Total AV heart block last August 2011

Alan McDougall died (clinically dead ten minutes) numerous times due to heart block/and came back

I had taken nap on that Thursday night and a dear friend of mine phoned late at night, a thing he had never done before. I woke up hearing the phone ringing and immediately became aware in a frightening way that my heart was going crazy, almost stopping, and then beating weakly again. I became unconscious, sometimes coming briefly conscious, my wife immediately called the for the ambulance and they got to my home in seven minute flat, the hospital is less than a half kilometre from my home and I was there in five minutes and went I got attention immediately.

If I had any doubts, about life after death, I have none now, each time my heart stopped my soul or consciousness left my body and went into other dimensions of existence. At first

At first after the event I only remembered a little of what went on in those three hours of life and death struggle but lately have begun to remember more and more about the strange otherworldly realms I saw over the period of three hours. Each time they got my heart to beat, I came back.

I saw numerous people all gathered to welcome me into the afterlife, all my beloved were there. It seemed like a welcome home party but as soon as the doctors got my heart to beat, I came back to the earthly world.

Another time I saw a tree, with many books situated around it. Reading what was on the covers I think they were books of knowledge of some sort or the other.

There was only one very large book at the roots of this huge tree and to me it seemed to consolidate what was in all the smaller books, but when I tried to lift, it was too heavy to carry and I decided to return later for it.

I saw a beautiful pulsating orb of golden light that I took for the Lord Jesus as it emanated perfect peace and love. I had no tunnel and meeting of a being of light. I think because the medical team was continually resuscitating me.

After battling for some hours the doctors got my heart beating again and installed a temporary pacemaker to maintain my pulse between 65/110 beats per/minute instead of the 5 to zero it had been beating/not beating most of the time on the resuscitation table. I was told by the doctor that I had been “really really dead” for over ten minutes.

The doctor said if I had arrived hospital even five minutes later it would have been impossible to revive me. I am 71 years of age now and would not have minded if I had died then, but I suppose there must be some reason for me to continue to exist in this world. A whole lot of favourable coincidences made it possible for me to survive.

Note if my friend did not phone me at the exact moment he did, I would never have woken up and died in my sleep.

I now have a permanent pacemaker in my chest, which should last ten years and despite the great shock I am felling very alive and well

Note; the medical term for what happened to me is Complete AV heart block
I will go into more detail about how my life has differed due to the heart pacemaker and ask for advice from the forum.

Alan McDougall

8 Comments

thank you

by Hope - 2012-10-01 01:10:33

Hi! First of all, I wish you many happy years. My baby girl is with God since May, 2011. She was 42, and she went into cardiac arrest during a severe asthma attack, never regaining consciousness. You have given me hope that peace came quickly. We have her children now. My mother has been with God for some years now. I was with her. In her last moments, she raised her arms upward from the bed, as though reaching for someone she wanted to be with. She did not seem fearful at all. My heart stopped while sleeping in 2004 from a heart virus. I have no experience to share other than my fear was replaced with calmness. Thank you for sharing. Hopeful Heart

After Life

by donb - 2012-10-01 08:10:03

Hello Alan, Your posting is very interesting as your description of events are very similar to the same description given to me from a friend who also had clinically died. As this was quite some time ago it's strange how these events are engraved into our minds.

I'm 80 years old and have had my share of surgeries in my life (14). One was a three & 1/2 hour laminectomy back surgery and I don't remember any memories of dreams except my very 1st extended appendectomy in 1949 at age 12. It was also an extended surgery with heavy sedation. This memory is still quite vivid as I felt I was floating above my body & witnessing the whole procedure with the bright lights above me. So, why do these events stay in our minds so clearly ?

I also want to extend my thoughts for your healing of your heart as your PM is replacing the electrical function of your heart. As most of us have had very good results & much improvement in our lives with our PMs'. I'm on my 4th PM since 1992 which turned my life around at age 60. Mainly, it has given my quality of life along with extended years.
Happy to have you aboard & keep us all posted !!

donb

welcome back

by ohiolaura - 2012-10-01 08:10:41

Wow,talk about an experience.Good you are here,and able to put it into words,I agree,you are here for a reason,or greater purpose.
No doubt about it,wasnt your time,glad you have medical people who are fighters,like you must be.
Good for you,keep fighting,and God Bless!
Laura

Hi Alan.

by clockman1 - 2012-10-01 09:10:21

Hi Alan, I'm glad you made it through all that and are feeling better, you will get the hang of the PM ,it just takes a little while.You have had a very rough ride and a very emotional and dare I say it ,spiritual one too.God Bless. I had a similar experience to yours,though not half as interesting.I had a pacemaker fitted in February,then in April a massive heart attack,and a week later a quadruple by-pass. Like you I was very lucky with the ambulance which just happened to be passing the end of our street when they got the call,3rd time that has happened to me.I went 3 times and they shocked me back each time, it finally worked the last time,thankfully. I have memories of coming back each time,all very clear too,but no spiritual experience.Like yourself the Dr said to me "another 5 minutes more and ?".......It takes a lot of getting over knowing you have been clinically dead for a while its happened to a few people on here, and there is a fair bit of stuff on PTSD worth looking at.
The good news is we're still here,warm and vertical,and whatever God saved us for may one day become apparant.You're posting on here will help other people with the same sort of experience,so all the best and keep smiling.
clockman1
Roy

NDE experience

by brucenj - 2012-10-01 09:10:59

Thanks very much for sharing with us. It helps us to consider that Life is ultimately a benevolent journey & to lessen unnecessay anxiety. I'm sorry to hear that you received a 'mocking' reaction at another website. It's good to know that persons such as yourself are willing to communicate their experience despite such undue negative skepticism.
It is my impression that experiences such as yours are becoming more accepted as worthy of consideration rather than being written off as a hallucination, dream, etc.
(I don't know if you have heard of Anita Moorjani's account of her near death experience in "Dying to be me" . I found it fascinating.)
Your posting has elevated my consciousness today.
Much appreciated.

Bruce

Thanks Guys

by Alan McDougall - 2012-10-01 11:10:08

Many thanks to you all for your loving and understanding comments. I put this same event on a Christian site and was told in a mocking way I was deluded and it all was just a dream. I am a Christian, but believe God is loving and not exclusive and more people will go to heaven than they think.

Before much was known about the phenomenon of the NDE, they were simply dismissed by doctors and others as hallucinations, dreams or a by-product of the increasingly dysfunctional brain during its dying process.

I was not dreaming I know the difference between a dream and what I experienced that night .
Dreams are mostly symbolic or nonsensical in content. Hallucinations take place while the person is awake, while most NDE take place when the person is clinically dead. Hallucinations are varied, bizarre, and extremely idiosyncratic and peculiar and upsetting in content.

Hallucinations or dreams are nothing like what I experienced that night, my experience was vivid and beautiful, peaceful, lucid, ordered and full of love and peace during the times I was clinically dead.

Virtually all NDEs display a logical progression of identifiable stages and take place most of the time when the person was clinically dead as was in my case last August 2011

Those who have experienced both NDE and hallucinations or dreams say that they are profoundly different, the first is usually peaceful and beautiful, the others sometimes very bizarre and disturbing in the extreme.

It really saddens me when I see all this doctrinal fighting between Christians, each one absolutely sure they are right and anyone that thinks differently from them is wrong or lying.

I hope that I am not out of order by bringing up this experience, before I go into detail about my PM and how I adjusted to it over the months. I would like to add that most of us in this forum might have come close or very close to death, due to our heart defects and I offered this up as comfort to those who want to know if life continues in some form or other after we die . My experience had nothing to do with religion. I saw what I saw and wrote it down when I got home from the hospital.

Love

Alan

Shame on them

by Grateful Heart - 2012-10-02 01:10:03

I'm sorry those on the Christian site were not accepting of what you went through. I think you are right about us on this site with our heart defects.

Whe my oldest son was born, he had to be delivered by C-section since my blood pressure was very high and the baby was big and there was meconium present (basically, the baby's first bowel movement) except he didn't wait until he was born so it was dangerous for the baby. I went into shock during surgery and I had the sensation of slipping down a tunnel and reaching for a hand to stop me. I couldn't grab the hand although I kept trying. When I came to I was shivering so much my arms shook the rails on the bed in the recovery room. They piled so many blankets on me but I could not get warm. That was 26 years ago and I had 3 C-sections after that. I never experienced anything like that with my other 3. Thanks for sharing and glad you're here.

NDE

by Alma Annie - 2012-10-02 03:10:33

Thank you so much Alan for sharing your experience with all of us. I am so sorry that you were mocked by some people. I am a christian too, and firmly believe that what you experienced is absolutely true. I have read many accounts of nde's and they cannot be false, but I have never experienced one myself. I think this will give much hope to many people, especially those who have lost loved ones.
Maybe you had this illness and this experience to share hope with people, who knows but God.
All the best for a good recovery.
Alma Annie

You know you're wired when...

Your favorite poem is “Ode to a Cardiac Node”.

Member Quotes

My pacemaker is the best thing that every happened to me, had I not got it I would not be here today.