Niamh Spence
What happens after we die remains one of the biggest mysteries in life, and one that we'll probably never truly figure out.
I mean, to do so means we'd be long gone and not be back to text the group WhatsApp to explain what it felt like.
However, one woman has opened up about her experience in an 'AMA' (ask me anything) thread on Reddit after she was put on life support and, at one point, 'pronounced dead for a couple of minutes'.
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In the thread, the woman start off by writing: "I have died, was revived, and was on life support for quite some time.
"I also work in healthcare. Needless to say, being on both sides of the spectrum (as a healthcare provider and patient surviver) after this incident has really heightened my perspective."
In a follow up comment, she continued: "I was pronounced dead for a couple of minutes. Then, placed on a mechanical ventilator for several days on the ICU.
"The experience was humbling. I felt absolutely no pain. I was comfortable even though my body was fighting hard against everything physically.
"I remember vomiting a few times while on the ventilator and aspirating... but, it didn't hurt. I was surrounded by my family in the ICU, which was comforting."
The Redditor added: "It was a bit like an out-of-body experience... I can still recall conversations my family had in the ICU room but no matter how much I wanted to reply to them or even interact with them, I couldn't. That was the weird part for me."
The healthcare worker then opened up about her strange vision - seeing her grandmother who had died in 2004.
She penned: "She told me to 'turn around... my time here is just beginning.' Then... I felt the tubes slide out of my lungs and the nurses yelling my name."
In another follow up comment, the woman wrote: "I do believe that I saw my grandmother. I also, sometimes, reason with myself, too... asking whether or not it could've just been the drugs.
"However, any time I think about it, I land on... it was really her."
While the afterlife, and whether it's true or not, remains to be seen it seems experiences of being on the other side of death are not that uncommon.
Other Reddit users have taken to the thread to share their own experiences.
One account posted: "I’m a hospice nurse and most ppl see their dead loved ones or Jesus ( if they have the faith) when they die. I’ve seen people reach up, sometimes they pet their long dead pets."
Another shared: "I have seen this also with my patients. Usually right before they expire. It's comforting to me now, knowing that my experience was positive... its likely that their experience is also comforting!"
"Wow! Thank you for sharing your story," said someone else. "My grandfather passed away this year. A few days before he did, my grandmother had a dream in which her dead relatives were stood behind a metal gate and said to her get ready to say your goodbyes, we’ll look after him now."