by Joan Bramsch

As a teenager I was involved in a terrible automobile crash. Basically two cars on a country road both took their half out of the middle and met at the top of a hill in a collision, the proportions of which would equal running headlong into a wall at 80 m.p.h. Seated on the passenger side of the front seat I was thrown through the windshield and back again.

The results were these: The possible loss of one eye, numerous facial contusions plus an eight-inch wide and deep-enough-to-scratch-the-jugular-vein slash across my throat which required over 400 sutures and ten pints of blood; a broken femur which required resetting three times, heavy traction for eight weeks, then a monster plaster body cast for an additional two-and-a-half months; the removal of all my front teeth which were broken off at the roots, requiring extensive oral surgery in my hospital bed; and a coma...I didn't wake up for five days. 

There were several good reasons why I didn't die. First and foremost, I suspect I had more work to do in this Life. Second, the surgeon who performed the seven hour surgery was in his home one-quarter mile down the road, having just returned an hour before, from six weeks intensive training on advance surgical procedures. And, last, the five gallon can of fuel oil which was in the trunk of the other vehicle,  and which flew through that car to its final resting place upon the hot engine of my friend's car DID NOT BLOW UP! And you doubt there is a Higher Power? Not I.

It was upon entering the hospital corridor to the emergency ward that I began experiencing the Out Of Body state. At first, I opened my eyes and saw the ceiling fixtures flash by as I lay on the rolling gurney. And then it all changed. Quite suddenly, I was looking down upon myself. I watched them resuscitate, measure vital signs, apply compresses, start i.v.'s, cut clothing away...and hurry. I could tell they were racing. Racing against death.

Yet I experienced no need to rush. I felt not one iota of fear as I calmly, one might say, serenely, watched these gifted professionals perform their complicated tasks.

In short order, I accompanied a team of nurses on the elevator, rising to the floor above where the operating room was located. There, Doctor Estrem (whom I was yet to meet formally) and his assistants waited. Seven hours later I could only marvel at his skill.

For, you see, I was there, hovering above, all those long, horrendous hours, watching. Watching them force blood into me. Watching them use what appeared to be yards and yards of dissolving sutures, then several yards more of black thread to sew my face back together. Watching them drill a hole through the bone above my knee to insert a metal rod in preparation for the traction apparatus. And hearing it all too.

But I felt no pain. Not a twinge of discomfort. Only calm serenity. No one came to "meet" me. But at the time I didn't know anyone who had died so perhaps that is the reason. Also, I did not see a Great White Light.

Rather, I was contained WITHIN a Great White Light while experiencing a type of joy and rightness which is difficult to put into mere words. And though I saw no one, or heard no one...I KNEW I WAS SAFE. Held, so to speak, in the palm of His Hand. 

When I awakened from the coma I remembered all this, but said nothing about it, for it seemed to me to be only a beautiful dream. One I would cherish the rest of my life. One that was so precious I did not wish to share it with another.

Only when Dr. Moody's book Life After Death was published years later, did I realize the importance of my "beautiful dream." Recently I heard him speak and he says fully fifty percent of revived cardiac arrest patients have Out Of Body experiences. He also says that before his research, as late as the '60's, people who tried to explain the experience were often sent to psychiatrists for treatment!

the residual effect to my life has been this: Although I certainly would like to experience this plane of existence as long as I'm able, I have no fear of Death. To me, Death is Life's last great adventure. Also, I believe there is another dimension after this one, another "life" to explore. And on a more utilitarian level, Life doesn't frighten me either.

When faced with a new challenge, I can move ahead, not worrying about what might happen, knowing, believing, I continue to be held in the palm of His Hand. Once one has traveled so near to the Transition, then made a conscious decision to return or was "told" to return, doubt and worry take their proper place way down at the bottom of the priority list.

***PLEASE NOTE, ALL WHO READ THIS: I WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN HURT HAD I BEEN WEARING A SEAT BELT! Unfortunately this tragic experience occurred before the advent of seat belts. Never the less, I am a walking, talking advocate for their use...one need only go through ONE WINDSHIELD to realize the good sense of wearing one.***

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JOAN BRAMSCH, is a familywoman, writer and educator. Her adult novels have been published in ten languages, her articles appear in numerous print magazines and newspapers, and on the Internet. She now publishes her work as E-books, and writes the free weekly Empowered Parenting Ezine for 1000 parents, worldwide. Learn more at: http://www.joanbramsch.com