Sir Francis Beaufort NDE life reviews

Greyson writes: "As I looked for research that had already been done on life reviews, I discovered that this was also not a new phenomenon. In 1791, when British rear admiral Sir Francis Beaufort was only a seventeen-year-old midshipman, he fell off a boat into Portsmouth Harbor on the southern coast of England. Unfortunately, he had not yet learned to swim. After exhausting himself struggling to breathe, he lost consciousness and immediately experienced a feeling of calmness and noticed changes in his thinking. He later described it this way: “From the moment that all exertion ceased—which I imagine was the immediate consequence of complete suffocation—a calm feeling of the most perfect tranquility superseded the previous tumultuous sensations—it might be called apathy, certainly not resignation. Though the senses were thus deadened, not so the mind; its activity seemed to be invigorated, in a ratio which defies all description, for thought rose above thought with a rapidity of succession that is not only indescribable, but probably inconceivable by anyone who has not himself been in a similar situation. 

“The course of those thoughts I can even now in great measure retrace—the event which had just taken place—the awkwardness that had produced it—were the first series of reflections that occurred. They took then a wider range—our last cruise—a former voyage, and shipwreck—my school—the progress I had made there, and the time I had misspent—and even all my boyish pursuits and adventures. Thus traveling backward, every past incident of my life seemed to glance across my recollection in retrograde succession; not, however, in mere outline, as here stated, but the picture filled up with every minute and collateral feature. In short, the whole period of my existence seemed to be placed before me in a kind of panoramic review, and each act of it seemed to be accompanied by a consciousness of right or wrong, or by some reflection on its cause or its consequences; indeed, many trifling events which had been long forgotten then crowded into my imagination, and with the character of recent familiarity.” Beaufort described his thoughts not only speeding up but encompassing every single incident in his life and judging every action as right or wrong. Many of the experiencers who shared their stories with me described this kind of life review."

Greyson, Bruce. After (pp. 37-38). St. Martin's Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Heightened sensations in near-death experiences

In addition to their thoughts being faster and clearer than usual, many experiencers also report that their senses, like vision and hearing, were more vivid than usual. Jayne Smith had an NDE at age twenty-three during a bad reaction to anesthesia during childbirth. She described for me her senses during that experience: “I found myself in a meadow, mind cleared, identity intact, and once more aware of having a body. And this was a beautiful green meadow with beautiful flowers, beautiful colors, lit again with this glorious, radiant light, like no light we’ve ever seen, but there was sky, grass, flowers that had colors that I’d never seen before. And I remember so well looking at them and thinking, ‘I have never seen some of these colors!’ And wonder of wonders, I realized I was seeing the inner light of all the growing things, just utter glory in color. It was not reflected light, but a gentle, inner glow that shone from each and every plant. Overhead, the sky was clear and blue, the light infinitely more beautiful than any light we know.”

Gregg Nome, who drowned when his inner tube capsized going over a waterfall, described for me the remarkable heightening of his senses: “Suddenly, I could hear and see as never before. The sound of the waterfall was just so crisp and clear that it really is indescribable. Two years before this, my right ear had been injured when somebody threw a large, powerful firecracker into a bar where I was listening to a band, and it exploded right next to my head. But now, in my NDE, I could hear perfectly clearly. And my sight was even more beautiful. I felt as if I had been limited by my physical senses for all these years. Sights that were very far away from me were as clear as sights that were very close, and this was at the same time. There was no blurriness in my vision whatsoever.” Gregg found not only his vision more vivid than usual but his damaged hearing restored and all his physical senses heightened. Two-thirds of the experiencers in my research reported extraordinarily vivid sensations in their NDEs.

Greyson, Bruce. After (pp. 34-35). St. Martin's Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Dr. Bruce Greyson notes time distortion in NDEs

Joe Geraci, a thirty-six-year-old policeman who almost bled to death after surgery, described this sense in his NDE: “I knew what it was like to experience eternity, where there was no time. It’s the hardest thing to try and describe to someone. How do you describe a state of timelessness, where there’s nothing progressing from one point to another, where it’s all there, and you’re totally immersed in it? It didn’t matter to me if it was three minutes or five that I was gone. That question is only relevant to here.” For Joe, time not only slowed down, but seemed to disappear entirely. Many people who have had NDEs describe a sense of timelessness. Some of them say that time still existed, but that the NDE seemed to be outside the flow of time.

Everything in their NDE seemed to be happening at once, or they seemed to move forward and backward in time. Others say that they realized in the NDE that time no longer existed, that the very concept of time became meaningless. Among all the people who shared their near-death experiences with me, three-fourths reported a change in their sense of time, and more than half said that they had a sense of timelessness in their NDEs. 

I noticed that this slowing or stopping of time, along with the speeding up of thought processes, were more common in NDEs that couldn’t have been anticipated, as in sudden car accidents or in heart attacks in apparently healthy people. They were less likely in NDEs that might have been anticipated, as in medical crises in people who knew they had a fatal disease or in people who tried to take their own lives. 

When these changes in thinking and the sense of time do occur, they often appear at the beginning of NDEs, and seem to be brought on by becoming aware of the threat of death. This connection between time slowing down and the suddenness of the close brush with death is something I could have discovered only by analyzing a large sample of NDEs.

Greyson, Bruce. After (p. 30-33). St. Martin's Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

NDE life review of firefighter Bill Hernlund

Dr. Bruce Greyson writes: "The flames were well over two hundred feet high by the time Bill Hernlund, a twenty-three-year-old crash-rescue firefighter in the US Air Force, pulled his truck up to the rear of the burning plane. The first explosion knocked him off-balance. He fell down but was uninjured, so he scrambled back to his feet to continue fighting the fire. But then the fire ignited a second, much more powerful explosion. The burst of flames, metal, and cables launched him backward, slamming him against the side of his truck. With the second explosion, he felt pain in his head and chest, he tasted blood, and he couldn’t breathe. He passed out before he hit the ground. Bill went on to have an elaborate near-death experience. This was in 1970, years before Raymond Moody’s book gave the experience a name, and when Bill had recovered and tried to share his account with his doctor, he was referred for psychiatric help. Bill then kept the NDE to himself until, almost two decades later, he discovered a local support group affiliated with the International Association for Near-Death Studies.

Greyson says this is how Bill described his experience. "I felt a lifting sensation and saw two of my buddies carrying one of the unconscious firefighters away. Somehow, I knew who the helpers were, even though they were wearing aluminized suits with hoods on, but I didn’t know who they were dragging. I yelled out, ‘Hey, Dan, Jim, help me!’ but they couldn’t hear me. Then I realized that because I was the only fireman in that position, and also because my pain, taste, and smell were gone, that must be my body they were dragging away. I could see everything much more clearly and felt warm, safe, and peaceful. “There was a roaring noise like an explosion, but duller and more prolonged. I saw Dan and Jim get knocked down on top of my body. I was in darkness, but fully conscious and vividly aware of my surroundings. I was in some kind of tunnel that looked like what a tornado funnel would be from the inside: there was a light in the distance and I saw the spiraling strings of blue-green light coming and going like the aurora borealis. 

“The light was drawing me to it. I moved exceptionally fast down the tunnel and it took no time at all to reach it. It seemed that time was different or nonexistent there, wherever ‘there’ was. The light was emanating from a being that was giving off a very brilliant light as part of his essence. He was beautiful to look at, and projected the feelings of unconditional love and peace. I also sensed other beings there, but I did not see any because I could not take my attention from the Light Being. He asked me several questions all at the same time, impressions projected at me instead of verbal word-by-word sentences. He asked: ‘How do you feel about your life?’ and ‘How did you treat other people?’ 

As he asked, every single event of my life from earliest childhood to the plane crash projected in front of me. There were details concerning people and things that I had forgotten about long ago. I was not proud of some of my dealings with other people, but the light was quick to forgive all of my errors. He told me to ‘be in peace’ and said that my work in this world was not done yet, and that I had to go back, and I was gone. “I was back in my body again. I do not remember traveling there. The pain was back and I smelled the odor of jet fuel and heard sirens and explosions. The doctors and medics were busy with Dan, Jim, and the B-52 crewmen, but not noticing me. Later, I found out that they looked at me long enough to see that I was dead, and turned their attention to those that they could help."

Bruce Greyson, After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal about Life and Beyond (St. Martin’s Essentials, 2021), 27-28.

Report from Dr. Bruce Greyson's book "After"

Janice Blouse, whose heart stopped at age twenty-eight when she vomited large amounts of blood from multiple stomach ulcers, told Greyson: “I was always a professed atheist, but after my experience I know there is God. He was waiting at the end of the tunnel, and somehow I know this. I felt a peace and tranquility I had never known. I find it very reassuring now, because I know our spirit does outlive our body, and that dying is a very pleasant experience.”

 

Greyson, Bruce. After (p. 158). St. Martin's Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

"My experience of death was wonderful."

Hilda Middleton reports in Peter Fenwick's The Truth in the Light: "In 1986 I was rushed into Bradford Royal Infirmary and underwent emergency surgery. I spent five weeks in intensive care, then a further four months in a ward. My experience of death was wonderful. Down a tunnel with a very bright light at the end. Animals, pictures, everything was so beautiful and all the colors were shades of delicate pink, yellow, blue etc. I was overwhelmed with joy. I truly believe I was on the brink of death. I cannot have made up a story like this. I was told a long time afterwards by my relatives that I did die at the time I entered the intensive care unit, but it was not to be. I heard my dad’s voice calling me back. I was on the critical list. No hope was given to my family and now here I am with my life. My experience has had a profound effect on my life. I thank the Lord for every new day, but if death is the wonderful experience I had, I’m not afraid of death."

 

At peace despite life-threatening accident

I instantly found myself above the accident in a distance that was three to four times tree height. The accident occurred outside and although I saw my horse get up and my trainer run toward someone on the ground, I did not realize that it was me. I did not feel scared or confused. I felt calm and curious about the activities below. I was too high up to see the people in enough detail to identify them. I felt as if my back was against a barrier. I knew the barrier was not visible to me; but, if I turned around and examined it, that I would move through it. I did not question this knowledge.

Beings, loved ones, or friends did not meet me. I did not see 'the light'. The feeling of total calm and peace did engulf me. My focus moved from the people, and I found myself very curious about a row of pine trees along the right fence line and how it looked. I remember thinking, 'So, that is what they look like from up here!' In actuality, I don't recall ever wondering about this before. But, at this moment, the trees were far more interesting than the people. Suddenly and with no warning, I was in my body.

I was covered in blood from a head wound. My trainer was cradling me in his arms. I could hear an ambulance approaching the stable and then drive past and the sirens faded as they drove away unable to locate us at first. Normally, I would have been terrified that I was going to die. But I had a peace over me. I simply and truly knew that I would be fine. Not only that I would be fine, that I was fine.

The ambulance eventually found us and I was taken to a hospital where it was determined that I had a broken collar bone, a major laceration on my temple, a severe concussion and severe road rash on my back and legs from the force of my body crushing the plywood coup jump. I cannot state how improbable it was that I survived this accident. How was my back not snapped in half by the force of a 1500 pound horse crushing me while my back hit a 4 foot high wooden pyramid shaped coup and then the 2 of us fell to the ground once it collapsed. I walked away that night from the hospital.

The gift that I received was dΘjα vu that at times is so powerful that I can tell someone exactly what will be said and who will enter the room. It is very disorienting because I truly feel that I have already done this. Not just once, but over and over like I am on a loop reel. I can't explain this adequately and the incidents I have no control over when they occur or why it happens on the most ridiculous events, very trivial events, but important. For years, I did not realize what happened to me until I heard of stories about others that did not see the light. So glad I am not alone. 

NDERF.org, #7105