NDEs
56 cases
Near-death experiences, told by the people who lived through them. Each one checked against the same five questions.
All 56
Montreal, 2008
Patient J.S.
In 2008, a pregnant woman had surgery on her aorta in Montreal with her circulation stopped. She said that, with her eyes taped shut, she saw a nurse and some machines. According to the researchers, the surgeon confirmed it.
Utah, 2003
Vincent Tolman
In 2003, Vincent Tolman collapsed in a Utah restaurant. He says he was put in a body bag and that a rookie EMT resuscitated him in the ambulance.
Seville, 2010
Emilio Carrillo
Emilio Carrillo says that in 2010, in the ICU, he saw his dead parents and his aunt María, whom he believed to be alive. According to him, the aunt had died that same day.
Nebraska, 2003
Colton Burpo
A boy who was almost 4 had surgery for a serious case of appendicitis. Months later he said he had been in heaven and had seen his parents during the operation.
Idaho, 1982
Kristle Merzlock
She nearly drowned at 7. Three weeks later she said she saw a tunnel, a woman who took her to heaven, and her dead relatives.
Madrid, 2017
Andrés Sampedro
Andrés Sampedro collapsed while dancing salsa. He says he watched from the ceiling as a nurse he didn’t know gave him CPR. He says that when he woke up he could describe her. The earliest description on record is from an interview six months later.
Texas, 1994
Tricia Barker
She broke her back in a car crash. She says she left her body in the operating room and saw her stepfather get a candy bar in a hallway.
United States, 1976
Mr. O.
He was resuscitated in the hospital corridor. He said he saw his wife and two of his children at the far end. They had come unannounced, and a nurse stopped them a long way off.
Madrid, Spain, 2025
Eduardo Muñoz
Eduardo Muñoz’s heart stopped three times. Afterward, his mother filmed him in the ICU describing his experience: a tribunal and his late grandfather. Eduardo says he also saw, from above, the ambulance that was carrying him, with the police. That part is not in the video.
Virginia, United States, 1973
Holly
Holly was unconscious in the emergency room after an overdose. She later said she had seen her doctor talking with her roommate in another room. And she said the doctor’s tie had a tomato stain on it.
Málaga, Spain, 2007
Miguel Ángel Pertierra
A doctor says that after an accident he saw himself from the ceiling of his own hospital’s ER. He also says he saw the on-call colleague walk in. He says he later checked for himself that what he saw was real.
Asturias, Spain, 2005
María Teresa Álvarez Aramendía
She says that while she was in a coma she saw her doctor call another doctor from the health center at 8:10. According to her, months later he told her that he had made that call.
Mexico, 1998
David Rojas
David Rojas says he saw the doctors operating on him from above and recognized the surgeon. According to David, the surgeon told him there were two doctors, not the three David describes.
Chile, 2019
Ana Magallanes
Ana Magallanes says that while she was having open-heart surgery, she saw her friend on another floor with a doctor. According to Ana, her friend later told her it was a video call with Ana’s parents.
Austin, 1977
Gary Wimmer
In 1977, a car hit Gary Wimmer and he got up without a scratch. Gary says he saw the future, and that in 2001 he recognized the attack on the Twin Towers on television.
United States, 2008
Eben Alexander
Eben Alexander was in a coma with meningitis. He says a young woman was with him. Later he recognized that young woman in a photo of a sister he never met. The coma is in his medical records. The resemblance appears only in Eben’s own account.
Los Angeles, 2010
Rajiv Parti
In 2010, Rajiv Parti, a chief anesthesiologist in California, had emergency surgery. He said he watched the operation from the ceiling, heard the anesthesiologist tell a joke, and saw his mother in New Delhi.
Hartford, 1985
The red shoe patient
In 1985, a woman resuscitated in a Hartford hospital said she saw a red shoe from above the roof. According to the nurse, a skeptical doctor went up and found it.
Seattle, United States, 1977
Maria
Her heart stopped, and afterward she said she had seen a tennis shoe on the outside ledge of a third-floor window. Kimberly Clark, the social worker who was caring for her, says she went upstairs to look for it and found it.
San Diego, 2004 or 2005
Randy Kay
Randy Kay, a medical-company executive in San Diego, was hospitalized with blood clots in his lungs and caught a very serious infection in the hospital. He said his heart stopped, that he met Jesus, and that when he came back he heard beside him the same song he had heard with Jesus.
Oklahoma, 2009
Crystal McVea
In 2009, Crystal McVea, a teacher from Oklahoma, stopped breathing in a hospital. She said she was with God and saw a little girl with a basket. Afterward, her mother found a photo.
Texas, 1943
George Ritchie
In 1943, George Ritchie, a 20-year-old soldier, was pronounced dead in an army hospital in Texas. He said he flew to a city by a river and saw a cafe that he recognized months later in Vicksburg.
The Netherlands, 1979
The man with the dentures
A man arrived ice-cold and with no pulse at a hospital. A nurse took out his dentures to resuscitate him. According to the nurse, more than a week later the man told him where he had left them.
California (United States), 1991
Nancy
She went blind after a biopsy. She said she left her body and saw her partner and her son’s father standing still in the hallway. Her partner confirms they were there.
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See allWhat is a near-death experience?
It is a very intense experience that some people have when they are about to die. Many feel they leave their body, see a light or meet relatives who have died. We explain it in the Guide.
What can be checked
We ask every story the same five questions. The most important is whether the person saw or knew something they could not have known, and whether someone from outside confirms it. Why we ask each question.
Which stories do we tell?
We tell what people lived through when they believe what they say, even if it can’t be checked. We don’t publish cases whose author has admitted making them up.
Which case is the best checked?
We rank the cases by what could be checked in each one, with the same scale for all of them. See it in the ranking.