Gayle D
NDE
Greyson Scale: 7
#33016
- CountryUnited States
- GenderF
- AgeAdult
- Date Experienced8/29/1964
- Date Submitted5/15/2025
The experience included
See a bright unearthly lightDevelop psychic abilitiesOBE, Out of body experienceDecided to come back to life
Experience Description
I was a passenger in a car, getting a ride to a funeral. The ride was offered by a family friend of the deceased, though I didn’t know the driver personally. As it turned out, the driver was apparently drunk. While we were driving, he crashed into a tree.
Unbeknownst to us, a sheriff had been parked nearby, partially hidden behind a tree, and witnessed the entire accident.
During the crash, I was thrown through the windshield. I remember suddenly seeing a dark tunnel. To my left, there was a round, foggy yellow light. In that moment, I said to myself, “I’m not ready, God.” I never lost consciousness, but I could see my own body lying on the ground. Then I heard a distinct "plop," and suddenly I was back in my body, lying on the ground, unable to move.
The sheriff approached and asked if I was okay. I replied, “I cannot move.” Meanwhile, the driver stood over me, chewing gum, seemingly unaffected. An ambulance was called, and I was taken to a nearby hospital. I remained there for six weeks recovering from my injuries.
Despite the severity of the accident, I never felt afraid. There was a strange sense of stillness surrounding the experience; a quietness that has stayed with me ever since. In the years that followed, I often reflected on that moment. It gave me a deep sense of peace about the idea of death. I know it will happen someday, but I understood that my time hadn’t come yet.
I have only shared this experience with a few people. About a year and a half after the accident, I met the man who would become my husband. He was a cardiology resident. I told him about the experience briefly. Nine years ago, he passed away from pancreatic cancer. Perhaps what I experienced helped me find the strength to endure his final week, when he was in a coma.
We had no children, but I carry the memory of both of these profound life events with peace and acceptance.
Background Information
Gender
Female
Date NDE Occurred
8/29/1964
Near Death Experience Elements
At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event?
Yes, Accident, automobile accident where I sustained a broken pelvis and internal injuries from being thrown through windshield of car., Life threatening event, but not clinical death
How do you consider the content of your experience?
Neither pleasant NOR distressing
Did you feel separated from your body?
I clearly left my body and existed outside it
How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal everyday consciousness and alertness?
Normal consciousness and alertness, none
At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness?
The entire time.
Were your thoughts speeded up?
No
Did time seem to speed up or slow down?
Time seemed to go faster or slower than usual, Time went very fast.
Were your senses more vivid than usual?
No
Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience
same vision
Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience
same hearing
Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere?
No
Did you pass into or through a tunnel?
Yes, I started to go into a dark tunnel. In the distance and off to my left, I could see a foggy yellow light, that looked like it was coming from a large flashlight.
Did you see any beings in your experience?
No
Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings?
No
Did you see, or feel surrounded by, a brilliant light?
A light clearly of mystical or other-worldly origin
Did you see an unearthly light?
Yes, I saw a yellow, foggy light. I would say it was definitely "foggy" as if the tunnel was shrouded in black dark "fog"
Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world?
No
What emotions did you feel during the experience?
I had a sense of void. It wasn't exactly peaceful, but definitely not frightening
Did you have a feeling of peace or pleasantness?
Relief or calmness
Did you have a feeling of joy?
No
Did you feel a sense of harmony or unity with the universe?
I felt no longer in conflict with nature
Did you suddenly seem to understand everything?
No
Did scenes from the future come to you?
No
Did you come to a border or point of no return?
No
God, Spiritual and Religion
What was your religion prior to your experience?
Christian- Protestant, Moderate Presbyterian faith at the time
Have your religious practices changed since your experience?
Yes, I do not find comfort in a specific religion these many years since the experience. I do find comfort in being around various religions by viewing from a distance (monks in Laos, Tibet, Catholics in Rome at the Vatican, Protestants during Easter services, Jews in a synagogue). But I do not want to attend a specific church or religion.
What is your religion now?
Unaffiliated- Nothing in particular- Secular unaffiliated, I am not active or affiliated with in any church.
Did your experience include features consistent with your earthly beliefs?
Content that was entirely consistent with the beliefs you had at the time of your experience, At the time of my experience, I believed that life would end one day. But, I was not ready to have it end that specific day. My understanding happened in the midst of a "wake up call"
Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience?
Yes, I am a better person for this experience towards other people, although I am not tied to a specific religion since the experience.
Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice?
No
Did you encounter or become aware of any beings who previously lived on earth who are described by name in religions (for example: Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, etc?)
No
During your experience, did you gain information about universal connection or oneness?
No
Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion
During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose?
No
During your experience, did you gain information about the meaning of life?
No
During your experience, did you gain information about an afterlife?
No
Did you gain information about how to live our lives?
No
During your experience, did you gain information about life's difficulties, challenges and hardships?
No
During your experience, did you gain information about love?
No
What life changes occurred in your life after your experience?
Since I was hospitalized for 6 weeks, I had a great deal of time to reflect upon my 24 years of life at the time. I came through my recovery wanting to be the best I could be as a person for whatever amount of time I was alive. Religion has been fascinating to me. I have traveled the world, immersing myself in witnessing Buddhism, Hinduism, and Catholicism. At heart, I am probably an atheist. I believe in a supreme power, but not in a 4-foot-tall, dark-skinned man in sandals as a living God. I think our universe is probably filled with the energy of thousands of souls who have existed in life. This includes those not necessarily on our planet, but also other forms of life in the universe. I am grateful for my experience. I am at peace about death and perhaps have the best tolerance for the chaotic world we live in. But it was really a neat experience.
Have your relationships changed specifically as a result of your experience?
Yes, I am not attracted to not fake people, and only surround myself with real people.
After the NDE:
Was the experience difficult to express in words?
No
How accurately do you remember the experience in comparison to other life events that occurred around the time of the experience?
I remember the experience more accurately than other life events that occurred around the time of the experience, Probably the trauma of the car accident made the accident itself acute. I was shocked to have gone through an out-of-body experience, seeing a tunnel, with a foggy light off to one side, and by my telling God that I wasn't ready yet. I have lived to see another 60 years of life.
Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience?
Yes, Events in life seem to happen that are quite tolerable, with perhaps some "signs." For example, when people die. I have signs such as a special appearance of a hawk or sudden doors slamming. But I do not dwell on these signs; they are just there.
Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you?
Peacefulness of life after the experience, which I did not hold prior to the event when I was age 24.
Have you ever shared this experience with others?
Yes
Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience?
Uncertain, Only in passing. I always thought it was a subject for me to joke about having an out-of-body experience.
What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened?
Experience was definitely real, Immediately after it happened. I felt the experience was definitely real but never mentioned it for perhaps a couple of years, so didn't feel validated. When I met my future husband and we decided to marry, I thought I had best tell him about my thoughts and "out-of-body experience" and the "tunnel with the light." He married me anyway, and we were married for 50 years.
What do you believe about the reality of your experience now?
Experience was definitely real, The experience remains vivid and always with me; every minute detail of the experience.
At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience?
No
Is there anything else that you would like to add about your experience?
No
Did the questions asked and information that you provided accurately and comprehensively describe your experience?
Yes, Cannot think of anything else. Fascinating. I read an article about NDERF in NY Times May 3, 2025.