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What happens when you die, according to people who came back to life

It’s the question that everybody asks and nobody seems to be able to answer; what happens when we die? It's one of the last real mysteries human beings face.

The question haunts those who have loved ones who have passed in the hopes they’ll meet again one day.

In fact, afterlife, religion and the existence of heaven and hell is one of the most hotly debated topics since the dawn of time, causing wars and, consequently (and perhaps ironically), the loss of life.

So, what really happens when we die? The only group of people who can answer this question is those who have been pronounced clinically dead - and then revived. Cue a group of Redditors who have technically "died" and shared their experiences to shed some light on one of the most intriguing topics there is.

The real catch though, is how different all of their encounters were;

1. It feels like you want to hit your snooze alarm.
Redditor TheDeadManWalks went through a bout of chemotherapy and lost so much blood that he almost died. He describes the experience as desperately wanting to drift off to sleep.

Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images

“I was 15, had been through about 3-4 months of chemotherapy. I'd had a nosebleed on and off throughout the day and then after I went to bed it just kept on going.

“At about 2am I started to feel sick so I reached for the container and threw up blood.

“After that I only remember what happened in short bursts. I think my mum had got up to go the bathroom and I managed to hit the wall loud enough for her to hear.

“Then I remember a paramedic being there, trying to help me out of the bed. I must've collapsed against the wall after that because next time I came round I was strapped to a stretcher and they were taking me downstairs.

“Then I was in the hospital, surrounded by about 6 doctors with these huge lights pointed right at me. It was to try and keep me warm because I'd lost so much blood. I could feel myself sweating but I was still cold, it was a weird feeling.

“The worst part of it all, looking back, is how peaceful it can seem.

“When I started vomiting blood, I went into shock. Hitting the wall to get my mum's attention was a subconscious thing, the rest of me just... stopped caring. When the doctors were trying to save my life, I just wanted to black out again. I didn't want the lights to hurt my eyes and the doctors to hurt the rest of me any more, the unconsciousness seemed easier.

“Being asleep was easy, being awake meant more pain and less dignity.

“So if you want to know what it's like to be that close to death, it's tempting. It's like wanting to hit the snooze button on your alarm at 7am. Maybe you'll hit it once or twice but then you remember that sleep can wait because you've still got sh*t to do.”

2. I met my great grandfather as a young man.
Ori15n died twice from bacterial meningitis. He recalls meeting his great grandfather - who had only met when he was two and his great grandfather was on his death bed - as a young man and believes he saved him.

Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images

“I had bacterial meningitis, and died on the helicopter ride to a better hospital. After I died I was in a coma (medically induced) for a while, but I remember zero of that. None. All I remember is the dream or Out of Body Experience I had.

"I don't know when it started. But the last thing I remembered was passing out. It seems today like it was an immediate transition into my dream.

“During the dream I was a younger child. In my grandfather's truck, and we were driving to his office. A route I was very familiar with, even as a 5-year-old (which is who I was, in my dream.) We were listening to the radio. And my grandpa's favourite talk show was on. Big D, and Bubba.

“They were for whatever reason talking about a rude fat lady they met somewhere, yadda yadda. But the joke at the end stuck with me for some reason, it said; ‘There are three kinds of fat, Husky, Pretty Big, and OH MY GOD IT'S COMIN' THIS WAY.’

“Right after that joke we pulled up to my grandpa's office. I was too short to see all of it, but the way I always knew we had arrived was it was next door to the Sheriff's office and I could see the Sheriff's star logo on his big window.

“I heard my grandpa's voice. "Time to get out Bowie" (Bowie being my nickname, for him.) I realised I had not once looked over from my window, or the front window at my grandpa. So I finally looked over, and to my surprise...and almost horror, it wasn't him.

“It was a man who had all the trademarks of an older man. He was frail, gray, hunched over, and he just had that "grandfatherly" vibe. He was smiling at me. But that is when I noticed the weirdest part; he had not a wrinkle on his face. His face was young. And quite honestly it looked a lot like me (well, me today. Not me at 5.) I had never seen this man, ever.

“But, he kept smiling and said again, ‘Time to get out.’ To which, I very confusedly, turned to my door and opened it to exit the truck. As I opened the door, I was met with blinding light, and then the light faded. It was like a camera flash on steroids. Once it faded, I was laying in my hospital bed.

“My first words upon coming out of that coma/dream, I kid you not were ‘Dad...There are three kinds of fat, Husky, Pretty Big, and OH MY GOD IT'S COMIN' THIS WAY.’

“To which my family sort of sat in shock and awe over, then all started laughing. The doctor walked in and said "Oh..he’s up!" and ran off to go get nurses.

“Ok, here's the real kicker.

"Years after this. Years after my long, shitty, painful road to recovery, I found a box of old pictures in my grandparent's house. My grandma saw me with it and started taking photos out to show me. ‘And here is you Great Grandpa, my dad, in California right before leaving for Pearl Harbor,’ she told me.

“I met my late great grandfather, yes. He lived through World War II, and I met him as a 2 year old. My only memory of him was as an old, dying man. I had never seen "young" him.”

“We look almost exactly alike. I'm convinced it was him in the truck. I think he was the one that got me through whatever loop I was stuck in.”

3. I had to prove why I wanted to come back.
IDiedForABit suffered an allergic reaction which caused his heart to stop beating. He says he was transported to a playground and had to tell a presence why he wanted to come back to life.

Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images

“I had an allergic reaction to something I ate and passed out while I was splashing water on my face. At some point my heart stopped and got restarted while I was in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

“I remember a feeling of being sucked backwards, extremely slowly like being pulled through water and this blackness fading in and out. At one point it faded back in and I was staring out at a garden. It wasn’t filled with flowers, just dust and patchy grass. There was a playground with a merry-go-round in the middle and two children running around it. A boy and a girl.

“It's difficult to describe but I got the feeling that I could choose if I wanted to stay or leave, but every time I tried to go back I was held in place. I went through all the reasons I wanted to go back. When I told the presence I didn't want to abandon my mother, whatever held me finally let go. I snapped back into my body. My heart had stopped for six minutes.

4. To me,dyingwas peaceful.
Axesta contractedsepsis from a dentist and by nightfall he was rushed to hospital and announced technically dead. Before coming back to life, Axesta said the feeling of drifting off to death is pure peace.

Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images

“I got sepsis from tools used over at a dentist. I went to the dentist feeling fine and then at around 7pm I started feeling dizzy.

“I woke up in the middle of the night with a 42 degree fever and I couldn't lift my head. I tried to yell out to my mum but I didn't even have the strength to do that. Luckily, the sounds of me vomiting was enough to wake her up.

“My mum carried me to the car and drove me to the emergency room. Once I was at the hospital I drifted off, I couldn't stay awake.

“That's when I saw nurses and doctors around me injecting me with things and shouting. I remember thinking that it must be serious if a doctor was shouting, as they usually don't show panic. I was lucid enough to laugh internally thinking, ‘Wow, I must be really sick if I don't even freak out over all of these injections.'

But, I saw my mum crying and I thought ‘Holy sh*t, this must be for real.’

“Then, I fell asleep. I say asleep, but I died for exactly 2 minutes. It really feels like falling asleep, but for me it was beyond peaceful.

“It felt like you didn't really have to worry about anything anymore and obviously in my case - I didn't feel sick anymore.”

“But - for whoever is scared that their loved one felt pain in death, I can honestly say - it's a very peaceful feeling.”

Experiences slightly edited and condensed.

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