Riley Courtright has spoken out about meeting God in heaven after twice being declared clinically dead.
Courtright, 34, claims both episodes occurred within an 18-month span following her diagnosis with vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that attacks the body’s connective tissues and carries a high risk of fatal internal bleeding. The Texas woman said her first death happened at home after physicians exhausted all treatment options. The second came as she and her husband prepared for what they believed would be her final days.
“Dying is a funny thing because it all sort of happens at once,” Courtright said during an appearance on the Round Trip podcast. She described the second episode as an immediate spiritual transport rather than a fading consciousness.
“When I died, I instantly shot up to God,” she recalled. “And there was no mistaking that’s where I was. He is bigger than the cosmos. I got to wrap my arms around his neck. I got to sit in his lap. I got to play by his ankles. I got to go with him to work.”
Courtright, who identified as a lifelong atheist before these experiences, offered a detailed account of what she witnessed in the afterlife. She claimed to have observed divine creation firsthand during her time there.
“It felt like I got to watch him expand the universe,” she continued. “I got to watch him build the next Earth that we’re all going to be on,” Courtright added that God had “explained” the universe to her through a complete information download. “You get every bit of information that’s ever existed in the universe all at once,” she said.
The return to her body brought what she described as physical restoration along with spiritual transformation. Courtright claimed her first breath back on earth was the “cleanest” she had ever taken, and that she received new organs from the creator.
“There was nothing wrong with my heart anymore,” she claimed. “My lungs were great. My kidneys, my liver. I was hungry.” She stated that she knew in her soul she had been healed by the Lord.
Medical professionals apparently struggled to account for what they observed. Courtright said doctors told her: “We can’t explain this, but you look like a healthy 34-year-old. Like, your organs look good. We can’t see the past trauma anymore from heart attacks, from strokes, or signs of internal bleeding. Like you’re great.”
Following this assessment, Courtright declined any further medical treatment. She now claims to have remained healed for seven months since the second episode.
The experience has fundamentally reshaped her worldview and her understanding of divine nature. She reflected on her previous atheism and her current perspective on how others should approach faith.
“I was an atheist, and I got to see God,” she shared. “So I also don’t want people to be scared of this, like biblical telling or this Baptist telling of, you know, ‘fear God’ because God doesn’t want to be feared.”
“He wants to be loved, right?…His love is so unconditional,” she added.
Vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is a rare connective tissue disorder that can cause arterial rupture, organ perforation, and other life-threatening complications; Courtright had reportedly suffered heart attacks, strokes, and internal bleeding prior to her claimed healings.
Courtright’s account joins a growing body of near-death experience testimonies that have gained attention through podcasts and social media, though such claims remain scientifically disputed and are typically explained by researchers as products of brain activity during trauma.