A man who experienced a sudden medical emergency at work, leading to a brief death before being resuscitated, has shared his firsthand account of what it’s like beyond life.
In a 2017 survey examining the prevalent fears among Americans, over 20 percent expressed being ‘afraid’ or ‘very afraid’ of dying.
Although this fear ranked lower than concerns such as ‘computers replacing people in the workforce’ (25.3 percent), government drone usage (27.2 percent), and the ‘collapse of the electrical grid’ at 35.7 percent, it remains a common anxiety for many.
One man’s experience, however, suggests that death is not as terrifying as it might seem, perhaps justifying its lower ranking behind issues like pollution, credit card fraud, and climate change.
The man, who remains unnamed, shared his story with TikTok influencer @glojays, who conducts street interviews for his 2.5 million followers.
Glojays noticed the man wearing broken glasses and inquired about it, leading to the revelation of a recent seizure.
“It’s pretty crazy to talk about,” the man explained. “I had a seizure last week and it’s uh, fallout from my death from last year.”
The incident occurred unexpectedly while he was at work in a cafe, and he described how his skull ‘cracked’ open.
“I had what’s called a craniectomy – or I had a blood clot on my brain, it grew to the size of my brain,” he said.
During this ordeal, he was declared dead by medical professionals.
Miraculously, his vitals returned while in the ambulance, and he survived a six-hour craniectomy surgery, which carries a 42 percent fatality rate.
After spending two weeks in a coma, he emerged with a renewed perspective on life.
“My doctor calls me ‘coin flipper’ because I flipped a coin on my life and I had a bad coin, and I still won,” he shared.
When asked about his experience of death, he described it as “Peaceful. Peaceful.”
He noted that the real challenge comes with life after such an experience.
Initially skeptical of others’ stories about near-death experiences, he acknowledged a familiar phenomenon:
“Now that I’ve been through it, what I can say is true what a lot of people say is: Life flashes before your eyes, like every memory.”
He elaborated, “I’m telling you, every single memory you’ve ever made in your entire life will rush past you at light speed and you get to a point where whatever pain you might be feeling, you don’t feel anymore and you’ll kind of just start to not even understand what’s going on and then either you’ll be back or you won’t.”
Despite the peaceful nature of his near-death experience, he admitted, “One of the hardest things I’ve had to deal with is accepting to be back alive after I died.”
While he feels more at peace with his situation now, his story has resonated with many on social media, providing comfort to some.
However, the narrative also sparked humorous reactions on Reddit, with one user joking, “Back to breaking my glasses in a seizure-induced spasm. Mondays!”
Another quipped, “Oh ffs, now I HAVE to pay my bill,” referencing a common American fear that ranks sixth at 48.4 percent.