Grammy’s Second Trip to Heaven-A Near Death Experience

Earlier I wrote about my grandmother’s (Grammy’s) first trip to heaven. The first trip was a vision. The second, a few years later, was a near-death experience. I’m only saying as much as she told me. I don’t understand all the details of what she said, and I can’t be sure if what she saw was part of heaven or another place. To her, it felt like heaven.

The Incident

Grammy was at her workplace when she had a severe allergic reaction to a cleaning chemical. She ran outside gasping for breath and fell on the ground. Someone called an ambulance. When the paramedics arrived, her heart had stopped.

They injected epinephrine to try to make her heart start again, but she had an allergic reaction to it. Her heart started and then stopped again a second time. Somehow her heart started again and they got her to the emergency room.

We heard about the incident and we didn’t know how she was or if she would survive. However, the next day she was conscious and we visited her at the hospital.

It was now clear that she was going to live, but she had significant brain damage because of oxygen deprivation. Her speech was slurred and she was unable to speak certain words. However, she could speak enough to communicate her experience the day before.

The Near-Death Experience

When she was on the ground, she floated up and saw her body below her on the sidewalk. She found herself in a wide open place like a desert and saw blue mountains way off in the distance. There was an indescribable peace, and she thought “I’m finally here! I must be in heaven!”

Then she saw something coming across the desert toward her from the mountains. It was hard to describe, but she described it as like a cloud or a big tumbleweed rolling across the desert towards her. God’s voice spoke out of this thing and said “Donna, you need to fight to live! Your family needs you.”

She felt disappointed because she never wanted to leave that wonderful place. But she thought of her family and decided, “OK, I will fight for my life.” Then she was back in her body.

Recovery

Grammy was only at the hospital for a little longer and was sent home. I visited her soon after because she still needed to be healed.

I held both my hands over her head and said, “In Jesus’ name, brain be restored and speech come back.” Her head got extremely hot. She was sweating, and I felt heat radiating off of her head even when I held my hands about 5 inches away. I stood there and thanked God for 15 minutes or so.

Since she couldn’t say certain words, I said “In Jesus’ name, say ___.” She said it. Then another one. She had significant improvement in speech and mental ability. Her speech was not yet perfect when I left, but it was nearly normal. I kept thanking God for what He was doing, and she continued to recover.

That was several years ago. I just talked to her on the phone recently, and I didn’t notice any problems or difficulties with her speech.

Final Thoughts

Some details of what Grammy described seemed a little strange to me. I don’t understand everything. Heaven was like a desert? Maybe what she saw was part of heaven, or maybe it was some other place. I don’t know. But she felt a wonderful, overwhelming peace and never wanted to leave. It was interesting that she described God speaking out of a thing that looked like a tumbleweed or a cloud, because in the Bible we read of God speaking out of a cloud, and also out of a burning bush.

In any case, Grammy’s experience reminds us that God has a purpose for our lives on earth. Grammy didn’t know how much she was needed here. We are here to help and bless other people in some way. We have promises of long life in scripture.

Psalm 91:6 (KJV) With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

Before that, I had talked to Grammy about Jesus’ command not just to heal the sick, but to raise the dead (Matthew 10:8 and 11:5). Grammy had always said “Well, if I die, leave me alone! I want to stay in heaven!” However, she did die, or nearly die, and God told her to return!

We will have forever to enjoy ourselves in heaven. But there are a few wonderful things we can’t do in heaven. One is getting married! (Matthew 22:30) The others are things like healing the sick, casting out demons, and leading people to salvation. In heaven everyone will be healed, there will be no demons, and everyone will be saved! Here on earth, we have the opportunity to do things that may make a difference for eternity.

Finally, if anyone has read this and a friend or family member is suffering loss of mobility or speech from a stroke or other brain injury, I encourage you to lay your hands on them and say, “In Jesus’ name, brain be restored.” God is full of compassion and he wants to restore the abilities that were lost.

For another story of restoration after a stroke, go here.