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The Wisdom of Near-Death Experiences – Dr Penny Sartori

The following was emailed by a 38-year-old man:

Date of experience 1984. I was in bed with the only dose of real flu I have ever had. Completely exhausted, I felt as if I was dying. I do not really know what happened to me but can only relay the crystal-clear memories. At some point, I was outside of my parent’s house, on the roof, looking at a velux window with ice on it. The lead around the top of the window was very curled and I looked at it, thinking it was amazing that water had not entered my bedroom. I was so excited about being out on the roof that I went off to look around the other rooftops of houses nearby. I could see people walking in the snowy streets below, but could not smell or touch anything. I was just seeing the most amazing views.

It was a timeless experience, which led me to my grandmother’s grave in a nearby cemetery. She stood there clear as day, much younger than when she had died and told me I had to go home immediately.

Still in a sense of euphoria at feeling so free, I found myself looking down through the velux window, and was quite shocked to see myself in bed, white and motionless. It was so shocking that I wanted to get back into my body as quickly as I could. It was only when I saw myself lying there that I realized what was happening and wanted to get back into my body.

I knew when I woke it was not a normal dream, since I felt my heart start beating again and, a short while after, I began to breathe.

I knew I had been outside, but my initial excitement had now turned to immense relief.

I was in bed for a few more days, and relayed the experience to my parents.  My father decided to look at the lead on the roof and assumed I must have been able to see it from my room. He could see none of the lead. A few months passed, when having some slates replaced, the roofer told my parents the lead around the top of the velux window needed replacing because it had curled up and cracked.

I have to say that I have never experienced the more extreme electrical malfunctions you mentioned, but have experienced and continue to experience unusual feeling and symptoms which I can only attribute to a heightened sensitivity to electricity. The main one that is constant is my discomfort in environments where there are lots of electrical systems in use around me, mainly in department stores and large shopping centres. I feel a sense of confusion and interference with my thoughts in such places and it sometimes gets so bad that I have to leave the buildings despite the fact that I really enjoy being in a retail environment.

The other one is at home, where I find that long periods in front of the computer screen or television leave me feeling really drained regardless of the entertainment value of what is on the screen. It has reached the point where I prefer not to watch television and use the computer only for short periods. I rarely use my mobile phone for the same reason. I find that one particularly unpleasant and feel a dull, hot pain in my head after a call lasting more than ten minutes.

The heat is totally real. Most noticeably, in open air spaces where there are lots of people or no people at all, none of these symptoms occur, and in the countryside I feel as if I have been released from something, and have often thought that this is because of the reduction in electrical fields in such places.

I consider the work you are doing to be enormously comforting and at long last feel understood after years of not telling many people about what happened in case they thought I was mad for believing it was more than a dream or coincidence. I hope it never happens again, because the next time I may not be so lucky, despite the initial feelings being really beautiful.

The healing ability came to light when I was 18 years old, which was four years after my experience on the roof. It was something I discovered by accident and then gradually became aware of the effect it had on people both spiritually and physically. One really amazing incident occurred in my mid-twenties when I was walking through Boots the chemist, and amidst the hustle and bustle I clearly heard an assistant on a beauty counter telling her friend about her sore hand that she thought had a trapped nerve in it. Without hesitation, and pleased it was in public so as not to look weird, I went straight over to her and told her I could sort it out within a couple of minutes.  She was stunned that her hand that had bothered her for weeks was better. I quickly disappeared in the crowds as I did not want to draw too much attention to what had happened, nor did I want praise. As far as I was concerned I had just channelled a higher energy. I still believe it is not me doing the healing directly. It seems like a force for good that I somehow connect with which in turn acts as a catalyst for people to heal themselves. But that's only what I think. I do not know, but that is my explanation. I often think I would like to do the rounds on a hospital ward, before and after operations, to give people the strength to get through what must be quite scary. I believe that modern medicine and human healing could be combined. I suspect it won't happen that often in busy hospitals where government targets need to be met.

I would love to get the chance to help someone who was seriously ill but always feel afraid to offer if I do not know them well enough.

I worry they may find it odd and I would not want to upset anyone who is under conventional medicine and feels it is the only way.  I do know, however, that one day the chance will come and I will take it and do what I can, with no promises.