People who have been through near-death experiences have spoken about what it was like and the kinds of things they saw and heard.
Accounts from people who say they’ve come close to dying often share unexpected similarities, even when the circumstances are completely different.
In one Reddit thread, a user invited others to describe what happened to them during a near-death experience (NDE) and what they remember seeing, hearing, or feeling.
One commenter said their experience began with “complete darkness” and a powerful calm that changed how they think about death. They wrote: “Complete darkness, closer to a void. Absolutely nothing I was floating. But it was very peaceful. It was too peaceful that it was scary. I never realised how peaceful a human can feel. There was no passage of time I existed and didn’t exist at the same time. Main reason I believe death isn’t that scary.”
Another person responded that they’d felt much the same — darkness, awareness, and a sense of peace — but with the addition of what they interpreted as a choice about whether to return.
“Total darkness, complete darkness, but aware. There was total Peace. No feelings no emotion, It felt like floating in space, literally. I was given an option to remain how I was or go back. I was also for warned that the life I come back to will not be pleasant, and it will take two years or more to repair your life, and it will be very hard. I chose to stay, and all of my warnings were right on.”
Some people associate NDEs with the sensation of their life “flashing” before them. One Redditor said that happened after a serious crash — and that they also watched the collision replay repeatedly from different perspectives.
“I was in a bad car accident, hit my head really on in the steering wheel. Sounds cliche but my entire life flashed before my eyes, then I got to watch the car crash over and over in super slow motion from several different angles, including between the two cars as they were colliding, then I got to see it a few times at full speed from fewer angles,” they said.
“The final thing was I was thrown back into the driver’s seat and got one more full speed replay. Blew my mind, gives me goosebumps every time I think of it.”
Others described something very different: bright whiteness, faint sounds, and figures that felt oddly recognisable.
One added: “Whiteness… it developed into a gauzy/not quite in focus vision of a grand high ceilinged ballroom. Could make out faint music, and figures walking across the ballroom floor, though I couldn’t make them out, they seemed familiar to me. I eventually became aware of a presence beside me. Though I was unable to look anywhere but straight ahead. I don’t recall hearing the words, but I remember the feeling of being told comforting things.
“Then, behind this vision, I could hear my bedroom door open and the face of a friend broke through the vision and I heard them as if from a great distance tell me they were getting me to the hospital.”
Another Redditor also mentioned a white light and a voice, describing the experience alongside memories of being dragged underwater.
Another agreed, adding: “The white light… heard a voice that started off quiet and got progressively louder telling me to stand up. I got pulled under in the ocean and was being pummelled by rocks.”
Psychology Today has reported that an estimated 10 to 20 percent of people who have been declared dead may have experienced an NDE.
In one study involving patients who survived cardiac arrest, just under 10 percent said they remembered a near-death experience.