Real Near Death Experiences

Amanda Cable -NDE During Childbirth-

The decision was made to send me to the ward overnight to await surgery the next day. As I lay in my hospital bed, my last thoughts turned to the strange dream of that little boy.

Could this have been the baby I didn't know I was expecting?

On the ward, I fell into a fitful sleep - until I awoke at 3.30am, with a splitting headache and agonising stomach pains. I remember pressing the bell and telling a nurse: 'I don't feel very well. Can I have some pain relief?'

The next thing I knew a doctor was slapping my face. 'Don't fall asleep. Stay with us,' he shouted and I became aware that the ward light had snapped on, and running feet were echoing down the corridor. 'Oh dear,' I thought, 'someone's been taken ill.' A doctor felt my neck. 'She's tachycardic'. I knew this meant my heartbeat was irregular, and suddenly I realised it was I who was sick.

'She's haemorrhaging,' said a doctor. 'Get her to theatre now.' The medics pushed my bed down the corridor towards theatre. A male doctor, running by my side, said: 'Darling, I don't know how to say this - but this doesn't look good. We need your next of kin by your side. Can I call your husband and your parents?' I thought about my sleeping twins - and my daughter who was due to start school a few hours later - and asked him not to ring my house. It meant that Ray would be unaware of my critical condition. But I didn't want to upset him or the children.

'Am I going to die?' I asked in terror, but no one answered. I asked repeatedly until a doctor finally replied: 'We will do the best we can.' In theatre, they struggled to find a vein for a transfusion. But because of the massive haemorrhage in my stomach, all my veins were collapsing.

I was in so much pain, I could hardly breathe. At the same time, I was terrified at the thought I might never see my beloved family again.

Finally, the anaesthetist managed to get a transfusion line straight into my neck. She said: 'It's hopeless, this is too thin. She's bleeding twice as fast as I can get blood in.' I heard a surgeon saying: 'I can't wait, we've got to start ...' and then suddenly my pulse stopped.

Strange though it sounds, I remember hearing a doctor shout: 'There's no pulse. I can't get an output. Can anyone find an output?' All hands frantically grabbed my body, trying to locate a pulse, and I fought to stay calm despite the terror.

How long did I have left - 30 seconds? 60 seconds? Think straight!

Say goodbye to the children ...

I forced myself to shut my eyes, and mentally bid farewell to each of them.

First, I thought of Charlie, and his smiling, happy face swam in front of me. 'Goodbye my kind, sweet boy. You'll make someone a wonderful husband one day.' Next Archie, the mischievous baby of the family. 'Bye-bye darling. I hope they tell you what a mummy's boy you were.' And finally Ruby, with her sweet smile and huge brown eyes. 'Thank you for being a perfect daughter. Look after Daddy and the boys for me.' With that, I gazed up at the operating light, felt a searing pain in my stomach and prepared to die.

Instead, the white light above me suddenly 'sucked' me upwards and with a strange 'whoosh' in my ears I was instantly transported into a tunnel of brilliant whiteness - so bright I couldn't tell where the floor ended and the walls began.

I heard the sound of someone breathing loudly, and realised it was me. I knew I had left the operating theatre below, but in an instant the pain and terror had gone.

Instead, I felt completely calm and unhurried. I took a few steps down the white tunnel, and in the distance, I saw a shadowy figure standing.

I felt a mild curiosity, and with my breath echoing in my ears, I walked slowly and effortlessly down the tunnel. As the shadowy figure grew closer, I could see it was someone facing away from me. As I walked nearer, I realised that person was wearing red and grey.