Then a man started walking towards me, with long dark hair. His clothes seemed to merge with the light and with each step he took he became much closer than a normal earthly step would enable. It was a sort of a peaceful swaying motion walk. As he got closer, he was smiling and it was the happiest welcoming smile. He loved me and was so happy to see me. He didn't tell me with words, but I felt all he was connecting with me. I was so drawn to him, like his energy was connected to mine.

The love and peace I felt is very hard to put into words. I was definitely me without my body but not with the normal worries and anxieties I would normally feel. When he became much bigger in appearance, I knew I was going into the light with him, and I knew who he was, but without thinking it.

I then said without words, “I'm not going anywhere,” and in that instant I was back in my body and my tummy flipped so much. All this happened at the same time; that's how it felt.

I then kept saying to myself, “I need to wake up,” over and over again, and I felt my earthly feelings of fear. I really struggled to wake up and when I did, I was so sick and dizzy and this lasted for weeks. The theatre woman said, “I do not think the ward will be happy sending her back like this,” and as they wheeled me out to my daughter on the ward, they said to her, “We do not know what's wrong; we have given her everything we could.”

The first thing I said to my daughter was, “I saw Jesus.” I tried to speak to the surgeon about it and he said I'd hallucinated. I have experienced hallucinating and it was very frightening; this was nothing like it. I got hold of my surgical notes to see if anything had happened to explain this near-death experience, but I couldn't really understand them. I would love someone to look at them.

Going back to my life was hard. At first I felt very lost, but as the months passed, it was like everything that has ever upset me or confused me suddenly all made sense. I feel like I have been on a journey, getting to know my soul, and that I know my purpose now and am happy and content with it. I have been actively trying to help animals, something I had given up on many years ago and my time is so much more precious to me. I really try to make every day count. I have bad health and used to spend many days just giving up on life but now I utilize every minute. I have this attitude, “Just do.”

I have missed people who are no longer in my life, but now I'm ok with it. I had felt like a failure partially due to my health robbing me of my life, but now I see I can still do good in this world. I used to enjoy talking, but now it really annoys me unless it is about something I consider to be of importance. I think this annoys my daughter who I have a close relationship with. I seem to be very comfortable with silence now. I am less interested in the small stuff in life now and, although I’m more angry with the corruption of the world, I feel more forgiving on a personal level. I just think the most important thing in life is love.

I have never been aligned with one religion but felt like Jesus was a nice man and prayed to GOD and Jesus. It had always previously confused me. I always felt like there were core truths in most religions but had been taught more about Christianity. Now, I feel more aligned with Pagan, Wiccan, and indigenous beliefs.

Oh, and I am more compassionate when it comes to myself. Since waking up, I have had this very overwhelming sense of self. Now I think about myself also and make time for me. I am pursuing helping animals through trying to get laws and legislation changed. I get more out of my days. I'm even going to do a coach trip on my own. I eat better and take more care of myself. I think if I was well enough and young enough, I’d really want to change the world.