1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,400 From the time that they pronounced me deaf was a good 45 minutes. 2 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:13,440 They cut my clothes and then they paddled my heart, my heart had stopped. 3 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:18,120 And I could see people screaming and crying, but I didn't realize that was actually my 4 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:21,320 physical body because I was somewhere else. 5 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:27,400 The only thing that I could feel, if you could imagine, absolute love and peace, there wasn't 6 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:29,400 anything else to be felt. 7 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:32,520 I was greeted by people I'd known in the past. 8 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:34,240 I'm back home again. 9 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:39,160 Incredibly safe and felt at home. 10 00:00:39,160 --> 00:00:44,760 Welcome, welcome to Round Trip Death, everybody, and a warm welcome to our very special guests 11 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:46,440 from Texas. 12 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:48,920 And this is Deanna and Jeff Ray. 13 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:49,920 How are you guys? 14 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:50,920 Doing great today. 15 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:51,920 We're here. 16 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:53,480 Gonna ask for much more. 17 00:00:53,480 --> 00:00:55,000 What part of Texas are you in? 18 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:58,120 We're in Denton, just outside of Dallas. 19 00:00:58,120 --> 00:00:59,120 Gotcha. 20 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:05,960 Well, we're going to be talking about Deanna's near-death experience in just a second. 21 00:01:05,960 --> 00:01:07,440 And I know it's going to be hard. 22 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:11,920 You have not shared this publicly in a forum like this before. 23 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:17,800 And it's hard because Jeff, and this is why I wanted Jeff on the show too, actually witnessed 24 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:21,800 the accident that happened to his lovely wife Deanna. 25 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:23,840 And we'll be talking about that. 26 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:29,440 Before we get into it, I'm going to give you 60 seconds to tell our listeners just a little 27 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:30,800 bit about you. 28 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:35,400 We are two retired, stay-at-home people. 29 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:39,800 And we're involved in our church. 30 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:42,040 And we have some great friends. 31 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:45,600 And we just are grateful to be here. 32 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:49,200 We've been through a lot in the past few years. 33 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:58,440 I learned so much about God's grace and deserve favor that we all received. 34 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:00,280 I have received it in abundance. 35 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:01,280 We both have. 36 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:03,400 How long have you two been married? 37 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:07,040 This will be seven years coming in June. 38 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:10,840 And the accident that we're going to talk about was how many years ago? 39 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:13,120 It's been almost four years. 40 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:14,120 Okay. 41 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:17,560 So you were relatively newly married when this happened. 42 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:18,560 Yes. 43 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:21,040 Still madly in love, which is awesome. 44 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:22,540 We still are. 45 00:02:22,540 --> 00:02:25,120 We're honeymoon until we die. 46 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:26,120 Love it. 47 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:27,120 That's awesome. 48 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:30,680 All right, Deanna, take us back four years. 49 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:35,000 Tell us what was going on that led up to your accident. 50 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:41,560 Well, it was just as the pandemic was clearing up, we didn't have to wear masks anymore. 51 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:43,600 We'd received stimulus checks. 52 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:49,760 And we decided to stimulate the economy by buying a couple of electric. 53 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:54,560 Well, I got an electric scooter and just got an electric bike. 54 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:58,160 And we rode all over the place on them all around town. 55 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:08,200 And yeah, I mean, we just had so much fun getting out and doing that and exploring neighborhoods. 56 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:14,800 And the day of my accident, we had decided to ride up to the convenience store about 57 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:16,560 a half mile away. 58 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:21,040 We had become very comfortable on the scooter and on the bike. 59 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:26,840 We were just zipping around, going to go get some soft drink and have a bath home. 60 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:33,320 We were familiar with the streets, but we were going a little fast, probably about 25 61 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:34,840 miles an hour. 62 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:36,280 Did you have helmets on? 63 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:38,160 I was not wearing helmet. 64 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:41,000 Jeff was not wearing helmet either. 65 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:44,560 And I had good intentions of the type of thing. 66 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:45,560 I need to get a helmet. 67 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:46,720 I need to get a helmet. 68 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:48,840 I'm not 14 anymore. 69 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:49,840 It's hindsight though. 70 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:50,840 Yeah. 71 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:55,640 It's just a PSA for everybody to remember to get their helmets and wear them. 72 00:03:55,640 --> 00:04:00,240 We had taken a corner and we were going pretty fast. 73 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:04,240 And I hit a rock or a pothole and I got the speed wall. 74 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:12,240 And I remember locking eyes with my husband, like, oh no, this is not going to end well. 75 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:16,440 Literally flipped over the handle rails of the scooter. 76 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:21,080 I did about one good army roll because I know how to fall. 77 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:26,720 But I was going so fast that on the second roll, I ragged dog. 78 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:30,040 I was slipping everywhere. 79 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:36,600 And I very distinctly remember hearing the sound of my head as it hit the pavement. 80 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:44,280 And that was the last thing that I remembered at that point was just the horrible sound. 81 00:04:44,280 --> 00:04:46,600 I mean, Jeff hurt it as well. 82 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:47,600 It's traumatizing. 83 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:49,600 I relive it constantly. 84 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:54,200 Jeff, let's hear your point of view on what happened right there. 85 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:59,320 Like she said, we had those vehicles, electric bikes. 86 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:02,080 She was on the stand up when you've seen those things. 87 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:03,240 They weren't just the cheap ones. 88 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:04,240 They were nice. 89 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:08,120 Like we said, we'd gotten those stimulus checks and they weren't something we'd normally 90 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:10,640 afford because we're on disability both of us. 91 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:12,760 So we got something nice for ourselves. 92 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:15,680 And to stimulate the economy a little bit, you should see this girl. 93 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:19,160 She was, you know, it's like we were teenagers again, but we weren't wearing helmets. 94 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:20,760 We were raised in a different time. 95 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:22,320 We didn't wear helmets. 96 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:27,240 Looking back, we definitely will, but we'd just come around a corner and we were doing 97 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:30,280 about 25, that's faster than a school zone. 98 00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:31,880 And you're totally in the open. 99 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:36,360 She hit, I guess, like carved into a little pothole or something, but we were about five 100 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:39,200 feet apart side by side cruising. 101 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:44,080 And you know, we blocked the eyes when she hit this pothole or handlebars started like 102 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:45,080 that. 103 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:48,080 She just went over the handlebars and she did do a tuck and roll. 104 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:51,200 I give her five out of five stars on that first roll. 105 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:56,000 But she, you know, inertia took over and she just like she said ragdoll out and just boom 106 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:58,160 like that, her head hit the pavement and it did. 107 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:00,840 It sounded like a watermelon hitting it. 108 00:06:00,840 --> 00:06:05,720 And I mean, I'm sitting there like it went into like matrix slow motion, you know, and 109 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:11,600 there was absolutely nothing I could do to help because I was going just as fast as she 110 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:12,600 was. 111 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:16,760 And so by the time I had time to react to slow down, she had already hit and was tumbling 112 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:23,000 and her head hit and it was, it was, if you can imagine the sound it made, that's exactly 113 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:25,000 what it looked like. 114 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:30,120 And that's my beautiful wife that I waited 43 years by. 115 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:31,520 I can't even imagine. 116 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:34,280 Deanna, what do you remember next? 117 00:06:34,280 --> 00:06:43,520 Well, I sat up and remember seeing, I was in the beautiful, there was ambient light. 118 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:44,520 It was very warm. 119 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:46,960 It was very inviting. 120 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:49,880 I felt no panic or fear. 121 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:54,000 And my two grandmothers were standing before me. 122 00:06:54,000 --> 00:07:00,440 They were, I've seen pictures of them when they were younger and they surpassed their, 123 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:04,600 their beauty surpassed that more than I can explain. 124 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:06,800 They were ethereal looking. 125 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:08,040 They were so beautiful. 126 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:10,160 I was, I was speechless. 127 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:18,280 My maternal grandmother had reached her hand out to me and she was a smiling and welcoming. 128 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:20,920 I mean, I wanted to get up and hug her. 129 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:26,800 And I heard my husband's voice calling me, maybe you don't go, please don't leave. 130 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:37,280 I literally felt myself pull back and drop almost violently into my body. 131 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:40,280 I didn't even realize I was out of my body at that point. 132 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:43,040 I mean, I remember hitting hard. 133 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:48,600 I came to and my hands were over my face. 134 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:52,680 I was spreading gold face down on the concrete. 135 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:58,920 Blood was just, I was in a pool of blood and it was just pouring out of my head. 136 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:05,960 At that point, Jeff saw me moving or trying to move and told, you know, it's telling me 137 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:07,200 don't move, don't move. 138 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:09,040 The ambulance is on the way. 139 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:14,600 Well, I can tell how hard it is for Jeff to relive this and, and we're going to give 140 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:16,720 Jeff just a minute. 141 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:20,920 In the meantime, Deanna, I would love more detail on what you saw. 142 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:25,560 Now your grandmothers that you saw, had you known them in this life? 143 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:27,680 How long had they been gone? 144 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:29,640 I was so close with them. 145 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:33,040 They were like the two, we were running buddy. 146 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:40,240 One was Jewish and Ray's been going to the synagogue and the other was a Christian and 147 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:42,880 I went to church with her. 148 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:47,760 And I had grown up going to different churches my whole life, you know, just kind of trying 149 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:49,320 to find my way. 150 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:54,520 I finally found a church I was comfortable in when I met my husband. 151 00:08:54,520 --> 00:09:00,680 He introduced me to his church and I had been baptized, but I was not really living the 152 00:09:00,680 --> 00:09:02,920 way I was supposed to be living. 153 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:05,160 I was kind to people. 154 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:12,360 I had gotten more serious about praying, but, you know, I didn't read my Bible. 155 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:17,160 I went to church, but wasn't involved. 156 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:19,120 I was lukewarm about it. 157 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:20,120 Sure. 158 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:22,520 When did your grandmothers pass away? 159 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:30,200 One about, I'd say 20 years prior, my maternal grandmother, and then my paternal grandmother 160 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:32,880 had passed away about 10 years prior. 161 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:38,840 Now some people in their near-death experience talk about feeling like they traveled, whether 162 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:42,840 it's through a tunnel or a dark space or anything like that. 163 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:44,800 You didn't have that experience? 164 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:47,040 I did not have that experience. 165 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:49,280 I didn't go through the light. 166 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:51,480 I didn't go through a tunnel. 167 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,680 I was just there in a place. 168 00:09:54,680 --> 00:10:00,760 And there were people behind my grandmothers too that I recognized, but they were in the 169 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:02,000 background. 170 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:09,160 I believe that's my father who had passed away about five years before, and my other 171 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:16,240 grandfathers, people I didn't know, but I knew I was familiar with them. 172 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:20,800 I knew who they were, but I didn't know their names. 173 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:22,960 I was comfortable. 174 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:25,440 The place was so warm and inviting. 175 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:27,560 It felt like belonging. 176 00:10:27,560 --> 00:10:30,920 Do you remember anything else about what it looked like? 177 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:38,240 There was just a warm glow, like an amber ambient light that surrounded everything. 178 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:40,360 Everyone had a glow to them. 179 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:45,200 So I don't know if that was the ambient light that was being emitted from them or if it 180 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:47,480 came from someplace else. 181 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:50,360 And what were you feeling as you're seeing this? 182 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:54,440 Oh, I was so thrilled to be there. 183 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:56,280 I was so happy and calm. 184 00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:59,600 I mean, there wasn't a joyous moment. 185 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:02,360 It was just, hey, you're here. 186 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:04,040 I'm here with you. 187 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:06,640 It was just very peaceful, very calming. 188 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:11,440 I'll be honest, since this has happened, my fear of dying is gone. 189 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:17,440 Well, Jeff will explain that I didn't have a pulse when he checked, and for about three 190 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:21,160 minutes I was totally unconscious or dead. 191 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:26,800 That's a short estimate because I checked her pulse and her breathing multiple times. 192 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:30,240 I was in scouts and I was a lifeguard when I was young. 193 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:32,160 I kept my head during this time. 194 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:33,360 I didn't freak out. 195 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:36,440 I'm not a, ah, I kept my head. 196 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:40,360 I literally kept her head while this was going on. 197 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:43,120 And I checked her breathing and pulse the entire time while the engine was on their 198 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:44,120 way. 199 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:49,080 She was definitely not, her vitals were not there for at least three minutes, possibly 200 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:52,760 as long as five, until the amulets got there. 201 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:55,560 Let's go ahead and jump to your part right now, Jeff. 202 00:11:55,560 --> 00:11:59,960 Watch you said that she was visiting with her great brothers and possibly others. 203 00:11:59,960 --> 00:12:05,040 When she came to rest, face down, she was not moving at all. 204 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:09,200 And I was calling out, don't leave me, don't go. 205 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:10,520 I was praying. 206 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:12,000 I was begging. 207 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:14,600 It got to where I was getting pretty aggressive with it. 208 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:15,600 I was angry. 209 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:20,600 I got pretty angry about it, as you can probably guess most people would be because we barely 210 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:23,920 married a little bit, maybe over two years at this point. 211 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:25,160 I had waited so long. 212 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:27,200 I was trying to keep her going. 213 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:28,200 I didn't want to move her. 214 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:32,920 I didn't know what injury she had, but besides what was blatantly obvious with her head, 215 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:34,640 I didn't know if she'd injured her spinal cord or whatever. 216 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:38,440 So I didn't want to try to flip her over and give her CPR or anything like that. 217 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:40,520 I was trying to stop traffic. 218 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:46,080 People were driving past and filming with their phones instead of stopping, or at least 219 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:47,920 they were hiding their face with her phone. 220 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:50,040 I don't know if they're filming or not. 221 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:51,640 There's possibly footage of this out there somewhere. 222 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:52,640 I don't know. 223 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:57,920 I had to aggressively stop a car and some American did stop and call it. 224 00:12:57,920 --> 00:12:59,080 I don't know what happened. 225 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:00,080 I don't know what happened. 226 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,680 I think the only phone we had with us was on her scooter mount. 227 00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:06,120 That scooter was destroyed when she rapped. 228 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:10,640 When she said she came, I'll call it, please God, don't take her. 229 00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:11,640 Don't take her from me. 230 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:15,720 Why would you wait this long to let me meet this woman and then take her from me? 231 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:19,880 But literally when she said she'd hand back to her body, if you've ever seen anybody 232 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:24,960 hit with the paddles when they're in cardiac arrest, then they arched like that. 233 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:25,960 They arched her back. 234 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:26,960 Boom, when they get hit. 235 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:28,480 I talk with my hands a lot. 236 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:29,480 I apologize. 237 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:31,120 It may be a little too much for this. 238 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:32,120 It's okay. 239 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:34,280 You just be yourself. 240 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:35,280 I don't know how else to act. 241 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:37,280 I'm not an actor. 242 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:41,760 She arched her back from face down like a trout or something. 243 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:42,760 Wham! 244 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:45,760 Then this is the funniest thing ever. 245 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:50,040 When I was like, I started saying, don't move, don't move, don't move. 246 00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:51,040 Baby, baby. 247 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:52,200 I was so excited. 248 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:54,320 I was crying and laughing at the same time. 249 00:13:54,320 --> 00:13:57,080 To this day, I now have an issue. 250 00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:01,400 I laugh inappropriately when I should be crying. 251 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:03,160 I cry when I should be laughing. 252 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:07,920 If that happens through this podcast, please explain to your listeners that I'm not being 253 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:09,680 an a-hole. 254 00:14:09,680 --> 00:14:12,440 I laugh when I'm supposed to cry sometimes. 255 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:14,640 PTSD, I don't know what the hell else to call it. 256 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:17,760 She said, no, babe, I don't want to go to the hospital. 257 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:18,880 We just live a block away. 258 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:21,000 Let's just go home. 259 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:24,960 Because we have a fear of hospitals to stay because of other things. 260 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:30,520 She literally was gone for at least five minutes with no oxygen, no breathing, no heart, pulse, 261 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:31,760 or nothing. 262 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:37,280 I'm not a certified doctor, but I know how to do things. 263 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:40,440 If we take care of ourselves here at the house, we've got health issues. 264 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:42,440 We know how to take pulse and things like that. 265 00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:44,400 I can tell you, she was gone. 266 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:48,440 She was gone for a while. 267 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:51,640 What she said, she saw, even if there is nothing out there, and I'm playing devil's 268 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:56,560 advocate here, there's nothing else out there, what kind of miracle is in the brain to entertain 269 00:14:56,560 --> 00:15:00,440 it like that while you die to make the passage out like that? 270 00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:05,640 What kind of accidental chemistry in the universe gives us that kind of a passage out when you 271 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:09,840 die and then lets it reset itself to bring you back with that kind of a story? 272 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:13,960 Deanna, do you think that this was something like that or do you think this was something 273 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:15,400 very real? 274 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:17,880 I think this was very real. 275 00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:25,080 I mean, I know I was in a different place, and I know that I was not in my physical body 276 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:26,080 here. 277 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:36,320 My biggest thing that I would like to share from my experience is that I know that when 278 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:39,800 we die, there's someplace else that we go. 279 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:42,760 There is something after that. 280 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:44,640 It's beautiful. 281 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:46,800 It's peaceful. 282 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:48,960 It's overwhelmingly calm. 283 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:52,320 I felt no anger. 284 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:53,960 I felt no pain. 285 00:15:53,960 --> 00:16:05,000 I felt, I can't think of a better word for the beauty that surrounded me or for the peace 286 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,520 that I experienced. 287 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:13,560 That's when people talk about peace that passes on their feeling, that is what I felt. 288 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:20,200 I have never in my life felt anything so close to that calm. 289 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:23,120 You described your grandmothers as looking beautiful. 290 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:27,240 Can you give us any more insight into what they look like? 291 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:33,560 Well, other than, like I said, ethereal, they had this glow about them. 292 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:34,640 They were young. 293 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:38,280 I've seen pictures of my grandmothers when they were young. 294 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:46,560 They not only were young, they were an elaborate, beautiful extension of what I've ever seen 295 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:47,960 pictures of. 296 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:49,360 That's awesome. 297 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:51,720 Let's talk about the medical side for a minute. 298 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:53,960 Oh, how badly were you injured? 299 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:55,840 You went to the hospital, obviously. 300 00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:57,920 How bad were your injuries? 301 00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:03,720 I had an 8-millimeter brain shift midline to the left side of my head. 302 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:09,880 I later learned that they had given me a 10% survival rate that first night. 303 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:11,200 What about a 10? 304 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:14,200 One out of 10 people survived my accident. 305 00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:15,200 First injury. 306 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:18,720 Within those first 24 hours. 307 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:21,840 I consider myself a miracle. 308 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:23,280 Me too. 309 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:24,920 What was the recovery like? 310 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:27,560 How long were you in the hospital? 311 00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:29,080 What did they do? 312 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:35,920 Not very long, I had a craniotomy the first night, they had put some tubes in my head. 313 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:42,360 I had several brain bleeds that we were very concerned about. 314 00:17:42,360 --> 00:17:46,760 They had put some tubing in my head to drain the fluid. 315 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:50,920 I stayed not very long for that visit. 316 00:17:50,920 --> 00:18:00,720 Then I had another issue with swelling a few weeks later, went back to another hospital 317 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:08,200 that transported me to a specialized hospital that was a neurologist, top neurologist here 318 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:13,400 in Texas, neurosurgeon, had another craniotomy. 319 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:20,880 I had like sables that go from the middle of my forehead all the way around the back 320 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:25,760 of my head to right over my ear in a big horseshoe. 321 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:30,720 My head was shaved, I had just half a head spiky hair. 322 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:36,680 Then I got all these times I had people praying for me. 323 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:40,680 People lifting me up in prayer constantly. 324 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:42,680 People from my church visiting. 325 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:51,280 I had come home again and I remember somebody bringing me a meal so that I didn't have to 326 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:57,120 cook or just didn't have to worry about thinking and I didn't have to worry about eating this 327 00:18:57,120 --> 00:18:58,120 cooking. 328 00:18:58,120 --> 00:19:01,920 I might have been dangerous. 329 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:03,440 Very dangerous. 330 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:10,160 She looked at me and barged in and here's, here I am, half ball, fables in my head. 331 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:12,200 I see she looked rock and roll. 332 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:13,680 That's just me. 333 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:15,760 But she started crying. 334 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:17,680 She's like, I'm so sorry. 335 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:19,240 I'm so sorry. 336 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:27,600 And I, at that moment felt this joy in my heart and I said, you don't need to be sorry. 337 00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:31,280 I'm okay and I've made it through this far. 338 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:34,360 I'm the happiest I've ever been. 339 00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:38,920 I'm married to this fabulous man and I'm not damn. 340 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:40,760 Don't you be damned. 341 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:42,360 Just be grateful. 342 00:19:42,360 --> 00:19:48,520 There's no, there's this grace that we all receive if we just reach out for it. 343 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:54,040 Sometimes we don't have to be reaching out and just get showered upon. 344 00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:56,760 And then I got a post-operative infection. 345 00:19:56,760 --> 00:19:57,760 MRSA. 346 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:00,760 MRSA in my skull. 347 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:02,640 Have you ever heard of that? 348 00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:03,640 MRSA? 349 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:04,640 Yeah, MRSA. 350 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:06,600 Yeah, that's super staff. 351 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:08,160 That's what, yeah. 352 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:15,800 And it was in my skull, my face pulled up and I was going to the doctor to see my neurosurgeon. 353 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:20,160 The next day my eye had swollen and I had gotten a puppy. 354 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:24,360 I literally could not see out of my right eye. 355 00:20:24,360 --> 00:20:29,800 And I went in to the doctor the next day and they said, you need to go into the ER. 356 00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:31,400 You need surgery right now. 357 00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:34,560 So here's my third craning autoimmune. 358 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:40,160 Each time I said it felt sorry for myself and there are a couple times I did. 359 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:42,960 I'm like, why me on this? 360 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:51,280 Hearing and trying to de-ride, de-cond, and live right praying and follow Christ. 361 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:54,560 So what are you doing this to us? 362 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:56,120 That's the urge that you get. 363 00:20:56,120 --> 00:20:57,120 Yeah. 364 00:20:57,120 --> 00:20:59,000 And sometimes I've seen people to shake their boat. 365 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:00,160 Vic, why me? 366 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:02,840 Why is God doing this to us? 367 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:10,560 People ask me, you know, don't you feel like you've been through, yeah, I've been through 368 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:13,680 more than what I feel is my fair share. 369 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:21,960 Yeah, but I think that it's taught me to have faith in something way bigger than me. 370 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:27,600 That God answers prayers because each time I came through better and better, my memory 371 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:28,600 was clearing up. 372 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:33,880 You know, I was a little kind of funky with all these staples, I got a big knot still 373 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:39,360 on the side of my hand that we don't know what it is, but it was cough from the rack. 374 00:21:39,360 --> 00:21:44,160 And I walked around for about six months with a hole in my skull that they had taken out 375 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:50,920 of the credit card size hole in my skull because it was during COVID and they were saving beds 376 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:56,360 for people in case there was a case or another COVID outbreak. 377 00:21:56,360 --> 00:22:00,800 So I had to walk around with a helmet on and protect this helmet on my head. 378 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:05,280 Like they were for the kids on the special needs kids. 379 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:08,720 They had her, like if she would have bumped her head on anything, she would have died. 380 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:09,840 I would have died. 381 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:14,560 And yet they had this entire floor of the hospital with empty beds just in case there was COVID. 382 00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:19,240 It was an elective surgery to have a tartanine flake put in my head. 383 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:22,400 They said it was an elective surgery, so they wouldn't give it to her. 384 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:29,640 But I finally had the cranioplasty and I've not had any problems since then. 385 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:33,240 My hair's grown back finally. 386 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:36,640 And I don't have the cool Mad Max hairdo anymore. 387 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:46,000 I feel like I have this story to share with people that regardless of what happened, I 388 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:47,720 mean, like I said, do this whole thing. 389 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:50,800 I wasn't afraid each time that I was going to die. 390 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:57,080 I knew that if I did, that I would be safe and I would be comforted and loved and that 391 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:00,680 I have a loving father in heaven. 392 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:03,440 He knows what's best for me. 393 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:10,920 I've got a purpose here that he wants me to fulfill or he wouldn't have brought me back. 394 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:20,160 And so now I tried to live my life as righteously as I can, as Christ-like as I can. 395 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:21,160 And I backslide. 396 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:27,440 I'm not saying I'm perfect by any means, but I don't live a day where I don't thank him 397 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:40,000 and I don't have gratitude for being able to walk and talk and speak and be alive because 398 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:43,080 I could be so much worse. 399 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:47,800 The mid-length shift was so bad that I mean, I have seizures. 400 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:49,200 I do have seizure disorder. 401 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,280 And you have one like two days of epilepsy. 402 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:57,400 And that kind of is a pain, but I take medication for it. 403 00:23:57,400 --> 00:23:59,960 It seems to be relatively controlled. 404 00:23:59,960 --> 00:24:02,000 I'm not angry about it. 405 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:03,440 I live with it. 406 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:10,760 I think it makes me a stronger person and I can be hopefully, I mean, I was going to 407 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:16,760 share this experience privately amongst friends who was some friends at church and hopefully 408 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:27,880 I can inspire people to live a good life, to be kind to others and to know that there's 409 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:28,880 a place to go. 410 00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:32,040 We just don't die and fall into a black hole. 411 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:37,920 Growing up Jewish, you know, there was never a real definition between heaven and hell 412 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:40,480 and whether or not we went anywhere. 413 00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:43,000 Jews, funerals are so depressing. 414 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:50,520 And I know that I can leave this world and see my family. 415 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:58,720 You know, there are people that are there that are waiting for me to hang out, be there 416 00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:00,600 and rejoice. 417 00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:10,240 I get overwhelmed by that at times, just knowing, but I'm so grateful for the grace of God that 418 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:17,880 I'm here and that I'm doing everything I can to share this with others. 419 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:26,640 So they know that they too can have a place in the spirit world in heaven whenever you 420 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:27,640 want to call it. 421 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:28,640 Afterlife. 422 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:36,480 The afterlife that we have our families there waiting for us. 423 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:38,360 There is something to look forward to. 424 00:25:38,360 --> 00:25:40,160 There is something to work towards. 425 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:42,560 There is a reason for the season. 426 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:47,000 There's a reason for her story and there's a reason that I want to help her to get it 427 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:51,920 out because you never know when you're going to be riding your bike with your wife one 428 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:54,520 day and she's gone. 429 00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:56,480 And be nice to people. 430 00:25:56,480 --> 00:25:57,480 Be kind. 431 00:25:57,480 --> 00:25:58,880 Be kind to each other. 432 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:02,880 I mean, you never know who that you're going to walk past in a grocery store and just a 433 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:07,280 kind word or a smile can keep that person from hanging your spouse or to your spouse 434 00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:12,920 or to a stranger that is on the street that is walking past or whatever that you don't 435 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:17,240 know what struggles people have that you don't know what people are dealing with in their 436 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:22,040 life that there are one step away from just ending. 437 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:26,080 You never know when your number is going to come up what little pothole somebody symbolically 438 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:29,560 is going to run over in their life and just they're gone. 439 00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:33,560 Sometimes they don't get that chance to come back and tell their story. 440 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:38,320 And there's a lot of darkness in the world that people are dealing with every single 441 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:39,320 day. 442 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:40,320 I went through it. 443 00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:42,560 She went through it before we found each other. 444 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:46,520 There I mean the valley of the shadow of death is deep out there and they don't always 445 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:51,000 know that there's footprints in the sand carrying them. 446 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:56,040 Grandma Ma has that poem hanging on the wall everywhere but not everybody has that grandma 447 00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:58,760 to read that poem to know that they're being carried through that. 448 00:26:58,760 --> 00:26:59,760 Do you know what? 449 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:03,960 Everybody out there know what I'm talking about the poem on Grandma Ma's wall. 450 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:08,120 Yeah I think we know the poem of walking on the sand. 451 00:27:08,120 --> 00:27:12,120 This woman here man I saw her go through it and she went to the hospital. 452 00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:14,440 She had tubes hanging out of her skull. 453 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:18,360 I mean they were telling me that I was going to have to find a place for her. 454 00:27:18,360 --> 00:27:23,080 I mean the first two couple of nights she was in there they're like if if she makes 455 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:29,480 it out of here you need to find a hospital to put her in because if she wakes up she's 456 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:34,800 not going to know you probably if she does she may not even be herself. 457 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:36,280 She may have a completely different personality. 458 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:38,680 She may be angry, hateful, spiteful. 459 00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:40,560 She may be extra loud and walk. 460 00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:41,560 She might be paralyzed. 461 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:42,560 She might be paralyzed. 462 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:46,920 You may have to change your diapers and I said you know what all of the above she's 463 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:50,080 going home with me because I'm going to take care of her. 464 00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:56,480 I just want to thank you too so much Deanna thank you for sharing this story and Jeff 465 00:27:56,480 --> 00:27:58,680 I want to give you the last word. 466 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:03,560 I know how hard this has been for you and the last word that I'd like you to share 467 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:07,880 with us is what are you grateful for today? 468 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:12,600 First of all I'm grateful to have a father in heaven that has given us this chance to 469 00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:17,440 be here on this earth to live this life but I'm grateful most of all today for this chance 470 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:22,200 to get this story out for people to hopefully get something good out of this and I'm grateful 471 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:24,360 for my wife most of all. 472 00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:26,160 I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her. 473 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:30,200 She cared for me and I'm glad I was there to be able to help her get through this and 474 00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:34,160 I'm very grateful for you to help us get this story out on this and I hope somebody just 475 00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:36,600 one person can get something good out of it. 476 00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:39,960 Honestly, no there's something good out there for you all. 477 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:43,400 There's something good waiting. 478 00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:46,200 Thanks again for listening and sharing this podcast. 479 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:52,280 Don't forget to hit the follow or subscribe button and sign up for our newsletter at roundtripdeath.com. 480 00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:56,560 If you want to share your near-death experience or if you have questions or comments about 481 00:28:56,560 --> 00:29:00,880 the show, send an email to ericatroundtripdeath.com. 482 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:28,040 Until then, I wish you everything good that you're looking for in this life and the next.