lay unconscious and told stories about my brother and laughed about all the great times we had with him. At 3 am I woke from a dream I was having of seeing him walking down a large tunnel that had a bright light at the end of it. He was healthy looking again and he turned around to look at me, smiled and waved, then walked into the light. When I woke up I rolled over to look at him. He had stopped breathing. I touched him and he was still warm and his skin was still soft, as if he had just passed away a moment before. It was like he hung on until he knew we would be ok and then waited to pass until we were sleeping so we didn’t have to watch him take his last breaths. I loved my brother, he was my best friend, my biggest champion, and he encouraged me and built me up when I had no confidence in myself. God I miss him, but I’m relieved that he’s not in pain and suffering anymore.
#16
Awesome, everyone seems to be in agreement that death was awesome and euphoric. That is comforting to hear, thanks everyone.
#17
Former co-worker of mine died during heart surgery. I think she was out for 90 seconds or close to it. She wasn't religious or anything. She said that she remembered being in the room and seeing her dead uncle and cousin standing at the far end of the room watching everything going on.
Edit: oh now my inbox is having an NDE.
Fun fact: she shared this information during an icebreaker "give us a fun fact about yourself". She didn't remember seeing a light or anything, just seeing her dead relatives at the end of the room.
#18
I don’t share it much but I’ve had 4 heart surgeries, and in my first and third one I coded. You had to be conscious for these surgeries to get your heart to react appropriately.
The first time it was just nothingness. Black. Just nothing. I can’t even explain how long it felt like nothingness. And then I remember waking up with them over me saying we lost you for a second there, are you okay?
The second time is the hard one to share. I woke up in a type of subway feeling thing but everything was white. The subway, the tunnel walls we were speeding through.
I didn’t have a body per say, it felt like I was the subway at times, and the. At times it was like i was just looking out a window at the tunnel wall.
It came to a stop and it was just black nothingness again. And then I heard a voice of a much older man.
He said “Are you ready to go?”
And I just had nothing. Like I didn’t know how to speak.
“We’re going now if you’re ready...”
And something inside me felt so ready to go. Like I was a magnet to it... this unknown destination in the black nothingness ahead.
I remember finally saying “o..ok”.
He said another time with a slightly different tone.
“We’ll be leaving here. You are ready to go?”
And finally something in me snapped, and I remembered I had a life, and people I’d leave behind. And my first thought was “I can’t leave my girlfriend. I couldn’t do that. And my Mom and Dad. My puppies. I can’t leave any of them. My family, my friends..”
And I made a decision I couldn’t leave. I didn’t even have to say it. Once I decided I couldn’t leave and I was for sure staying I woke up and came to consciousness with the medical team all around me.
#19
Not me, but right before my great grandma passed she kept trying to explain these vivd colors and smells. She kept saying how beautiful things were and she was saying its unlike anything she ever saw. She was an extremely religious woman. A little while after the “colors and smells” she told us “He” said we have to say its okay for her to go. I mean my whole family was standing around saying goodbye. I vivdly remember this even though I was only 9. Once we all said it was okay, she passed on.
Also the night before, she was talking to herself. We asked her whats going on and she pointed at the chair across the room and said “Please don’t be rude. Im having a conversation with her” and we were confused and asked about what and she said the woman was explaining what we were going to do with our futures.
So strange and I’ll never know if it was real or what was happening. But its kinda cool to think its real.
#20
Overdosed. Flatlined. Didn’t see a d**n thing. When they hit me with narcan, I woke up really mad ripping IV’s out of my arms, cursing out the poor, amazing staff who saved my life. Good times! 6 years ago now with all that s**t behind me luckily.
#21
I was 6-7 years old and one day I got rushed to the hospital by my parents because they heard me breathing really loud and hard. The last thing I remembered were faces of the doctors and nurses above me while I was lying on my back. Then I flatlined.
The weirdest, unexplainable thing happened then and there - I suddenly could see the whole scene as a spectator, like I was a floating spirit in that room. I could see myself getting revived, saw my mom crying and my dad comforting her. Then, I saw a white entity shaped like my body, falling through the ceiling and slowly, like a leaf on the wind, falling down to eventually land inside my body. That's when that experience ended.
I was put in a medically induced coma, and I woke up after some days, I don't remember. I had stuff plugged into me, an IV, red glowing elastic ring on my finger etc. Anyway, I later mentioned to the doctors that I saw it all, I saw them using the defibrillators, my parents etc. No one really believed me and told me that I was probably dreaming and biasing my memories due to watching tv, but I know what I saw!
Edit: Okay, so this blew up and after reading some comments I need to clear some confusion.
I don't really recall what was the exact cause of my hospitalization, but I know that it started with an asthma attack, alongside with a heart failure. My memories from that time are a mess and I spent a lot of time in hospitals, and I've taken heart meds and steroids till I was in my mid teens. Wish I knew/remembered more, but I never really had it explained to me, I just went along with the doctors, my parents and medicines.
As for the defibrillators part some of you mentioned, I'm really confused right now. I could have sworn that I saw them preparing the defibrillators, just after they did CPR on me for some time. Maybe they used them after I got my pulse back? Sorry if it all sounds like a mess, maybe I was actually just hallucinating like some of you imply.
Edit 2: I just recalled one thing, I remember that while I was in the "spectator mode" I saw a nurse handing a paper to my mom, for her to sign. I later asked her what did she sign that night, and she was like "how do you know I signed anything? You were unconcious". It turned out it was some insurance stuff.
Also, I have a heart defect since birth. I don't know the exact name but it has to do with something in my heart not opening/closing properly, which caused me insane stabbing pains in heart area once in a while. They're gone now so I'm off meds.
#22
Coded after attempting s*****e with Ativan (which is stupid.) My son had passed away three years before, and I remember going to a place without time and watching him grow up without the neonatal Marfan syndrome and hydrocephalus that k****d him. I should point out that I lost consciousness before code was called, so I don't remember rising out of my body. I do remember slamming back into it after being shocked, though. That was no fun.
My life changed completely afterwards. I left my wife, who wasn't helping me in my own struggles with Marfan syndrome, got the guts to come out as trans and found a great woman who supports me and is totally in love with me. I don't worry about anything but love and taking care of the people around me-life is too short for anything else. A visit with my son sorted it all out.
#23
Long story short, I had a bad reaction to a bunch of medication after a C-section and died for a short period of time. I never got to hold my son. I remember hearing people talking calmly but stearn and a lot of beeping. Then it was quite a bit like others described, calm, black, and then just nothing. I heard someone (probably a nurse) say that it was time to be a mommy and meet my boy. I faded in and out until eventually I "woke up." It sounds cheesey, but if it wasn't for my son, I probably would have never come back.
#24
I died twice after I got MRSA into my heart area after a major surgery. I don’t remember much of anything when I was out (cliché as it was I saw a light) but that year sucked.
#25
Not me personally but my grandmother after giving birth to my uncle was clinically dead for a bit. She told me that she felt herself rising out of her body and she ended up in the top corner of the room with a view over her bed and the doctor. It was then that she willed herself back to her body and was alive again
Edit: After looking through this thread, it seems as though this has happened to a lot of people. I always just thought she was a bit crazy, as this was the story she told me for her justification for believing that there is a God/afterlife, but I guess there is truth in her story.
#26
These descriptions are disturbing me because I've had something similar happen. I became very I'll and was at the airport for a flight. I was ha ing extreme body aches and coughing fairly violently. I decided I was too sick to fly and went to a hotel to get some rest. At that time I was very against going to the hospital and believed I could tough it out. Anyway all night I feel terrible, and get no sleep for ever until I suddenly pass out. My body felt extremely heavy. I wasnt moving but it felt like every cell was 1000lbs. After a few seconds I feel a wave of what I can remember being physical light wash over me and I was lighter than air and suddenly over my body. I somehow knew I could leave if I wanted but didn't. I remember feeling like I didn't want to leave yet. I dont remember how I got back in my body but I do remember that when I woke up I was the most refreshed I had been in a long time. And I suddenly wasnt sick at all.
#27
This happened well before my gf and I got together but she intentionally overdosed on methadone and was clinically dead briefly at the hospital.
She said she could see the doctors and her husband in the room from above and then she found herself in a meadow with her first boyfriend just talking like nothing had happened.
Then she felt herself getting pulled out of there abruptly and suddenly sprang up with her eyes wide open and she was back to life.
#28
Overdosed on caffeine (have a weak heartbeat). Before it actually happened, I was hallucinating/dreaming and couldn’t see clearly. All my fear faded away in an instant. Then s**t all just went black, and it felt like I was asleep but I didn’t remember when I actually fell down and blacked out. Woke up when my heart restarted wanting to stay in that sleepy state.
#29
My mother experienced a long corridor with arched door ways, one was open and she said she refused to go in.
She suffered a massive stroke at 27 to from a spinal tap done a week earlier.
#30
So many people describing this floating feeling and seeing the hospital room from above and seeing themselves... interesting.
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