My one-year military service in the amphibious regiment outside Stockholm was coming to an end. It was a conscript elite status unit with tough challenges and it was extremely physically demanding. I had failed multiple times to get a passing time on the combat obstacle course and my service on the regiment was running out. The combat obstacle course was 3,5 km (2.2 miles) long, and you always ran in groups of three, wearing overalls, boots, an assault rifle, and a backpack filled with sand, the total weight of the gear was 20 kg (44 lbs). The passing time was 32 minutes, after which there are additional tests, like taking up a firing position.

I ran again it again, but me and my comrades failed by just a couple of seconds.

The next day two of the strongest and most enduring soldiers in my platoon (who already made the time) were given the task of making sure I succeeded in the obstacle course as well. I was still tired from the day before, and the mental pressure, that I was now the weak link in the group, was heavy. And it was an unusually hot day.

We started running, the course went through the forest, over rock crevasses, over nets, on ropes, through water obstacles, through tunnels and swamps. We were running, hanging, crawling, pulling, continuing forward without stopping.

I started to lose consciousness, It had happened to me before during fast marches. I just thought, “Oh no, not again, not now!” My feet kept moving forward and my comrades supported me. It was hell. I lost consciousness a couple of times and the officer running alongside asked me what my date of birth was, which I couldn't easily figure out. We approached a water obstacle and I fainted again. Fainting is not seeing black, fainting is disappearing totally, so when you wake up you have to completely rebuild your world around you which takes a couple of seconds, sound is what you experience first when coming back. My comrades didn't understand the situation I was in, and even when they saw that I was now lagging behind mentally and physically, we kept going. The mentality in the unit was to never give up. I woke up underwater and didn't understand where I was, not even remembering that we were running, the bubbles I saw at least told me which way was up. I broke the surface and hit my head on a log that was above the water. We came out of the water but from then on, I only woke up briefly, maybe a few times, only to see my boots running and my comrades on each side holding me.

Black, I was surrounded by darkness.

I was in space. I saw a very bright light in front of me, but I wasn't dazzled by it. I knew it was the sun, without a doubt, but it was smaller than usual, and I was heading towards it.

On my left side I soon passed the planet Jupiter. It was clearly Jupiter, with its faint beige, orange and white colors in bands and whirlwinds and a lack of a ring system. I passed close, the planet filled the entire left side of my field of vision, and the planet was huge. I left Jupiter behind and emerged into the darkness with no frame of reference. I continued towards the sun and into the solar system. I didn't feel my body and I had no thoughts, I was just observing.

I woke up the second I fell to the ground. It was as if the ground was rising up, like running into a wall. I was completely disoriented and dizzy, I remember that I even wanted to keep running. I was lying on the ground and didn't understand anything. I remember having visions of a memorial ceremony with my company lined up for me, but I don’t know when these visions occurred during this event. They took me to a car, and the officer in the front seat asked me something that didn’t make sense, I replied that I didn't understand the question. They quickly got me to the military hospital that was nearby. I was very scared when we arrived at the hospital, because by then I felt like I was going to die, but I didn't say it.

They put me on a stretcher and I had tubes everywhere. The feeling that I was going to die only disappeared when the doctor said that I wasn't going to die. I'm grateful that he said that.

What had happened was that I didn't get any oxygen to my brain for an unknown amount of time. I'm also 1,97 m (6′ 6″ feet) tall, which doesn't make it any easier for oxygenation. Sometimes I get dizzy just standing up. I laid there in the hospital for a few hours and recovered, and I returned to my unit later the same day.

A couple of years later I returned to finish the obstacle course, and I did so, on time.

Every time I see Jupiter in pictures, on TV and in books, I think, "Yeah, been there once."