One of life's greatest mysteries is death. Is that ironic? Humans spend so much time wondering about what happens after we draw our last breath, rather than focusing on using the breath we have left. It maybe morbid but the curiosity is normal. And it seems that there are several people out there who say they can explain what it feels like to be dead or near dead and then return. Now whether or not that is the mind playing tricks or truth, we'll never know. But it's still fascinating to decipher.
Redditror u/Aidanmartin3 wanted to hear from the people who have returned from the light by asking.... Redditors who were pronounced dead and resuscitated, what did you go through mentally while being pronounced dead?I'm Awake
David Dore Hello GIF by Sick Animation
Giphy
I don't remember anything from the whole day. It happened one afternoon. Only thing I remember is waking in the hospital two days later to a surprised nurse. Turns out they thought I was going to be in a coma.
Massive trauma...
I was in a motorbike accident in 2013. It eventually resulted in internal bleeding from damage to my spleen and liver (plus more - I was pretty messed up. Just the spleen was really bleeding though). I ended up with 13 units added to me over multiple transfusions.
I had a few small incision surgeries to try to stop the bleeding before they really opened me up. The morning I was supposed to have a big surgery I was waiting in the ICU.
I am told that I "coded" one morning. Effectively I was on the edge of death and my heart stopped. It was definitely not so far as to be pronounced dead but I guess it was closer than most people prefer.
Between physical trauma, massive blood loss, and massive-er pain killers my memory of the time in the ICU is spotty at best. I have absolutely no memory of coding. It isn't very exciting from my prospective, but my brother says it was pretty intense for everyone else in the room.
Luckily I have a totally normal life now. If I'm wearing jeans and a t-shirt all my scars are hidden and no one knows any different. In the pool, there are a lot of scars to see. Kids stare. It doesn't bother me.
Thanks to all the medical staff out there that do so much to keep people like me alive!!!
A Long Nap
I wasn't actually pronounced dead, I was in a coma on life support. I was drugged at a bar and overdosed on the drug. I don't really remember much but I know I walked home from the har and my sister said when I got there I immediately fell down and wasn't waking up. She rushed me to the hospital and said I wasn't breathing and my lips were blue when I got there. I was immediately put on machines and miraculously woke up about 24 hours later.
The thing is, I have zero memory and it didn't feel like that long. It was like waking up from a nap when I did wake up and I didn't understand what the deal was when my friend ran out of the room like "she's awake! Get in here!". To this day, my near death is a huge disappointment. I didn't have any dreams, I didn't get to see any dead relatives, I didn't meet God or any Angels, nor my spirit guide. It was just a $12,000 nap.
Going Black
Giphy
I got hit by a car. I could still see with my eye that didn't have blood in it. I could hear all the commotion.
I felt getting forced into my back and then CPR. I felt my first heartbeat and then blood flowing through my body and at that point I felt all the pain took a deep breath and then everything went black.
3 Days Later
My buddy had heart surgery last year that got complicated, to the point where it took about triple the time it was supposed to. (He has spoken at length with me about the experience because it was so traumatic.) He did require resuscitation from a full arrest mid-surgery, which sadly (fortunately?) he does not remember.
What he does slightly remember, is the THREE DAYS of post-surgical psychosis as the specific cocktail of sedation played poorly with his personal brain chemistry.
For him it was a relentless stream of horrible hallucinations, demons, fighting monsters, quicksand, carnivorous hospital beds, being swallowed by the orderlies who morphed into tentacle monsters, pulling out his own Foley catheter while it was still inflated, all sorts of terrible, horrible memories he wish he could erase.
So if he even remembered specifically the being dead portion of the program, it is unlikely that would even compare to the subsequent 3 days of his life.
"widowmaker"
I had a "widowmaker" heart attack. If my GF hadn't been there and acted quickly, I'd be dead. But she administered CPR and the ambulance got there fast and revived me with the defibrillator paddles. Got to the hospital and was given an emergency stent and stabilized. But I was technically dead for 4 1/2 minutes. The doctors told my family and GF that I'd most likely remain in a coma due to how long I was gone.
Then shortly after I woke up. Super out of it. I was looking around trying to figure out what happened and I guess some change in my vitals prompted a nurse to come check on me. She saw me awake and looking at her and said something to the effect of, "Oh crap wow, okay" and went and got a doctor.
They explained everything as they were extubating me. (Which sucks, 1/10 do not recommend).
I was really fuzzy and confused for a few days, so this is as accurate as I can remember it. Zero memory from feeling fine the morning of the heart attack, to coming to in the hospital.
Cheese or Cool Ranch?
Yea they told me i was dead for 3 minutes, i remember those clips of people saying they experienced some kind of near-afterlife, but for me it was like sleeping, i woke up, they told me how i almost died, i said oh yeah? they explained a bunch of stuff and then offered me a grilled cheese... I had Doritos too. 10/10 would die again, it's just nothingness, not scary at all.
Edit : guys please I don't need rewards save your money, there's a lot of comments here, and people seem to have fear of being nothing, and that's ok i would have too but it's not really like that, you don't have to DO anything, it's just an absence of all things, no thoughts, no fears, just absolute zero. much deeper than a dreamless sleep, more like anaesthesia.
You're around and doin' things, and then you wake up, somewhere else, confused as all like no time at all has passed, kind of like that long stretch of time before you were born, remember that? yeah neither do I, you had nothing to fear then did you? it will be ok, just enjoy your time while you're here and give people you love BIG hugs even if your dad doesn't want one and is pretending to be a tough guy with no emotion (give him an even bigger hug).
A Hard Kick
worlds funniest fails GIF by Fox TV
Giphy
Died from an overdose for a few minutes.
There really wasn't anything. Just blackness and a vague lapse of time. It was almost like waking up from a crappy night's rest and feeling like a horse had kicked me in the chest.
Floaters
Anaphylactic reaction to an already deadly Irukandji jellyfish sting. I coded. Saw this white light and could see my myself "floating upwards" saw my family and the drs and nurses who were working on me. Came back and was in intense pain.
Stay Still
I was pronounced dead but never resuscitated I think it might be why my family freaks out whenever I move something in the house.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
But we should also be prepared and ready to ask the right questions to have a leg up on the competition.
"What is THE best question to ask on a job interview?"
A company's history or information about a past employee were suggested subjects appropriate for questioning.
Prior Knowledge
"When you were interviewing here, what would you have liked to know before you joined?"
"This worked for me. I asked my interviewer a question about how she had personally dealt with a company policy she had just explained. She bragged about her stellar adherence to the policy. I nodded my approval. I got the job."
A Previous Employee
"One that has always gone over well for me:"
"What were some qualities that the previous employee in this role brought to the job that you would like to see carried forward?"
"Another good thing to do is research the company you are interviewing with and you can ask things about what they may be involved in or you could drop that while reading about the company, you wondered this."
Hypothetical questions were suggested as helpful examples of inquiry.
Indicators Of How Companies Treat Employees
"A question that landed me a job once was: 'If I asked your direct reports about your management style, what do you think they'd tell me?' Stumped a hiring manager and he emailed me personally to tell me about it, no one ever asked him that question but got the job.
"In my current interviews I'm asking 'what did your company do for its employees during [the virus] to improve their day to day, work life balance, etc.' and I ask 'Is there anything your company adopted during [the virus] that they plan to keep post [the virus]?"
"These questions give a lot of insight into whether a company treated their employees well."
Past Performance & Adjustments
"If we were currently sitting in my 1 year review, what would I have done in this year for you to say I excelled in my role?"
"If I could snap my finger right now and change anything about your job or the company, what would it be and why?"
The following questions about a prospective company may not be answered from initial digging on their website.
Measure Of Success & Career Trajectories
"How is success measured in this role?"
"What are some possible career trajectories within the company that could stem from this position?"
Being A Solution
"Ask them what is the biggest problem you can solve for them in your first six months with the company. Similar to 'don't think of a purple hippo,' this forces them to imagine you succeeding in the position."
Simply The Best
"Who is your best employee and why is he/she the best?"
"You will then face 2 situations mostly:"
"panicking CEO who can't answer you 'Bob who works 17 hours a day for a slice of bread' so the fear in their faces must be a big nono for you"
"entusiast CEO who actually follow their business and can tell you who is an added value for the company and why."
– ThePiz91
My experiences with job interviews are different than others seeking work in office environments.
Having had a years-long career as a dancer, my "interview" was the dance audition, where hopefuls dance in small groups of people at a time after learning a routine and then awaiting their fate after the panel evaluates their performances.
The question I may or may not have asked in such a scenario earlier in my career was: "Did I make the cut?"
I did not make the cut. And I learned never to ask that again.
I remember the worst date I ever had. My biggest regret is that I stayed for the entire thing. I should've left as soon as I realized this was not going well, which was basically at hello. But he was paying so I drank, a lot. I'll keep names and dates to myself to protect the innocent.
0/10
Big Brother Reaction GIF by Big Brother After DarkGiphy"Went to brewery, date said I had hairy arms and that meant I was horny, said "you look really awful in this light" and then tried to dig out of that hole by saying in his native language that was a term of endearment long term couples said to each other. 0/10 did not date again."
Lucky 13?
"My wife wanted to plan our 13th wedding anniversary. I was excited because usually, I plan it. She bought us some new disc golf discs and after a quick supper, we went to play. We hadn't played in forever. We were laughing and I had a great time. She served me with divorce papers and told me that the date was a test to see if she still had feelings for me. I also learned that she was having an affair that started well before our anniversary."
- rmorlock
Two Hours from Home
"Not necessarily a date but a person I was dating invited me to his parent's house for the afternoon. He wanted to introduce me to them and show me the house he grew up in. I thought it was super sweet and had no problems going. He was also in the middle of moving and needed to pick up a few things, so it really didn't seem that unusual."
"Yeah, we got there and it was awful. His entire family was there. They traveled from hours away too. This was not just meeting the parents, it was meeting the ENTIRE family. Even worse? At some point, this idiot told his parents that he had proposed. We had been dating TWO months. I spent the entire afternoon dumbfounded and just playing along."
"We were two hours from home and I had no cell service, no way to leave at all. We ended up spending the afternoon brainstorming wedding ideas and planning an Alaskan honeymoon that his parents planned to gift us. His brother even called to say congratulations! We drove back to his apartment in silence. When we got there, I got in my car and left, didn't even bother grabbing my stuff. Weirdest experience ever. I have no idea how he broke it to his parents that we weren't getting married."
You're Cut Off!
"Got set up on a blind date once between mutual friends. She shows up to the restaurant already a little tipsy, orders multiple appetizers and only takes like one or two bites from each one. Then she proceeds to order 3 or 4 more drinks and is visibly drunk at this point. She gets up and says she's going to the bathroom and staggers off. About 15-20 minutes go by so I try to call her several times but no answer."
"Finally I decide to pay the check and just leave. About 2 hours later I'm sitting at home and I get a call from an unknown number. It's the police department. She was picked up on a DUI on her way home after she ditched me and gave the cops my number to see if I could go bail her out!"
- mox44ah
Sorry?
Bbc Three Idk GIF by BBCGiphy"Well, I gave this answer on a different topic, but it ties in with this. We were out on a date, we had been seeing each other for a while, close to a year maybe. She gets a phone call. Suddenly she looks destroyed. Her fiancé had just died in a motorcycle accident."
What in the world? I mean how can we ever expect to pair off with the dating pool being inundated with liars and nut jobs? I'm going to delete my apps.
Girl, Bye.
Sassy Beyonce GIFGiphy"Had a girl openly flirt with the bartender in front of me. She says she wasn't. But handing him her own phone and asking for his contact info in front of her date seems like it to me."
Crazy!
"Came out from a movie, late at night, and date's Camaro was stolen. Apparently, he called his WIFE (that I did not know he had) and let her know where he was and what happened. She showed up and realized he was on a date! She started chasing ME around the parking lot telling me she was going to kill me. Saved by the cops who showed up just in time to take the auto theft report."
Hey Mom
"Met a girl at a country bar one night in my 20s. We were both pretty drunk but hit it off pretty good. Ended up getting her number and we agreed we'd go on a real date. Fast forward to the date, she gets in my vehicle and... she looks almost identical to my mom. I was mortified. I was polite and we went for lunch where I found out she also had a boyfriend she "wasn't sure if she was into". Never talked to her again."
- SgtGo
Liars...
"When I was in college many years ago, before the advancement of cell phones and social media, I was chatting with a girl I met on a BBS who lived on Long Island, NY. I was 18 at the time, but lied and said I was 22 because she said she was 25. We spent a few weeks emailing each other, as well as calling each other."
"We even exchanged pics. When we finally met up, things blew up. Turns out we both lied about our ages: She was really 33, and lied because she thought she looked younger. She admitted she sent a college photo to me. We still had dinner together, but it was awkward as hell. We never spoke again."
Doubles
Kill Me Now Season 1 GIF by FriendsGiphy"It was a double date. She was more interested talking to the other girl throughout the whole thing. Found out later from the other guy that his girl cheated on him with my date."
Ummm... I think I'm just going to stay single. That is a handful of crazy. Why can't people just be honest? I swear the search for love warps people's brains. Be careful out there people.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.