Woman who had harrowing near-death experience shares 'vision' she saw after 'dying' twice
A woman who claims to have died twice in the same day has revealed how she saw the 'exact' same thing both times.
Lisa Small, 41, came back from the brink despite suffering two sudden respiratory arrests just hours apart back in 2008.
She was in the throes of a drug and alcohol addiction and was just 24-years-old when she suddenly collapsed after taking cocaine.
Her boyfriend at the time gave her CPR after she became unconscious, while noting that Lisa, from Belleview in the US state of Florida, stopped breathing - but interestingly, her eyes remained wide open.
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She eventually regained consciousness and carried on with her day, but sought medical attention later that evening after she collapsed again.
Doctors later informed Lisa that she had gone into respiratory arrest, which is a life-threatening emergency where a patient stops breathing but their heart continues to beat.
This can occur for a number of reasons, according to Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support Medical Training, such as if the area of the brain that controls respiration becomes depressed, which is often seen in opioid overdoses.
"If the nerves and/or muscles are not capable of supporting respiration, a patient may enter respiratory arrest," it also states.
"Another example is a state in which the chest might not be able to physically support respiration.
"This might occur externally, e.g., with a crush injury to the chest, or internally, e.g., in acute respiratory distress syndrome or tension pneumothorax."
READ MORE:
MAN LEFT IN DISBELIEF AFTER PHOTO CONFIRMED WHAT HE SAW DURING NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE
WOMAN WHO SUFFERED NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES EXPLAINS WHAT SHE SAW IN 'AFTERLIFE'
It can have fatal consequences if not treated quickly, while the oxygen deprivation can also trigger a cardiac arrest or cause irreversible damage to the brain.
But miraculously, Lisa was one of 'the blessed ones that made it' back to the land of the living and insists that she didn't sustain any lasting damage - but she claims to have encountered heaven on her way back.
Discussing her near-death experience, the waitress explained: "I literally stopped breathing. I collapsed. I stopped breathing.
"All of a sudden I was in this big, huge open field, and there was a tree next to me, and then there was a guy in a white cloth. Way off, miles and miles away, there was a sea of people.
"I couldn't physically see anybody, but I felt like I knew them. This feeling of just wonderfulness. I can't even explain it."
"It was like euphoria times a million," she added.
Fascinatingly, Lisa claims that she returned to 'the exact same spot' during her second collapse hours later.
"Exact same tree, person, people in the distance, exact same feeling," the mum said. "My boyfriend told me, 'Your eyes were open the entire time' - so clearly, I wasn't dreaming."
She explained she felt like a 'phoenix out of the ashes' in wake of her near-death experience, although it took her another ten years to kick her drug habit for good.
After a turbulent decade, during which Lisa believes she spent around $40,000 (£30,139) on substances, she managed to turn her life around in 2018.
"Being sober, my life has literally done a full 360, not even just a 180," Lisa said. "Everything is different. Everything. Where I was headed was total destruction.
"Addiction is basically a pit of despair, like a demon that has a hold of you. You have to be stronger than that."
Olivia Burke