Joseph E

I took my two friends, Retha and Kyle, to my family's property so we could float down the river. At the end is a man-made rock dam downstream where the road would line up. We floated down the river and were having a good time. At one point, Retha popped her inner tube on a fishing hook when we stopped on the embankment to smoke a cigarette. She sat on her boyfriend Kyle's lap, but they got into a stupid fight. He complained that he couldn't see where he was going, that she wasn't helping, and that it was too difficult. Kyle went to the embankment, Retha got up, and they continued arguing. We stayed on the embankment side of the river the whole time where it was safe, but eventually we would have to cross the river to get to the boat launch area on my family's land. We were on the safe side of the river, and the other side was where our family property was. Kyle got on his inner tube and started floating back toward the car, leaving Retha on the safe side. I told her I would swim her back across and that she could use my inner tube. I had swum the river before, but never at that location and never while towing someone on an inner tube. I told her we would need to walk about 200 yards upstream from the rock dam because I wanted more room than Kyle had used; especially since I would be helping her cross. She told me she was afraid of deep water and started to panic. That was why I offered to swim her across and give her my inner tube, so she would not have to panic. We walked upstream and she sat on the inner tube while I started swimming her across. About halfway across, the current became much stronger. I noticed we were being pulled downstream much faster than I wanted, and she was not helping at all. She was just sitting there. Since she had already told me she was terrified of deep water, I swam harder. When we were about 25 feet from the embankment, I realized we were caught in a current that was pulling us away from shore. This was where the river narrowed and the current sped up. It was exactly where I did not want us to be. We had already missed the boat launch area, and I was exhausted. Because I had invited them onto my family's property, I felt responsible for making sure they were both okay. I told Retha, "I need to catch my breath, but I'll be right behind you. I want you to kick off of me to give yourself a boost toward the embankment, and I'll push you at the same time." I told her not to worry because I would be right behind her. She did it. I drifted back a little, but she only moved a few feet. I thought it would work much better than it did. At that point, it was taking everything I had just to keep my head above water. Then I noticed a branch sticking up out of the water. I swam over to it toward the dam; thinking I could catch my breath and then swim the rest of the way. I put my feet on a lower branch and pulled my body out of the water while holding onto an upper branch. By pulling myself up, I put too much weight on the lower branch and it snapped. When it broke, I panicked. My arm jerked and I snapped off the branch I was holding onto. The remaining branch was too far underwater to help me. I had reached the point where every time I exhaled, I sank. It did not matter how little air I breathed out. I was sinking, and it was becoming difficult just to keep my chin above the water. I thought, "I need to catch my breath and slow my heart down." I could feel my heart pounding against my ribs. I thought, that if there is a tree here, then the river bottom can't be that far away. I'll go down, push off the bottom, shoot back to the surface, and finally get a good breath of air. I had not had a good breath since I was in the middle of the river because I did not want Retha to panic. I went down to the bottom of the river and tried to kick off the ground, but my legs would not work anymore. I was paralyzed from the waist down. I swam upward as hard as I could and broke the surface. I looked over and saw Retha crawling onto the embankment on all fours. I thought, "Good. I'm glad she made it." Then I realized something. If I could not make it with my legs, I was not going to make it without them. I am not proud of this part, but when I realized that, I gave up. I stopped fighting for my life. I pushed myself downward, accepting that I was done. As I was giving up, Retha looked back and looked me right in the eyes. I did not want her to see me giving up. I did not want her to live with that image. Right after I thought that, I blacked out underwater. The next thing I knew, I was in hell. My first reaction was anger. I thought, "Why am I here? I saved someone else's life at the cost of my own. That should be like a get-out-of-jail-free card or something." The moment I thought that, my mind was flooded with every bad thing I had ever done. It was as if I was being shown, "No. This is why you are here." I understood that wrong is wrong and sin is sin. Nothing had greater value than anything else. For example, stealing a pack of gum worth 25 cents compared to hurting the people you love because of alcohol. Both deeds carried the same truth: I had sinned. I was petrified, literally petrified and too scared to move. I have never experienced fear like that before or since. Hell looked like a lava tube. It was a cave with walls, floors, and ceilings glowing like embers, shifting from red to orange. The glow illuminated everything and allowed me to see how vast hell was. It looked endless. Time stood still there. I had enough time to reflect on my life. I felt horrible for the things I had done to other people. I did not realize I was as bad as I was being shown. I felt small. All I wanted to do was apologize for everything I had ever done wrong and beg for forgiveness. After being shown everything, I knew I would never forgive myself for the things I had done. Still, I begged for a second chance. I said, "I don't care what I have to do. I'll do whatever it takes." Right then, I started coughing up water on the embankment. I sat up, and it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. The plants all had their own auras. Every plant, vine, and even the bark on the trees glowed with a fluorescent light. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life. Kyle and Retha hugged me tightly and cried. Retha told me, "Thank you for telling me everything so calmly so I wouldn't panic, even though you knew how dangerous it was." I felt it was my responsibility to make sure they were okay. Kyle had already gone back toward the car, so I still do not know exactly what happened. Somehow he got into the river and pulled me out. Kyle is 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs about 145 pounds. I am 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighed about 220 pounds at the time. He somehow pulled my dead weight out of the river while fighting the current. When I gave up, I was less than 100 yards from being swept over the rock dam. If I had to guess, I would say maybe 75 yards or even less. I have no idea how he managed to pull me out. I do not think I regained full feeling in my legs for at least 30 minutes afterward. After that experience, I began a relationship with the Lord and thank Him for saving me; even though I was a sinful person then, and still am now. I thought one of the reasons I was brought back was to tell others that there is a hell, because I saw it. I do not want anyone to go there. Because of what happened to me, I have a hard time talking about it. I know I will start shaking and my voice will tremble. But I feel I have to warn others. This was not a hallucination. I had full mental clarity. I have read accounts here where people only experienced darkness. Ironically, that sometimes leads them to believe there is nothing after death. But they are not aware that they still had consciousness somewhere, even in the darkness. It just might not have been their final destination.