Experience description:

After about 2 weeks, my friend was still in the hospital and comatose. I had been visiting him everyday.  I was getting increasingly worried that he would never wake, or if he did, he would remain in a vegetative state for the rest of his life.  One day I returned home after visiting my friend at the hospital.  Thanksgiving was only a few months away.  I remembering saying to myself, "What do I have to be thankful for?"  Then I totally broke down and cried.  I was in the bedroom, on my knees, my head in my hands, sobbing uncontrollably. My back was to the window above my bed.  I was on the floor between the bed and the fireplace. Suddenly, I felt warmth on my back.  It felt like sunlight hitting my bare back (I was fully dressed).  I turned toward the window and saw a small white light moving toward me from outside the window.  As it got closer it got bigger.  It was so white and bright that looking back, I can hardly believe that I could have kept my eyes open to look at it, but it didn't hurt my eyes at all.  I wasn't afraid.  The light began to take form above my bed.  I was still on the floor.  I couldn't see any features (i.e., eyes, nose, hair), and I couldn't see through it.  It sat on my bed and I instinctively put my head on its lap.  I never felt more at peace.  I never felt more loved.  I felt as though I knew this entity very well - that we had a relationship somehow.  It was comforting me.  I'm not sure if my eyes were closed at this point, but suddenly I was looking down at my friend laying in his hospital bed. I started to cry again.  Then I saw what I percieved to be Jesus Christ standing over my friend.  He had a long white robe on which was tied at the waist with a brown sash.  He had long brown hair (typical Jesus image you might see in any church).  Jesus turned to look up at me, and then he looked back at my friend, placing his right hand on my friend's forehead. Without any words being said by anyone (the white light being, or Jesus), I knew that my friend would be all right.  I kept repeating the words, "Thank you," until I finally opened my eyes to find myself alone in my room.  My head was on the edge of the bed and not in a lap.  Still, I stood up and kept repeating over and over, "Thank you.  Thank you."  Later that day, I got a phone call from my friend's sister.  He was awake.  I didn't tell anyone about my experience for years, except for my friend in the hospital.

Any associated medications or substances with the potential to affect the experience?     No      

Was the kind of experience difficult to express in words? No      

At the time of this experience, was there an associated life threatening event?          Uncertain      I was concerned about my friend.  I wasn't sure if he would come out of coma.

What was your level of consciousness and alertness during the experience?           I may have been emotionally upset at the time, but I feel that once the warmth hit my back, I was suddenly acutely alert.  You might expect someone who experiences something like this to be taken aback, shocked, frightened, etc., but it wasn't like that at all.  It was like I was a child, I was hurt, and my mother found me and started comforting me.  It felt very natural.

            Was the experience dream like in any way?   Not at all.

Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?     Uncertain      I'm not sure if could still feel my head on the being of light's lap as I watched Jesus touch my friend's head.  It seemed like I was looking down from an observation window, except there wasn't any glass.  I couldn't see anything else in the hospital room, from what I can recall, other than my friend in his bed and Jesus standing over him.

What emotions did you feel during the experience?            Love (above all), total peace, comfort, thankfulness.

Did you hear any unusual sounds or noises?           I believe there was only silence.  No voices.

LOCATION DESCRIPTION:  Did you recognize any familiar locations or any locations from familiar religious teachings or encounter any locations inhabited by incredible or amazing creatures?            Uncertain      I was not religious at the time.  In fact, I doubted God's existance.  What I knew of God and/or Jesus was basically what I learned as a child in Sunday School.

Did you see a light?           Yes     See #4

Did you meet or see any other beings?           Yes     See #4

Did you experiment while out of the body or in another, altered state? Uncertain     

I'm not sure if I was out of body when I witnessed Jesus touching my friend's head.  I know I was looking down into my friend's hospital room, but was I looking from my bedroom somehow, or actually in the hospital, I'm not sure.

Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later?          Yes     My friend's sister called to tell me he was awake.  When I went to see him, he was awake, not fully alert, but on his way to a full recovery.   I felt confident that he would recover, however his family was milking the injury for lawsuit purposes.

Did you notice how your 5 senses were working, and if so, how were they different?          Yes     I could feel the body of the being of light.  I felt it touch caress my head and back as I lay in its lap.  I saw it clear as day.  I didn't notice any particular smells or sounds.

Did you have any sense of altered space or time?   Uncertain      I don't know how long the entire experience lasted - it felt like it lasted hours, but I didn't notice the time before or after.  That wasn't important to me at the time.

Did you have a sense of knowing, special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose?    Yes     I knew my friend was going to be okay.  I also knew without doubt (after the experience)that there was a higher power (God?).

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure?             No      

Did you become aware of future events?       Yes     See #16

Were you involved in or aware of a decision regarding your return to the body?       No       Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience that you did not have prior to the experience?   Yes     Years later, I noticed that I was more sensitive to the presence of energies or spirits around me.

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?   Yes     When I did finally share this experience, I got mixed reactions.  Most religious people were moved to tears.  Others will try to persuade me that I was dilusional because of my emotional state.  It doesn't matter what anyone says.  The experience was mine.  I don't feel that I have to convince people of anything. What does matter is that I no longer doubt the existance of a higher power.  I no longer fear death.  And I am more at peace with life.

How has the experience affected your relationships? Daily life? Religious practices? Career choices?       I tried returning to church, but it seems too hypotcritical and goes against the positive and loving sense I received for life from that one experience.  It has also made me feel stronger in dealing with my family relationships.

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience?         Yes     I no longer feel alone.  I no longer doubt the existence of heaven or God.

Have you shared this experience with others?         Yes     See #21

What emotions did you experience following your experience?  Peace and confidence in God's existance.

What was the best and worst part of your experience?      The best part of my experience is that it gave me faith in knowing that even at the worst moments of helplessness, someone is watching over me.  The worst part is that the being of light never reappeared in my life again - even when I thought I was experiencing worse moments. I did recently go to a psychic medium who informed me that I have a major angel who walks with me.  It only confirmed things for me.  I didn't go into it with her.

Is there anything else you would like to add concerning the experience?        No.

Following the experience, have you had any other events in your life, medications or substances which reproduced any part of the experience?         No       I wish.

Did the questions asked and information you provided accurately and comprehensively describe your experience?               No       No words could accurately describe the appearance of the being of white light.  It could never be duplicated by anyone or anything unless that being came back.