I have not written about my NDE before, so I guess the best format is to write it as remembered.  I was almost four years old according to mom and dad when this occurred. I remember getting out of bed the day it happened. I also remember having breakfast then asking Dad if I could go swimming. His reply was no (he was watching a game on the T.V.). I went and played in my room for a little while and then asked him again. Again he said no. I played some more and the other kids had now left for school. I asked him again. He said oh all right, leave me alone. I took this as yes and put on my suit and climbed the ladder into our above ground pool.

I was rushed to hospital in the early hours of Thursday the 12th August, suffering from a ruptured appendix. On arrival I was subsequently mis-diagnosed as having only a "rumbling" appendix and spent 12 hours deteriorating but drugged and not in too much pain. When operated on that afternoon (Friday 13th) the mistake was discovered and frantic major surgery took place to try and remove the poison from my abdominal cavity. I was finally taken back to a side ward with the expectation that I would die within hours.

I was about 17 and a half years old. I had been practically bedridden for a month after having five migraines in the prior month on top of not being able to breathe well because I had acute bronchitis. I swear I was not trying to commit suicide. I really wasn’t! I just wanted to get some pain free sleep and rest and I was reverting back inside myself with an I just give up attitude, not to die but just that I was caving into my body and simply lost the will to fight anymore or try to get better health-wise. So I took (too many) pills. I know they included about five anti-depressants, a bunch of Advil, a few sleeping pills, and a couple of tranquilizers.

I entered the hospital about midnight on December 24, 1967 in labor and suffering from respiratory distress. In the delivery room, I was given a facemask that impaired my breathing even more and because of the Demerol I had been given I was unable to speak up and tell them the mask was suffocating me. I reached up and tore the mask away from my face. Someone then took my hands and strapped them down to the side of the table so that I could not do anything to prevent the repeat of the gas and mask. In that period of time I knew that I was going to die and being an Atheist I had hoped that the agony of suffocation would end quickly and I would finally and permanently lose consciousness.