Has anyone ever described to you a heavenly sojourn? Or a meeting with a deceased relative? Or floating above their body after an accident or while in surgery?
Diane Corcoran has heard such tales. In fact, the retired nurse estimates that she’s heard hundreds of stories of near-death experiences, real-life stories that describe what happens after death.
Corcoran was stationed in Vietnam at the 24th Evacuation Hospital, a neuro-surgery center for spine and head injuries, when she met a young man in the recovery area whose arm had been blown off. Drawn to speak to the young soldier, she asked him how he was doing.
“You’ll never believe me,” he replied. Urged on, he said that he when he was hit, he felt himself being lifted into the air. He looked down and could see bodies strewn about and he just knew which ones would make it and which ones were going to die.
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He then felt himself “going to another place.” With tears rolling down his cheeks, he described this place as “beautiful” and “wonderful.” But, he was told, he would have to go back, at which point he woke up in his body.
“It was real, it wasn’t a dream, it happened to me,” he insisted. Corcoran believed him.
Over time, Diane heard other soldiers recount their near-death experiences and she saw many similarities in their accounts.
For example, they described rising up and seeing their bodies below, traveling through a tunnel toward light, and meeting deceased loved ones.
Some people describe having a “life review” or seeing their life, from an outside perspective. And many of those who have near-death experiences say they were surrounded by a powerful light unlike anything on earth.
A near-death experience can change a person in many ways. Physically, they are often far more sensitive to loud noises, bright lights and sometimes medications.
They may feel more attuned to nature or compelled to serve humanity. Newly found altruism has caused people to change careers, like the former stock broker who became a respiratory therapist.
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Children with near-death experiences are also different afterward; they often seem mature beyond their years.
Corcoran can easily imagine how strange a child or adult must feel after having glimpsed the hereafter. That’s why she serves as the current president of the Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS) and is so passionate about teaching clergy, the military and those in the medical and psychological fields about near-death experiences and helping those who have had those experiences come to terms with what they saw and how it may have affected them.
“I see myself as an end-of-life midwife,” says Corcoran. “I tell people, ‘You won’t have pain, it will be wonderful.’”
Watch as bestselling author Don Piper talks about his near-death experience.
Download your FREE ebook, Messages from the Hereafter: 5 Inspiring Stories Offering Proof of the Afterlife.
