On April 19, 2007 I experienced something I never thought I would ever experience. I was on the out door patio of a restaurant. I headed inside and I walked into a closed sliding glass door. I hit very hard. I was sort of stepping up so my face took all of the extra force of my momentum. I experienced incredible pain as my face hit the glass. I knew I was hurt badly so I turned around so I would slide down the glass instead of just falling down. My friend and a lady who I don't know put me in a chair. I knew I was in a chair and that I was in pain but I kept going in and out of consciousness and don't remember much. I started to vomit and sweat. Then I have no memory at all.

I found myself standing on a hill of beautiful flowers and tall grass. The day was very bright and sunny. There was no pain and I felt wonderful and free. I had never been so happy in my life. I remember just feeling extreme happiness and contentment. The weather was perfect; the sky was bright blue with no clouds. The hill was covered in wild yellow and white daisies and tall green grass. The grass and the flowers looked so pretty and fresh and so bright and clean. To my right and up a little was an incredibly bright large sun; it took up almost a third of my field of vision. I bent over a little at my waist to see what my dress looked like. I could see my hands holding out the skirt of the dress; it was a beautiful bright pleated skirt with yellow and white daisies on a bed of tall grass. I thought it looked just like the setting on the hill that I was standing on. I loved the dress and I was so happy with the feel of the crisp bright pleats folded on the skirt.

My view at that time was limited to my hands, the skirt and my legs in the grass. I could not see my bare feet because the grass was too tall. There was little flashing white things floating everywhere in the air. I thought they were the white fluffy part of dandelions blowing everywhere. My hands looked like they did when I was younger and thinner. The time I spent standing on the hill didn't seem like a very long time, just a minute or so. I will always remember the beauty and intense feeling of happiness. As I was looking down at my skirt I heard voices coming from far away. For the first time I started to think a little. I never wear dresses and why was the sun so big and bright and low to the ground. I had no idea where I was and why people were talking around me. Suddenly I was sort of lifted, but not really lifted as such, out of the field and I could feel intense pain and I was sitting slumped over a little in a chair while someone was trying to hold my head back. Exchanging the beautiful sunny day with darkness and pain was very unexpected and confusing. At first I didn't know exactly who or where I was, I just remembered the beautiful yellow dress and the hill.

Then people where all around poking and asking me questions. I didn't want to answer them. When I tried to talk I could only move my lips with no sound coming out. Then almost all at once I realized the men were paramedics and my friend was there too. I never really looked up at anyone. I guess my eyes where closed because I didn't see anyone. I was able to answer the questions I was asked, but was still confused. They asked me what happened and then I remembered I had hit my head very hard on the glass door. I kept touching the large lump on my forehead and the cuts on my face. I said I thought my nose was broken and I was surprised by the extreme pain. They put me on a stretcher and took me to the hospital. I only remember a few seconds of that. They were talking about how low my blood pressure was and they put an oxygen mask on me.

I started to become fully aware on the stretcher as we rolled down the halls of the hospital. My first lucid memory was seeing the ceiling lights go by as I was wheeled down the halls.

I was told that I had a concussion. I was in considerable pain and concerned that my nose was broken so I didn't think about the hill.

My friend was very upset about the experience. I asked him what happened. He said it was the worst thing he ever saw. He said that I just sat there slumped in the chair with my eyes wide open not blinking. He said I was breathing very shallow and they needed to hold my head back or it would have fallen forward. They said that I was unconscious for about eight minutes. My friend and a lady took turns keeping track of my pulse. They were very upset at my open non blinking glassy eyes. My friend said that at one time neither of them could find my pulse. My friend was very upset about the way I looked. He was the first to say that I could have died for a short time! It never occurred to me that I might have died for a short time. I was in pain and confused so it was a day or two before I thought about my time on the hill. I had never talked to anyone about a near-death experience. All I know about near death experiences is the little I have heard on TV. I didn't really have any interest in the subject.

My time on the hill was so real and it left me with very vivid memories of that experience. My friend was still so upset about the way my eyes looked. He felt I looked dead. For the first time I remembered the bright oversized sun. Could it have been that bright light that people talk about?

About 10 days after the accident I looked up near-death experiences on the internet. The first web site I found was the IANDS site. I started to read a few things and read that most studies could be compromised if the person read about other experiences. I stopped reading and felt it was time to write my experience down.

I looked for a local support group. I will be attending my first meeting on Friday the 4th of May.

Was I dead? Did I have a near death experience?

Now that I have written down this strange experience I can do some reading and some research. It is still so new I'm not really sure if it will change my life. It was definitely the strangest thing that I have ever been through.