My name is Cheryl (I'm using my husband's E-Mail address
My experience happened on July 1, 1996, a Monday morning. I was not married at the time and was in my townhome alone. A little background info: I am severe asthmatic (taking very good care of myself now and symptom free for quite some time) however at this time I had been ill w/cold, flu, infection in lungs for about a month. As I do sometimes, I don't want to believe I am getting worse, and I had never had to call an ambulance for myself, so I was in real bad shape and barely breathing when I woke up - I had barely slept through the night, so I had only been sleeping for a while.
So...I try to get up but I can't - barely a trace of breath! I had my home nebulizer by my bedside so I tried a breathing treatment - but it didn't work at all! I gained no relief from this treatment. Well, I soon realized that what small amount of breath I had was fading real fast and there was not going to be any getting better this morning. I felt my little dog pressing very hard up against me and thought "Nobody will take care of her like I do .. I can't die." Earlier in my life I had considered suicide and I thought to myself, "Well, this is it, if you really want to go now's the time." it took me 1 second to realize that that was not at all where I was at, and I very, very much wanted to live.
Well then, I had to get to my phone, and I had to get downstairs, with teensy bit of breath left. My phone was across the room and somehow I managed to get to it and called 911, luckly it was a system where they see your address because the operator couldn't quite hear me. Then, I began to panic, realizing there was no way I could get downstairs to the door, and I started asking God, my dead parents, please, please help me. Next thing I know, I'm dressed and downstairs opening the door for the paramedics - no idea how I got there, either was carried or some burst of energy or both.
I lost consciousness in the ambulance, and the next thing I know I'm in the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital. I remember them giving me a treatment but nothing was getting into my lungs. I started slipping away when I heard them say--"We're loosing her" and lots of commotion. Then I slipped away completely.When I woke up again I had a ventilator tube in my lungs. One of my doctors told me I had a near fatal asthma attack, they had almost lost me, one of the other doctors told me my heart had actually stopped.
When I had totally slipped away, I felt bathed in a wonderful light, as though I was being hugged by it. I felt totally safe, that all was forgiven, and I was very, very loved.
When I was recuperating I realized alot of the ways I was living my life were of so little use to me..(Habits, attitudes, hanging on to material/feeling representations of times long past, etc.) I had already been in therapy, and this experienced just peeled away layers of denial, defense mechanisms, etc. so fast, that I was able to concentrate on living my truth, living out the dreams I kept hidden away, and start to consciously live life on an honest, open to the universe basis.
This experience was a most precious gift to me by the Divine.
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