WINFREY: My next guest says that he did visit the other side,
was saved by a mysterious wizard.
His name is Christian Davis and his mother
is Marcia Davis. What happened, Christian?
CHRISTIAN DAVIS: Well, I was down at the beach
before summer started.
And the water was too cold to swim in,
so I dig holes or tunnels in the sand.
And this time I chose to dig a tunnel.
And after it was over, I called my mother over to
see and look at it.
She said that was great but you couldn't go in,
it was too dangerous. So...
WINFREY: You went in anyway?
DAVIS: No. (Laughter)
DAVIS: She said to get ready to go
and that we'll be leaving soon.
So I got my stuff together and I
noticed there was, like, some--not even a crack,
in the top, so I wanted to pat it
out 'cause I didn't want to wreck it.
So--and it caved in on me.
WINFREY: Hmm.
DAVIS: And I thought, usually I've been buried
from the waist down, maybe,
and I could get out.
But the more I squeezed, the more the
sand compacted on me.
WINFREY: Yeah, so you tried to scream
and your lungs got filled with sand.
DAVIS: Yeah.
WINFREY: Yeah. So what happened?
DAVIS: Well, I faded out, like, from reality
and I was just being brought up this tunnel
of light--brightness.
And up this tunnel I just, like,
noticed parts of my life that wouldn't
occur to me to remember.
I thought I was alive.
WINFREY: Like--like what?
DAVIS: I saw when I was--Christmas when
I was about four years old, and I
saw my mom digging me out,
and my mom driving to the hospital.
And then I knew that I wasn't--I wasn't
in my body, and that I was dead--
close to death, at least.
And so then I came to the end of this
tunnel and noticed there was a man that first--
because of his robes--white robes and
bright light, it occurred to me at first like
a wizard-like man.
And I also saw relatives
that died that year or--such as my friend--
his name is Ryan and he's--
he died--he drowned in a pool. And...
WINFREY: You saw him?
DAVIS: Yeah.
WINFREY: Did he speak to you?
DAVIS: No. He was 2. And then the wizard, without
moving his mouth,
spoke to me and said,
`Struggle, you're too young to die.
And you'll go back.
It's not your time yet.' And all of a
sudden I opened my eyes and this--
I was going down this hall in
the hospital to the ICU, intensive care unit.
WINFREY: So what made you tell?
Because, you know, most kids who have this
experience, unless questioned thoroughly
by somebody who's interested in this kind
of thing, don't tell. Why did you tell?
DAVIS: Well, first I didn't--I didn't remember it.
But I went into the CAT scan and--
by that time I was afraid of needles and everything.
And I got in there
and the bright light came and said,
`Nothing's going to happen. You're going to be OK.
You're going to go back.' And I fell asleep.
WINFREY: So are you saying the light talked?
DAVIS: Yeah.
WINFREY: Uh-huh.
DAVIS: And...
WINFREY: What do you--what do you make of all this, Marcia?
Ms. MARCIA DAVIS: Well, it was interesting because
when he had to have the CAT scan,
he was very, very upset and nervous,
almost to the point of crying.
And, you know, the nurses and I tried to
talk to him. And when he did go into have the CAT scan,
he was out in like five minutes. And the nurse said,
`I can't believe it, he fell right asleep.'
It was 15 minutes after that--
back in intensive care--when he looked
at me and he was very calm and very peaceful and he said,
`I saw God in the machine.'
And I said, `What do you mean?'
And at this point he hadn't mentioned anything
about a wizard.
And he said,
`I saw God in the machine.'
And I said, `Did he speak to you?'
And he said, `Yes.'
And he said, too, `Everything is going to be OK.
Don't be afraid.' And then he continued with,
`I saw God in the tunnel.'
And I said, `What do you mean?'
And he said, `There was a very bright light.'
And I just started to shake because I knew a little
bit about near-death experiences and very slowly
the story unfolded from that point,
that he saw deceased members of our family and a friend.
And I just started to cry because I knew it was a miracle.