A former US Marine, Dannion Brinkley, experienced a remarkable event when he was pronounced dead for 28 minutes after being struck by lightning. This unusual event happened in 1975, and Brinkley has since shared his extraordinary experience of what he encountered during those moments.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the likelihood of being struck by lightning in any given year is incredibly rare, with odds of less than one in a million. However, Brinkley became that rare case when lightning struck a pole and traveled through the phone line he was holding, ultimately hitting him.
Brinkley described the incident vividly: “It went into the side of my head above my ear, it went down my spine. It welded the nails of the heels of my shoes to the floor. It threw me up in the air, I see the ceiling, it slams me back down, a ball of fire comes through the room and blinds me. I am burning. I am on fire. I am paralyzed,” he recalled to 8 News Now.
After the strike, Brinkley experienced an out-of-body journey and returned to life 28 minutes later, after having been taken to the morgue. During this time, he wasn’t inactive; he has since shared insights about his near-death experience and what he perceived after departing his body.
Brinkley reported feeling as though he was floating alongside the ambulance transporting him to the hospital, observing the doctors from above as they declared him dead. He recounted traveling through a tunnel and encountering a spiritual entity within a ‘Crystal City.’
During this experience, Brinkley witnessed a panoramic replay of his life, observing it as if from a second-person perspective. “You watch it from a second person point of view,” he explained in a YouTube interview on T&H – Afterlife. The spiritual being then posed a significant question to him: “In the life you just reviewed, what difference did you and God make?”
Though some may doubt Brinkley’s story, his beliefs were reaffirmed through two additional near-death experiences. The second occurrence was in 1989 during an open-heart surgery, where he recalled reuniting with ‘angelic instructors’ and learning how to use new spiritual gifts to assist those in need.
Brinkley’s third encounter came during brain surgery. In an effort to document and share his extraordinary experiences, he authored a book titled “Saved by the Light” and remains steadfast against skepticism.
“When you learn you don’t die, when you learn you’re a spiritual being, you’re not going to go to hell, that’s enough to inspire you to change,” he stated, as reported by 8 News Now.
Brinkley has since dedicated himself to helping others by volunteering in hospice care and providing counseling to terminally ill patients, particularly fellow veterans.