Welcome to Beyond Death where we examine near death experiences from people who claim they
have died and visited the other side.
Our next NDE comes from the experience of Tawny S who had her near death experience
while kayaking with family and claims to have heard the voice of God.
Let's get straight into it!
The date was Saturday June 5th, 2021.
It was a particularly beautiful summer day in Ohio.
Hot, not too humid, sunny, not a cloud in the sky.
My best friend and her partner were visiting home from out of state, and it was also my
cousins birthday, and we were all going kayaking.
There was a big group of family and friends going for the birthday celebration.
We arrived at the river later than the rest of the group, and all of them had already
taken off down the river.
My husband and I had reservations for a kayak (which I had done a couple of times prior
to this day), but since we were so late, all they had available was a canoe.
I had never canoed before, but nonetheless I wasn't worried and I was excited.
When we started down the river, I realized quickly that canoeing was actually much different
than kayaking.
I felt unsteady, and we had a few times where we were very off balance.
I was in the front seat, my husband in the back.
Since all of our family had started so much earlier, we were kind of rushing to try to
catch up to them.
I wasn't wearing my life jacket.. in fact, nobody was.
It was a small little river, not super deep water, and we were told on the bus ride there
that we had to take them out on the river with us, but it was up to us if we wanted
to wear them.
The bus driver even made a joke about how nobody ever wears them, but that they couldn't
be held liable for any accidents (in a joking matter of course, everyone laughed.)
Everything was going mostly okay for the first mile out of our five mile trip.
A few times we seemed like we might tip, but we managed to stay afloat.
That was, until we hit a current.
This happened so fast that it's hard to recall exactly what went wrong, but in the blink
of an eye our canoe was tipped upside down and I was trapped underneath.
It didn't take too terribly long for me to get out from underneath the canoe, but the
problem didn't end there.
At this point, I had inhaled water into my lungs from screaming and fighting to get back
up to safety.
I would get up for a split second, and then I would get sucked back under again.
I realized in this moment that I was literally drowning and that if I wanted any chance to
live I was going to have to fight for my life, and I hoped someone would be able to save
me or that someone around knew how to preform CPR.
It is mind boggling how in such a short period of time, my brain moved so quickly with a
million thoughts.
I could not breath at all, and fighting became harder and harder.
I was so cold.
I could not see anything - I basically felt blind.
I couldn't hear much, just the sounds of water, like what you hear when you dunk your head
under a swimming pool.
In this moment, I began thinking about my family - I vividly envisioned my husband picking
up my lifeless body, the couple across the river calling an ambulance, my best friend
finding out the horror that had happened when she caught up to us, and them having to tell
the rest of the family a few miles down the river that I was gone.
I still can't even understand to this day how I could possibly think about so many things
in such a short period of time, but I still remember it like it was yesterday.
I saw my mother and siblings finding out I was gone, for a second it made me so heartbroken,
but I had this overwhelming feeling I can't explain where I knew that everyone would get
through it and be okay without me.
I couldn't believe I was leaving and that I wouldn't see my family, my dog, my friends
again.
I had so many plans for my life, why was this happening to me?
I saw the brightest light I have ever seen in my life.
It was whiteish yellow, and I do believe it was on my way to the gate of Heaven to meet
our creator.
I never did see anyone I know that has passed over, though I did think about how I was about
to meet them.
I did not see God, I do not think I got that far before my life was miraculously saved,
but I did hear Him.
I heard a voice tell me "It is not time yet," and before I knew it I finally, (after what
seemed like an eternity, although in reality this all happened very fast), heard my husband
very close to me screaming at me telling me that there was a branch close by I could reach
out and grab to help keep me above the water.
I could not see a single thing, but as I flailed my arms, there was the branch.
I grasped it for dear life and pulled my body out of the water with what seemed like a super
human strength, as my body at this point was so weak and frail.
It was very chaotic when I finally could breathe again.
I was shivering, coughing so hard, and vomiting creek water and blood.
My chest felt so heavy, I was so weak, and so incredibly tired.
My husband threw me my life jacket at this point and gathered all of my items that were
floating down the river.
Our canoe had so much water in it that it had pretty much sunk, and he had to drag it
out and tip it to get the water out.
At this point I realized I had to get back into that thing and still had 3 miles more
to go, after it had just almost killed me.
This part of my experience was very traumatic, because of course I did not want to die and
I knew that I had come so close.
But, it is very important that I stress that my actual NDE was quite peaceful - once I
saw the light, I did have a sense of comfort come over me where I knew that if it was time,
that it was going to be ok.
I do feel like I had an out of body experience - and seeing visions of my family finding
out, hearing God.. these images and sounds would not leave my head as I got my limp,
cold body back into that canoe for round 2.
We eventually met up with the rest of the family down the river and they were all shocked
at my appearance, and asked "What happened to you?"
They were all still dry, happy and having a good time - but I was soaked from head to
toe, my makeup running all over my face, my outfit dripping wet, my face pale.
I was still so shaken that it was truly a hard thing to explain, but I tried, and I
was laughed at.
Nobody understood me - they thought I was being dramatic and told me the water isn't
even deep enough to drown in.
They did not understand that I was stuck under for some time and inhaled water into my lungs..
but anyways, I was way too exhausted to argue their doubts.
I stopped trying to convince anyone of my out of body experience and NDE, because it
really is still a hard thing for me to talk about anyways, and being dismissed and wrote
off by my own family was even more painful for me.
I included this into my story because I want readers who are seeing this to make sure they
NEVER write off someones experience if they tell them that this happened to them.. for
us, it is already so traumatic and hard to move on after, and not being supported makes
it a million times worse.
Someone should not have to be pronounced dead for you to believe that this happened to them.
It is very real, and extremely stressful when you have No one to share it with.
In the weeks following the experience I had some appointments with my PCP, one was for
her to let me know of all of the signs to watch out for secondary drowning, another
for the extreme amount of anxiety I was encountering.
Every night when I shut my eyes to go to sleep for at least a week, I heard the water noises
in my ears and would wake up feeling like I could not breath.
I had a medication prescribed to help me get through the nights, but I tried to avoid taking
it.
I did not want to add another factor into the mental pain I was already dealing with.
To this day- I am still very scared of ever getting back in a canoe, still very scared
of water, and unfortunately, still looked down upon and mocked for the events of that
day.
Overall, my experience was both traumatic and peaceful..
I saw what it was like to die, and that part was the best part of the whole experience,
because I knew that if I crossed over I would not have to fight anymore, and I knew the
place I was going was SO beautiful, safe and peaceful.
It was a harsh reality coming back to this lifetime and then being made fun of for surviving.
A couple more seconds and a different outcome and surely nothing would have been funny.
Please.. if you have a family or friend who has told you they had an NDE.. believe them,
comfort them.
They are going through more than you can possibly imagine.
The last thing I will touch on is that my faith in God grew exponentially after my NDE.
He saved me - He is the one that gave me this second chance.
I heard His beautiful voice tell me that it was not my time yet and I am still here now,
and my life is so beautiful.
I was gifted a second chance because I believe I still have a greater purpose here and I
am forever thankful for that.
Thank you to my best friend who always has listened to me from day one, my parents and
siblings who have comforted me while I have cried what feels like a million tears, and
listened to me month after month talk about how hard it is for me to understand what happened
to me that day.
I am forever grateful for all of you, and most importantly thank you Jesus for saving
me and giving me the opportunity to truly live again.
I feel more alive now than I did before June 5th, 2021.
He saved me, physically and spiritually, and that is a testimony I will preach forever.
Note from Beyond Death:
Tawny's near death experience did include a question and answer portion that is not
narrated in this video.
Viewers may read this interview at the link provided in the description immediately following
her NDE.