March 30, 2026
David's Fall From 75' Cliff - Beautiful NDE (Near Death Experience)
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During his NDE, David experienced leaving his body and going to a heavenly place. "It was like walking from one room to another."
In this powerful episode, David Cooke shares a life-altering near-death experience (NDE) he had at just seven years old after falling 75 feet into a canyon.
Clinically lifeless and placed in a coma for eight days, David recounts vivid out-of-body experiences, including watching doctors work on him, floating above the hospital, and entering what he describes as a heavenly realm.
From his NDE, he describes overwhelming peace, weightlessness, and unconditional love—feelings far beyond anything experienced in the physical world. At a gate guarded by an angelic figure, David was told it was not his time and that he still had a purpose on Earth.
Despite wanting to stay, he returned to his body—regaining consciousness against overwhelming medical odds.
Now decades later, David reflects on how his NDE shaped his faith, eliminated his fear of death, and gave him a deep sense of purpose and peace about what lies beyond this life.
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eric@roundtripdeath.com
WEBVTT
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From the time that they pronounced me that was
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a good 45 minutes They cut my clothes and then
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they paddled my heart my heart stopped and I
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could see people screaming and crying But I didn't
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realize that was actually my physical body because
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I was somewhere else The only thing that I could
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feel if you can imagine Absolute love and peace
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there wasn't anything else to be felt. I was
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greeted by people I'd known in the past I'm back
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home again. Incredibly safe and felt at home.
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I'd like to welcome to the show today, David
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Cooke. Thank you so much for being here all the
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way from Kentucky, right? Yes, yes. I live in
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Kentucky. It is a beautiful place, although the
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last time I was there was snowing, but I hear
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it's beautiful in the summer. Yeah. It gets to
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be, it's pretty nice here. It gets to be hot
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and humid sometimes, but you'll find that probably
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anywhere, anywhere in the Midwest, I guess. Well,
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I know you're a listener of the show and I appreciate
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you reaching out. And I hope I don't surprise
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you too badly. I just feel like doing something
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backwards today. And that is before we've learned
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a little bit about you and get into your whole
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experience. I want to ask you one question about
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your NDE. Okay. And that is, what does it feel
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like when you leave this body and enter a heavenly
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place? Well, it feels, you know, that's a very
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good question, and it feels weightless. It feels
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like, you know, you feel the presence of your
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hands, you feel the presence of your body, presence
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of your feet. I can feel my feet on my legs right
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now. But when you go into an ulterior place,
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a heavenly place, a place other than your earthly
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bounds, you don't feel the weight of your body.
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It's like you're walking or you're floating.
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You just feel light. You move about. Just moving
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you want to go from here to there you go from
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here to there Maybe like no gravity Like no gravity
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exactly. Okay. Well, there's a little tease of
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much more to come But before we jump into your
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whole story David tell us just a little bit about
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you so our listeners can get to know who David
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cook is Okay. Well, I am 58 years old I had a
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Tragic, well, not so tragic, I guess you could
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say, but a life -changing experience back when
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I was 51 years ago, back when I was seven years
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old. I am the youngest of four. My oldest sibling,
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my sister, and my oldest brother had a part in
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my story. They were an intricate part in the
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bringing about my My hospital stay, I guess you
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could say. I have been a believer in Christ for
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probably since I was five years old. And my parents
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were missionaries to the Native Americans in
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Northwestern New Mexico, the Zuni Indians. And
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that's where my story takes place is in Northwestern
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New Mexico. I was the youngest of four. I have
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a middle brother also, and he was, he really
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didn't have a part of my story. I am husband
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of my wife. I'm a father of two daughters. I
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stepfather of three daughters and a son. I have
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a granddaughter and a step -granddaughter also.
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That is awesome. Aren't those daughters and grandkids
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the very best? Yes. And I say that with joy in
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my heart and half laughing because I didn't mention
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sons and Will, my son, is doing some editing
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on this and hopefully he's getting a little chuckle
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from it right now too because he thinks he's
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the favorite. So anyway, let's move on from all
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that before I dig myself a deeper hole here and
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get myself more in trouble with my family. Let's
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go back to when you were seven years old. I know
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what happened, but Please tell our listeners
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what led up to your big fall that day. Well,
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OK. I was like I said, I'm the youngest of four.
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And this particular day, in fact, it's right
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at 51 years. It was March 19th, 1975. So it was
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almost to the day I was home. And my mom was
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at work. My dad was away on a speaking trip to
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raise support for the ministry. And my oldest
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brother and a friend of his, my oldest brother's
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name is Greg and a friend of his name is Jamie,
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they were going to explore a canyon around our
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house. And so I followed my oldest brother and
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they came upon this canyon and there was this
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crevice that led down to the bottom of this cliff
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and they went down into this crevice and I stayed
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up on top and I was kicking these rusty cans
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over the edge of this cliff. This cliff was 75
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feet but down to the bottom and before long I
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got closer and closer to the edge of that cliff
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and I fell. I ended up falling head first. head
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first on the rock bottom and Jamie and my brother
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Greg heard me fall and they came running out
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Jamie screamed and he went and ran to get his
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father as he went and ran into his father his
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father King came down in their car to pick me
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up my brother came out and my brother did what
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he remembered that our parents taught us to do
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he got down on his hands and knees and he began
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to pray. He prayed that God would not let me
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die. Jamie's father came and picked me up and
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took me to the hospital there and on the way
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to the hospital he ran across my sister Christy
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and he says Christy you need to get in the car.
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David has been hurt. We need to go pick him up.
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She jumped in the car with Jamie's father. They
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got down to the bottom of the cliff and they
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walked up a small slope to where I was laying
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at my lifeless body. They picked up my lifeless
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body, laid it in the back of their car, took
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me to the Zuni hospital for whatever repairs,
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whatever the Zuni hospital could do. The Zuni
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hospital did not have the adequate equipment
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to prepare to do any kind of major surgery on
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my head that wasn't needing to be done. So a
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airplane had to be called in to fly me from Zuni
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to Albuquerque, New Mexico. And when I landed
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at Albuquerque, I went in and was checked into
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Loveless Batan Medical Center in Albuquerque.
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When I was checked into the hospital, this is
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where I can first remember an OBE or an NDE,
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however it might be described. But I remember
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being rushed into the hospital screaming my head
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off because I was not only scared to death, but
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I was in pain. Not only that, but I could also
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remember myself seeing the whole thing taking
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place. I was watching it. take place like I was
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overhead watching the nurses running in, rushing
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in. And I remember a female paramedic say, it's
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okay, buddy. You're going to be okay. I was rushed
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into the hospital and I entered the hospital
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and I had eight days in a coma in the hospital.
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My mom and dad showed up at the hospital. My
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dad thought he would never hear me ever again.
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Eight days in the middle of the night, my dad
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heard me pray. And my dad would always kneel
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down and pray with us at night before we would
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go to bed. And I always would pray the same thing,
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Dear Jesus, help us to obey our parents. And
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in the middle of the night, the silence was broken.
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with me praying dear Jesus help us to obey our
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parents and That's the first words that came
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out of my mouth when I came out of that coma
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During that coma I can remember times where I
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would be laying down there in the in bed and
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my Spirit my soul would leave my body and would
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float Above my body and up float and I would
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see myself laying in that bed I would not leave
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the room. My soul would not leave the room per
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se But I would float back down into my body during
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the time in the hospital though. There were times
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that I can remember my soul leaving my body and
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floating up above the hospital and Just kind
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of floating around above the hospital and then
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floating back down into my body. And there was
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one time in surgery where I was going into surgery.
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I had cerebral surgeries on my skull. I can remember
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the nurse giving me the shot. I can remember
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crying and saying, ow, ow, and crying. And as
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I went into the surgery, the doctor said, okay,
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come on, buddy. lifted me up off off of the the
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crib of sorts and it was like a metal crib and
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put me on the operating table and during the
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surgery I can remember my soul leaving my body
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leaving the hospital not so much floating away
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but it was like just walking from one room into
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another just as simple as walking from one room
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into another and I can remember as it were, being
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in a heavenly realm. And I can remember an angelic
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figure at a gate, at a large gate. And he had,
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as it were, like a clipboard -type thing. As
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I went into that heavenly realm, I said, okay,
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well, we're going to need to go. And somebody
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directed me toward that angelic figure. And I
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went toward that angelic figure. I said, well,
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I said, I guess here I am. He said, well, he
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says, you're not supposed to be here yet. You
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have more things to do. I said, why can't I go
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over there? He says, you have more purpose on
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staying where you're at. And I can remember as
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it were, souls crossing the gate. I wanted to
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go where they're at. I said, why can't I go where
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they're going? And the angelic figure said, you
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have to stay. I said to the angelic figure, what
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are they doing? And the angelic figure kind of
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directed his hand behind me. And I turned around
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and I said, can I see? It looked like there was
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clouds as He wiped away the clouds. I could look
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down and I could see the doctors working on me,
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working on my head as I had fallen and was in
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surgery. When I was looking down, I can remember
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the presence of a person beside me. The person
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beside me, I could almost... I have the comfort
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of saying that it probably was Jesus. And I have
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his arm around my shoulder. Say that he was there
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with me. He said, you have to go now. And as
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I went down back into my body, it was just like
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crossing, just like walking back from one room
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into another. And when I entered back into my
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body, I could feel the confines, the weight,
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the confinement, I guess you could say, of my
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body. My hands, my feet, the pain, the pain I
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was in. And when I entered my body, I could hear
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a doctor say, we got him back. Because I think
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when I had left, I think I was probably flat
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-lined. They were afraid that they were going
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to lose me. When I entered back in the doctor
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said we got him back and I think that each of
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my outer body experiences each of my NDE was
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God's way of Progressively saying I got you David.
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I got you you're taken care of you are in my
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hands I have you under my control and the amazing
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thing is is that the doctors said when I entered
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the hospital that there would be a 10 % chance
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of life, that I'm more than likely that if I
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was able to survive, that my quality of life
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would be nothing, that I would just be a vegetable
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and that I would never be able to walk or talk
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again. Dr. Glover, the neurosurgeon that worked
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on me, 10 years later, I was in a restaurant
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in Albuquerque with my dad. My dad said, do you
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recognize that man over there? I said, no, I
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don't. And he says, let's go over there and talk
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to him. And he says, Dr. Glover, he says, I want
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to introduce you to somebody. This is my son,
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David. You worked on him 10 years ago. And Dr.
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Glover, his mouth dropped open when he saw me.
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because Dr. Glover said that he never expected
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to see that I would be able to survive like that.
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That is just so beautiful, David. I really appreciate
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you sharing. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?
00:16:18.169 --> 00:16:21.389
Absolutely. Okay. Just help fill in some of the
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blanks for me. First of all, it's not uncommon.
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for people to have these out -of -body experiences
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when they're in a coma. Sort of like you said
00:16:31.259 --> 00:16:36.100
earlier, whether it's O -B -E -N -D -E, the terminology
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really doesn't matter very much, okay? You were
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having these experiences where, I guess we'll
00:16:43.940 --> 00:16:46.740
just call it what it is, out -of -body experience,
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because you were up looking down on your body,
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which could only happen from a third -person
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kind of standpoint. But then I imagine if you
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were 20 years older than just being seven years
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old, you might've asked specifically the doctors
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later, hey, when I was in surgery, did my heart
00:17:05.910 --> 00:17:10.609
stop? But at the age of seven, of course, you
00:17:10.609 --> 00:17:12.769
wouldn't think to ask those kinds of things.
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Or say, hey, at this point in surgery, I felt
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like I was gone, you know, tell me what was going
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on. That would have been fascinating to hear
00:17:23.250 --> 00:17:26.990
that side of it, which we don't have. But I want
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to hear some more about during the surgery, when
00:17:31.630 --> 00:17:34.329
you were out of body and went to what you described
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as a heavenly realm, were there any other things
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that you felt or that you saw or that you even
00:17:41.289 --> 00:17:46.380
thought about? I was just thinking that that
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I didn't want to go back. I knew that I had to
00:17:52.539 --> 00:17:56.539
go back because that's what they told me to do.
00:17:57.460 --> 00:18:01.299
I wanted to go where the other souls were going.
00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:06.119
I wanted to cross that gate, and I didn't want
00:18:06.119 --> 00:18:10.339
to go back to the pain, to the earthly confines,
00:18:10.380 --> 00:18:14.500
so to speak. I wanted to be at peace, but I knew
00:18:14.500 --> 00:18:17.230
that I had to. because that's what they said
00:18:17.230 --> 00:18:20.369
I needed to do. Were you feeling peace there
00:18:20.369 --> 00:18:23.650
or were you feeling just longing for something?
00:18:24.470 --> 00:18:28.789
Well, both. I was feeling peace and I was feeling
00:18:28.789 --> 00:18:35.269
that I was at rest. I was at my final destination,
00:18:35.430 --> 00:18:41.430
so to speak. Obviously I didn't cross the gate,
00:18:41.509 --> 00:18:47.859
so to speak. was wanting to be. Because some
00:18:47.859 --> 00:18:50.940
would say our human instinct is to stay alive.
00:18:51.160 --> 00:18:55.339
It's to be here in our body. So what was it about
00:18:55.339 --> 00:18:58.259
that place that made you want to stay? Oh, no,
00:18:58.259 --> 00:19:03.140
no, no. When we're here in our physical bodies,
00:19:03.339 --> 00:19:08.119
this is a temporal. This is temporary. When we're
00:19:08.119 --> 00:19:12.920
there, it's much more. It's 50 times greater.
00:19:13.369 --> 00:19:18.089
It's 500 times greater. It's more alive. This
00:19:18.089 --> 00:19:21.069
is just a dream. There, it's real life. Here,
00:19:21.990 --> 00:19:27.289
it's just a vapor, as scripture says. Okay. I
00:19:27.289 --> 00:19:30.029
want to ask you about the angelic figure at the
00:19:30.029 --> 00:19:33.569
gate, because it sounded like the description,
00:19:34.269 --> 00:19:38.430
the typical Saint Peter with the clipboard at
00:19:38.430 --> 00:19:41.309
the pearly gate kind of thing. It almost sounded
00:19:41.309 --> 00:19:44.730
too cliche, but is that what you felt was going
00:19:44.730 --> 00:19:48.150
on? Was he just checking, hey, you can go and
00:19:48.150 --> 00:19:50.289
you can't go? What's the deal with a clipboard?
00:19:51.150 --> 00:19:54.390
Well, I think it was also in the minds of a seven
00:19:54.390 --> 00:19:58.930
-year -old. I think that if, like you were saying,
00:19:59.369 --> 00:20:05.430
if it was 20 years later, the whole experience
00:20:05.430 --> 00:20:09.720
may have been different. A seven -year -old The
00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:14.039
mindset may have been a clipboard. A 20 -year
00:20:14.039 --> 00:20:18.380
-old or 27 -year -old may have been something
00:20:18.380 --> 00:20:21.720
different. Someone checking you in, you know,
00:20:22.359 --> 00:20:26.099
like a teacher doing bro -call or something like
00:20:26.099 --> 00:20:28.539
that. You know, that's an experience of a seven
00:20:28.539 --> 00:20:33.259
-year -old in elementary school. The angelic
00:20:33.259 --> 00:20:38.529
figure was... A person was, I don't even say
00:20:38.529 --> 00:20:42.369
it was a person, but it may have been St. Peter,
00:20:42.450 --> 00:20:48.430
may have been, who knows? But it was somebody
00:20:48.430 --> 00:20:53.829
or an angel, angelic figure up there who was
00:20:53.829 --> 00:20:59.970
just saying, you need to go back. You still have
00:20:59.970 --> 00:21:04.369
purpose on earth. And obviously I do have purpose
00:21:04.369 --> 00:21:07.799
because If I didn't come back, I wouldn't have
00:21:07.799 --> 00:21:11.460
two daughters of my own. All right, let me call
00:21:11.460 --> 00:21:13.480
for what may be a little bit of speculation.
00:21:14.119 --> 00:21:16.700
What do you feel was beyond that gate versus
00:21:16.700 --> 00:21:22.140
where you were? Well, OK, I think that where
00:21:22.140 --> 00:21:28.059
I was at was the entrance to the heavenly realm.
00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:32.819
And beyond the gate, I think I believe was was
00:21:32.819 --> 00:21:37.759
heaven. was the throne of God, the purling gates,
00:21:38.099 --> 00:21:41.359
whatever you may, the streets of gold, however
00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:44.880
you may want to illustrate that, the crystal
00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:47.500
sea. Or if you want to just call it heaven, call
00:21:47.500 --> 00:21:51.259
it heaven. That's okay. Exactly. And I've had
00:21:51.259 --> 00:21:53.880
a lot of other people tell me about something
00:21:53.880 --> 00:21:57.940
kind of similar, whether it was a gate or a hill
00:21:57.940 --> 00:22:01.339
or a passageway or something else. Many people
00:22:01.339 --> 00:22:05.710
feel like I'm headed somewhere and I really want
00:22:05.710 --> 00:22:08.309
to go there, but I also know if I go I'm not
00:22:08.309 --> 00:22:11.390
coming back to my body and It sounds like that's
00:22:11.390 --> 00:22:16.289
how you felt Yes, I believe that if I had crossed
00:22:16.289 --> 00:22:20.470
that gate Well, the time will come when I will
00:22:20.470 --> 00:22:24.630
when I cross that gate then there's no There's
00:22:24.630 --> 00:22:28.750
no return to the earthly realms now if you can
00:22:28.750 --> 00:22:32.309
think of any other detail that you can remember
00:22:32.309 --> 00:22:35.710
about looking down, seeing that person beside
00:22:35.710 --> 00:22:38.950
you that you felt was Jesus. Was there anything
00:22:38.950 --> 00:22:42.369
else you remember about that? I just felt like
00:22:42.369 --> 00:22:47.450
he had a loving presence that had his arm around
00:22:47.450 --> 00:22:51.130
me. I just felt his presence beside me. I didn't
00:22:51.130 --> 00:22:55.710
look to see who it was. I was looking down to
00:22:55.710 --> 00:22:58.529
see what the doctors were doing. I felt love.
00:22:59.210 --> 00:23:03.759
I felt belonging, I felt like I will be there
00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:07.220
again someday. You also mentioned that you had
00:23:07.220 --> 00:23:10.059
been going to church since you were a young boy
00:23:10.059 --> 00:23:13.920
years before this. And I forget your exact words,
00:23:13.980 --> 00:23:16.220
but it sounded like you really believed what
00:23:16.220 --> 00:23:19.279
you were learning in church. And then at seven,
00:23:19.380 --> 00:23:23.200
you have this extraordinary experience that most
00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:26.329
seven -year -olds don't have. In what way did
00:23:26.329 --> 00:23:29.609
that, do you think, changed you? So that, I mean,
00:23:29.690 --> 00:23:32.029
you were growing up a different kind of person
00:23:32.029 --> 00:23:34.910
than the other seven and eight and nine and ten
00:23:34.910 --> 00:23:37.950
and fifteen year olds were. How were you different
00:23:37.950 --> 00:23:41.490
than everybody else? How am I different? Well,
00:23:41.650 --> 00:23:44.269
I think everybody's different in their own way.
00:23:44.809 --> 00:23:50.089
I grew up in a, as a missionary kid in a Native
00:23:50.089 --> 00:23:54.230
American culture, standing out like a sore thumb.
00:23:54.799 --> 00:24:00.500
really had us surrounded by spiritual training
00:24:00.500 --> 00:24:05.980
and really knew, really had us in scripture.
00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:09.619
But how did your NDE make you a little bit different
00:24:09.619 --> 00:24:13.660
than everybody else? Or did it? Well, I'm not
00:24:13.660 --> 00:24:16.700
going to say my NDE made me any different. When
00:24:16.700 --> 00:24:22.059
it all comes down to it, when I had an NDE, I...
00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:26.099
had an NDE just like anybody else, just like
00:24:26.099 --> 00:24:31.579
if it was a kid who never even went to church,
00:24:32.539 --> 00:24:37.839
never had any kind of knowledge of God or anything
00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:43.700
like that. And if God so sees fit to allow that
00:24:43.700 --> 00:24:48.400
child to have an NDE like that, to experience
00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:53.910
God like that, then God will do that. I'm not
00:24:53.910 --> 00:24:56.529
saying that my NDA would be any different than
00:24:56.529 --> 00:25:00.069
anybody else's. Most people in this life have
00:25:00.069 --> 00:25:03.910
some degree of fear of death, healthy fear of
00:25:03.910 --> 00:25:07.609
death, we'll call it. Even people of faith have
00:25:07.609 --> 00:25:10.329
some degree of fear of death. How about you?
00:25:10.809 --> 00:25:15.549
Having had this experience of death, I have no
00:25:15.549 --> 00:25:18.529
fear. I don't fear death. No, I'm not going to
00:25:18.529 --> 00:25:23.589
go walk out and Jump out in front of a semi or
00:25:23.589 --> 00:25:25.829
nothing like that. I'm not gonna speed it up
00:25:25.829 --> 00:25:31.490
but I don't fear it because The way that I see
00:25:31.490 --> 00:25:34.390
it is that I've already experienced it. I know
00:25:34.390 --> 00:25:38.130
what it's like It's walking one from one room
00:25:38.130 --> 00:25:41.150
into another as far as I'm concerned as far as
00:25:41.150 --> 00:25:44.670
what I've experienced and may I suggest that
00:25:44.670 --> 00:25:48.289
that is You're not having a fear of death because
00:25:48.289 --> 00:25:52.250
the experience is something that did make you
00:25:52.250 --> 00:25:55.910
a little bit different than most of us in a good
00:25:55.910 --> 00:26:00.490
way. I would, over the next few days, I'm going
00:26:00.490 --> 00:26:02.549
to give you a little assignment. Just think on
00:26:02.549 --> 00:26:06.369
that topic right there. How did having that fear
00:26:06.369 --> 00:26:09.690
of death removed affect your life since then?
00:26:10.329 --> 00:26:12.549
Did it make things easier? Did it make them more
00:26:12.549 --> 00:26:15.869
difficult? And then you and I'll talk again sometime
00:26:15.869 --> 00:26:20.509
in the future. Sure. Well, I can tell you, kids
00:26:20.509 --> 00:26:23.130
and stuff like that, they might watch some sort
00:26:23.130 --> 00:26:27.430
of scary movie or something like that, and it's
00:26:27.430 --> 00:26:30.789
like nothing to me. It's a movie. That's the
00:26:30.789 --> 00:26:35.369
way I see things. It just doesn't bother me as
00:26:35.369 --> 00:26:41.150
much. I know that my life, my real life is to
00:26:41.150 --> 00:26:44.950
come is not on this earth, and I don't fear that.
00:26:46.009 --> 00:26:49.250
There were somebody out there today that is really
00:26:49.250 --> 00:26:52.430
struggling with faith in the future. They're
00:26:52.430 --> 00:26:55.730
really totally afraid of death or they're mourning
00:26:55.730 --> 00:26:58.369
the passing of a loved one. What kind of message
00:26:58.369 --> 00:27:01.369
of hope do you have for them? My message of hope
00:27:01.369 --> 00:27:06.210
is that death does not have to be fear. When
00:27:06.210 --> 00:27:10.910
you have a faith in God and a faith in His Son,
00:27:10.910 --> 00:27:14.750
Jesus Christ, that this life is just temporary.
00:27:15.019 --> 00:27:20.900
This life is just a vapor, and our eternal home
00:27:20.900 --> 00:27:23.940
has nothing to do with this earth. Our eternal
00:27:23.940 --> 00:27:28.220
home is in heaven, and our eternal hope is in
00:27:28.220 --> 00:27:32.759
heaven. And that salvation is through the shed
00:27:32.759 --> 00:27:35.799
blood of Jesus Christ and for what He did for
00:27:35.799 --> 00:27:40.200
us. That is our hope. That is our home. That
00:27:40.200 --> 00:27:44.650
is our eternal life. That is my message. David,
00:27:44.990 --> 00:27:47.109
I really appreciate your time today. I really
00:27:47.109 --> 00:27:50.609
appreciate you having the courage to share all
00:27:50.609 --> 00:28:04.079
of this. Thank you very much. Thank you. If you
00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:06.619
want to share your near -death experience, or
00:28:06.619 --> 00:28:08.579
if you have questions or comments about the show,
00:28:09.079 --> 00:28:12.119
send an email to eric at roundtripdeath .com.
00:28:12.519 --> 00:28:14.680
Until then, I wish you everything good that you're
00:28:14.680 --> 00:28:17.099
looking for in this life and the next.
00:00:03.790 --> 00:00:06.669
From the time that they pronounced me that was
00:00:06.669 --> 00:00:10.250
a good 45 minutes They cut my clothes and then
00:00:10.250 --> 00:00:13.609
they paddled my heart my heart stopped and I
00:00:13.609 --> 00:00:17.129
could see people screaming and crying But I didn't
00:00:17.129 --> 00:00:19.510
realize that was actually my physical body because
00:00:19.510 --> 00:00:22.890
I was somewhere else The only thing that I could
00:00:22.890 --> 00:00:26.809
feel if you can imagine Absolute love and peace
00:00:26.809 --> 00:00:29.829
there wasn't anything else to be felt. I was
00:00:29.829 --> 00:00:33.070
greeted by people I'd known in the past I'm back
00:00:33.070 --> 00:00:36.689
home again. Incredibly safe and felt at home.
00:00:38.929 --> 00:00:42.189
I'd like to welcome to the show today, David
00:00:42.189 --> 00:00:44.530
Cooke. Thank you so much for being here all the
00:00:44.530 --> 00:00:48.149
way from Kentucky, right? Yes, yes. I live in
00:00:48.149 --> 00:00:51.490
Kentucky. It is a beautiful place, although the
00:00:51.490 --> 00:00:54.090
last time I was there was snowing, but I hear
00:00:54.090 --> 00:00:58.679
it's beautiful in the summer. Yeah. It gets to
00:00:58.679 --> 00:01:01.299
be, it's pretty nice here. It gets to be hot
00:01:01.299 --> 00:01:04.159
and humid sometimes, but you'll find that probably
00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:07.859
anywhere, anywhere in the Midwest, I guess. Well,
00:01:07.859 --> 00:01:10.079
I know you're a listener of the show and I appreciate
00:01:10.079 --> 00:01:12.719
you reaching out. And I hope I don't surprise
00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:15.579
you too badly. I just feel like doing something
00:01:15.579 --> 00:01:19.819
backwards today. And that is before we've learned
00:01:19.819 --> 00:01:22.019
a little bit about you and get into your whole
00:01:22.019 --> 00:01:25.760
experience. I want to ask you one question about
00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:30.579
your NDE. Okay. And that is, what does it feel
00:01:30.579 --> 00:01:36.780
like when you leave this body and enter a heavenly
00:01:36.780 --> 00:01:42.760
place? Well, it feels, you know, that's a very
00:01:42.760 --> 00:01:47.379
good question, and it feels weightless. It feels
00:01:47.379 --> 00:01:51.280
like, you know, you feel the presence of your
00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:54.680
hands, you feel the presence of your body, presence
00:01:54.680 --> 00:01:58.129
of your feet. I can feel my feet on my legs right
00:01:58.129 --> 00:02:05.390
now. But when you go into an ulterior place,
00:02:05.810 --> 00:02:09.250
a heavenly place, a place other than your earthly
00:02:09.250 --> 00:02:13.210
bounds, you don't feel the weight of your body.
00:02:14.069 --> 00:02:18.389
It's like you're walking or you're floating.
00:02:19.069 --> 00:02:25.439
You just feel light. You move about. Just moving
00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:28.539
you want to go from here to there you go from
00:02:28.539 --> 00:02:33.699
here to there Maybe like no gravity Like no gravity
00:02:33.699 --> 00:02:37.479
exactly. Okay. Well, there's a little tease of
00:02:37.479 --> 00:02:40.599
much more to come But before we jump into your
00:02:40.599 --> 00:02:42.819
whole story David tell us just a little bit about
00:02:42.819 --> 00:02:45.280
you so our listeners can get to know who David
00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:53.379
cook is Okay. Well, I am 58 years old I had a
00:02:53.340 --> 00:02:56.240
Tragic, well, not so tragic, I guess you could
00:02:56.240 --> 00:02:59.659
say, but a life -changing experience back when
00:02:59.659 --> 00:03:04.199
I was 51 years ago, back when I was seven years
00:03:04.199 --> 00:03:09.199
old. I am the youngest of four. My oldest sibling,
00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:14.240
my sister, and my oldest brother had a part in
00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:21.120
my story. They were an intricate part in the
00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:25.060
bringing about my My hospital stay, I guess you
00:03:25.060 --> 00:03:30.580
could say. I have been a believer in Christ for
00:03:30.580 --> 00:03:33.659
probably since I was five years old. And my parents
00:03:33.659 --> 00:03:37.580
were missionaries to the Native Americans in
00:03:37.580 --> 00:03:41.340
Northwestern New Mexico, the Zuni Indians. And
00:03:41.340 --> 00:03:45.680
that's where my story takes place is in Northwestern
00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:52.039
New Mexico. I was the youngest of four. I have
00:03:52.039 --> 00:03:55.520
a middle brother also, and he was, he really
00:03:55.520 --> 00:04:01.199
didn't have a part of my story. I am husband
00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:05.819
of my wife. I'm a father of two daughters. I
00:04:05.819 --> 00:04:09.900
stepfather of three daughters and a son. I have
00:04:09.900 --> 00:04:13.280
a granddaughter and a step -granddaughter also.
00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:17.939
That is awesome. Aren't those daughters and grandkids
00:04:17.939 --> 00:04:22.079
the very best? Yes. And I say that with joy in
00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:25.259
my heart and half laughing because I didn't mention
00:04:25.259 --> 00:04:28.040
sons and Will, my son, is doing some editing
00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:30.180
on this and hopefully he's getting a little chuckle
00:04:30.180 --> 00:04:33.019
from it right now too because he thinks he's
00:04:33.019 --> 00:04:36.899
the favorite. So anyway, let's move on from all
00:04:36.899 --> 00:04:40.860
that before I dig myself a deeper hole here and
00:04:40.860 --> 00:04:43.920
get myself more in trouble with my family. Let's
00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:46.720
go back to when you were seven years old. I know
00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:49.240
what happened, but Please tell our listeners
00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:53.939
what led up to your big fall that day. Well,
00:04:54.120 --> 00:05:01.220
OK. I was like I said, I'm the youngest of four.
00:05:01.800 --> 00:05:05.920
And this particular day, in fact, it's right
00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:11.600
at 51 years. It was March 19th, 1975. So it was
00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:18.540
almost to the day I was home. And my mom was
00:05:18.540 --> 00:05:23.139
at work. My dad was away on a speaking trip to
00:05:23.139 --> 00:05:27.560
raise support for the ministry. And my oldest
00:05:27.560 --> 00:05:30.420
brother and a friend of his, my oldest brother's
00:05:30.420 --> 00:05:33.319
name is Greg and a friend of his name is Jamie,
00:05:34.019 --> 00:05:38.199
they were going to explore a canyon around our
00:05:38.199 --> 00:05:44.180
house. And so I followed my oldest brother and
00:05:44.180 --> 00:05:47.339
they came upon this canyon and there was this
00:05:47.339 --> 00:05:49.759
crevice that led down to the bottom of this cliff
00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:55.120
and they went down into this crevice and I stayed
00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:59.079
up on top and I was kicking these rusty cans
00:05:59.079 --> 00:06:02.199
over the edge of this cliff. This cliff was 75
00:06:02.199 --> 00:06:06.319
feet but down to the bottom and before long I
00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:09.180
got closer and closer to the edge of that cliff
00:06:09.180 --> 00:06:14.759
and I fell. I ended up falling head first. head
00:06:14.759 --> 00:06:19.639
first on the rock bottom and Jamie and my brother
00:06:19.639 --> 00:06:23.800
Greg heard me fall and they came running out
00:06:23.800 --> 00:06:28.279
Jamie screamed and he went and ran to get his
00:06:28.279 --> 00:06:31.459
father as he went and ran into his father his
00:06:31.459 --> 00:06:34.560
father King came down in their car to pick me
00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:38.560
up my brother came out and my brother did what
00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:41.839
he remembered that our parents taught us to do
00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:45.220
he got down on his hands and knees and he began
00:06:45.220 --> 00:06:48.759
to pray. He prayed that God would not let me
00:06:48.759 --> 00:06:52.620
die. Jamie's father came and picked me up and
00:06:52.620 --> 00:06:56.379
took me to the hospital there and on the way
00:06:56.379 --> 00:07:00.120
to the hospital he ran across my sister Christy
00:07:00.120 --> 00:07:03.899
and he says Christy you need to get in the car.
00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:07.680
David has been hurt. We need to go pick him up.
00:07:07.860 --> 00:07:11.970
She jumped in the car with Jamie's father. They
00:07:11.970 --> 00:07:14.509
got down to the bottom of the cliff and they
00:07:14.509 --> 00:07:17.649
walked up a small slope to where I was laying
00:07:17.649 --> 00:07:22.189
at my lifeless body. They picked up my lifeless
00:07:22.189 --> 00:07:26.050
body, laid it in the back of their car, took
00:07:26.050 --> 00:07:30.170
me to the Zuni hospital for whatever repairs,
00:07:30.750 --> 00:07:33.589
whatever the Zuni hospital could do. The Zuni
00:07:33.589 --> 00:07:37.310
hospital did not have the adequate equipment
00:07:37.310 --> 00:07:43.129
to prepare to do any kind of major surgery on
00:07:43.129 --> 00:07:47.769
my head that wasn't needing to be done. So a
00:07:47.769 --> 00:07:51.870
airplane had to be called in to fly me from Zuni
00:07:51.870 --> 00:07:56.569
to Albuquerque, New Mexico. And when I landed
00:07:56.569 --> 00:08:00.149
at Albuquerque, I went in and was checked into
00:08:00.149 --> 00:08:04.069
Loveless Batan Medical Center in Albuquerque.
00:08:04.370 --> 00:08:08.509
When I was checked into the hospital, this is
00:08:08.509 --> 00:08:14.449
where I can first remember an OBE or an NDE,
00:08:14.709 --> 00:08:19.790
however it might be described. But I remember
00:08:19.790 --> 00:08:23.350
being rushed into the hospital screaming my head
00:08:23.350 --> 00:08:26.470
off because I was not only scared to death, but
00:08:26.470 --> 00:08:30.610
I was in pain. Not only that, but I could also
00:08:30.610 --> 00:08:34.850
remember myself seeing the whole thing taking
00:08:34.850 --> 00:08:40.049
place. I was watching it. take place like I was
00:08:40.049 --> 00:08:45.350
overhead watching the nurses running in, rushing
00:08:45.350 --> 00:08:50.129
in. And I remember a female paramedic say, it's
00:08:50.129 --> 00:08:53.350
okay, buddy. You're going to be okay. I was rushed
00:08:53.350 --> 00:08:57.590
into the hospital and I entered the hospital
00:08:57.590 --> 00:09:03.490
and I had eight days in a coma in the hospital.
00:09:04.350 --> 00:09:08.230
My mom and dad showed up at the hospital. My
00:09:08.230 --> 00:09:12.049
dad thought he would never hear me ever again.
00:09:12.610 --> 00:09:17.889
Eight days in the middle of the night, my dad
00:09:17.889 --> 00:09:22.710
heard me pray. And my dad would always kneel
00:09:22.710 --> 00:09:25.870
down and pray with us at night before we would
00:09:25.870 --> 00:09:28.929
go to bed. And I always would pray the same thing,
00:09:28.990 --> 00:09:32.750
Dear Jesus, help us to obey our parents. And
00:09:32.750 --> 00:09:35.990
in the middle of the night, the silence was broken.
00:09:36.970 --> 00:09:41.809
with me praying dear Jesus help us to obey our
00:09:41.809 --> 00:09:46.929
parents and That's the first words that came
00:09:46.929 --> 00:09:49.450
out of my mouth when I came out of that coma
00:09:49.450 --> 00:09:54.909
During that coma I can remember times where I
00:09:54.909 --> 00:09:58.950
would be laying down there in the in bed and
00:09:58.950 --> 00:10:05.769
my Spirit my soul would leave my body and would
00:10:05.769 --> 00:10:09.639
float Above my body and up float and I would
00:10:09.639 --> 00:10:12.840
see myself laying in that bed I would not leave
00:10:12.840 --> 00:10:16.159
the room. My soul would not leave the room per
00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:21.100
se But I would float back down into my body during
00:10:21.100 --> 00:10:23.860
the time in the hospital though. There were times
00:10:23.860 --> 00:10:30.220
that I can remember my soul leaving my body and
00:10:30.220 --> 00:10:33.899
floating up above the hospital and Just kind
00:10:33.899 --> 00:10:37.360
of floating around above the hospital and then
00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:40.679
floating back down into my body. And there was
00:10:40.679 --> 00:10:46.600
one time in surgery where I was going into surgery.
00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:51.340
I had cerebral surgeries on my skull. I can remember
00:10:51.340 --> 00:10:55.620
the nurse giving me the shot. I can remember
00:10:55.620 --> 00:11:01.720
crying and saying, ow, ow, and crying. And as
00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:04.600
I went into the surgery, the doctor said, okay,
00:11:04.700 --> 00:11:09.070
come on, buddy. lifted me up off off of the the
00:11:09.070 --> 00:11:12.169
crib of sorts and it was like a metal crib and
00:11:12.169 --> 00:11:15.769
put me on the operating table and during the
00:11:15.769 --> 00:11:21.370
surgery I can remember my soul leaving my body
00:11:21.370 --> 00:11:25.929
leaving the hospital not so much floating away
00:11:25.929 --> 00:11:28.549
but it was like just walking from one room into
00:11:28.549 --> 00:11:32.169
another just as simple as walking from one room
00:11:32.169 --> 00:11:36.720
into another and I can remember as it were, being
00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:43.019
in a heavenly realm. And I can remember an angelic
00:11:43.019 --> 00:11:50.039
figure at a gate, at a large gate. And he had,
00:11:50.139 --> 00:11:53.080
as it were, like a clipboard -type thing. As
00:11:53.080 --> 00:11:57.679
I went into that heavenly realm, I said, okay,
00:11:57.879 --> 00:12:01.960
well, we're going to need to go. And somebody
00:12:01.960 --> 00:12:06.019
directed me toward that angelic figure. And I
00:12:06.019 --> 00:12:08.600
went toward that angelic figure. I said, well,
00:12:08.600 --> 00:12:13.659
I said, I guess here I am. He said, well, he
00:12:13.659 --> 00:12:17.200
says, you're not supposed to be here yet. You
00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:22.720
have more things to do. I said, why can't I go
00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:27.679
over there? He says, you have more purpose on
00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:30.919
staying where you're at. And I can remember as
00:12:30.919 --> 00:12:36.940
it were, souls crossing the gate. I wanted to
00:12:36.940 --> 00:12:38.940
go where they're at. I said, why can't I go where
00:12:38.940 --> 00:12:43.679
they're going? And the angelic figure said, you
00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:48.080
have to stay. I said to the angelic figure, what
00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:53.120
are they doing? And the angelic figure kind of
00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:57.519
directed his hand behind me. And I turned around
00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:01.940
and I said, can I see? It looked like there was
00:13:01.940 --> 00:13:07.629
clouds as He wiped away the clouds. I could look
00:13:07.629 --> 00:13:13.250
down and I could see the doctors working on me,
00:13:13.570 --> 00:13:19.789
working on my head as I had fallen and was in
00:13:19.789 --> 00:13:23.850
surgery. When I was looking down, I can remember
00:13:23.850 --> 00:13:30.549
the presence of a person beside me. The person
00:13:30.549 --> 00:13:33.950
beside me, I could almost... I have the comfort
00:13:33.950 --> 00:13:37.970
of saying that it probably was Jesus. And I have
00:13:37.970 --> 00:13:42.250
his arm around my shoulder. Say that he was there
00:13:42.250 --> 00:13:46.289
with me. He said, you have to go now. And as
00:13:46.289 --> 00:13:50.730
I went down back into my body, it was just like
00:13:50.730 --> 00:13:55.009
crossing, just like walking back from one room
00:13:55.009 --> 00:14:00.870
into another. And when I entered back into my
00:14:00.870 --> 00:14:06.570
body, I could feel the confines, the weight,
00:14:07.269 --> 00:14:10.370
the confinement, I guess you could say, of my
00:14:10.370 --> 00:14:14.830
body. My hands, my feet, the pain, the pain I
00:14:14.830 --> 00:14:18.330
was in. And when I entered my body, I could hear
00:14:18.330 --> 00:14:22.590
a doctor say, we got him back. Because I think
00:14:22.590 --> 00:14:26.330
when I had left, I think I was probably flat
00:14:26.330 --> 00:14:29.450
-lined. They were afraid that they were going
00:14:29.450 --> 00:14:33.100
to lose me. When I entered back in the doctor
00:14:33.100 --> 00:14:38.879
said we got him back and I think that each of
00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:43.759
my outer body experiences each of my NDE was
00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:49.279
God's way of Progressively saying I got you David.
00:14:49.320 --> 00:14:54.679
I got you you're taken care of you are in my
00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:58.779
hands I have you under my control and the amazing
00:14:58.779 --> 00:15:02.289
thing is is that the doctors said when I entered
00:15:02.289 --> 00:15:04.970
the hospital that there would be a 10 % chance
00:15:04.970 --> 00:15:09.129
of life, that I'm more than likely that if I
00:15:09.129 --> 00:15:14.330
was able to survive, that my quality of life
00:15:14.330 --> 00:15:18.330
would be nothing, that I would just be a vegetable
00:15:18.330 --> 00:15:21.730
and that I would never be able to walk or talk
00:15:21.730 --> 00:15:27.309
again. Dr. Glover, the neurosurgeon that worked
00:15:27.309 --> 00:15:31.870
on me, 10 years later, I was in a restaurant
00:15:31.870 --> 00:15:37.129
in Albuquerque with my dad. My dad said, do you
00:15:37.129 --> 00:15:39.610
recognize that man over there? I said, no, I
00:15:39.610 --> 00:15:42.710
don't. And he says, let's go over there and talk
00:15:42.710 --> 00:15:45.629
to him. And he says, Dr. Glover, he says, I want
00:15:45.629 --> 00:15:48.450
to introduce you to somebody. This is my son,
00:15:48.490 --> 00:15:53.190
David. You worked on him 10 years ago. And Dr.
00:15:53.690 --> 00:15:59.309
Glover, his mouth dropped open when he saw me.
00:15:59.529 --> 00:16:04.470
because Dr. Glover said that he never expected
00:16:04.470 --> 00:16:08.830
to see that I would be able to survive like that.
00:16:09.769 --> 00:16:14.769
That is just so beautiful, David. I really appreciate
00:16:14.769 --> 00:16:17.330
you sharing. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?
00:16:18.169 --> 00:16:21.389
Absolutely. Okay. Just help fill in some of the
00:16:21.389 --> 00:16:24.929
blanks for me. First of all, it's not uncommon.
00:16:25.500 --> 00:16:28.440
for people to have these out -of -body experiences
00:16:28.440 --> 00:16:31.259
when they're in a coma. Sort of like you said
00:16:31.259 --> 00:16:36.100
earlier, whether it's O -B -E -N -D -E, the terminology
00:16:36.100 --> 00:16:39.360
really doesn't matter very much, okay? You were
00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:43.940
having these experiences where, I guess we'll
00:16:43.940 --> 00:16:46.740
just call it what it is, out -of -body experience,
00:16:46.779 --> 00:16:49.379
because you were up looking down on your body,
00:16:49.399 --> 00:16:52.320
which could only happen from a third -person
00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:57.110
kind of standpoint. But then I imagine if you
00:16:57.110 --> 00:17:00.129
were 20 years older than just being seven years
00:17:00.129 --> 00:17:03.149
old, you might've asked specifically the doctors
00:17:03.149 --> 00:17:05.910
later, hey, when I was in surgery, did my heart
00:17:05.910 --> 00:17:10.609
stop? But at the age of seven, of course, you
00:17:10.609 --> 00:17:12.769
wouldn't think to ask those kinds of things.
00:17:13.990 --> 00:17:18.230
Or say, hey, at this point in surgery, I felt
00:17:18.230 --> 00:17:21.029
like I was gone, you know, tell me what was going
00:17:21.029 --> 00:17:23.250
on. That would have been fascinating to hear
00:17:23.250 --> 00:17:26.990
that side of it, which we don't have. But I want
00:17:26.990 --> 00:17:31.630
to hear some more about during the surgery, when
00:17:31.630 --> 00:17:34.329
you were out of body and went to what you described
00:17:34.329 --> 00:17:37.910
as a heavenly realm, were there any other things
00:17:37.910 --> 00:17:41.289
that you felt or that you saw or that you even
00:17:41.289 --> 00:17:46.380
thought about? I was just thinking that that
00:17:46.380 --> 00:17:52.539
I didn't want to go back. I knew that I had to
00:17:52.539 --> 00:17:56.539
go back because that's what they told me to do.
00:17:57.460 --> 00:18:01.299
I wanted to go where the other souls were going.
00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:06.119
I wanted to cross that gate, and I didn't want
00:18:06.119 --> 00:18:10.339
to go back to the pain, to the earthly confines,
00:18:10.380 --> 00:18:14.500
so to speak. I wanted to be at peace, but I knew
00:18:14.500 --> 00:18:17.230
that I had to. because that's what they said
00:18:17.230 --> 00:18:20.369
I needed to do. Were you feeling peace there
00:18:20.369 --> 00:18:23.650
or were you feeling just longing for something?
00:18:24.470 --> 00:18:28.789
Well, both. I was feeling peace and I was feeling
00:18:28.789 --> 00:18:35.269
that I was at rest. I was at my final destination,
00:18:35.430 --> 00:18:41.430
so to speak. Obviously I didn't cross the gate,
00:18:41.509 --> 00:18:47.859
so to speak. was wanting to be. Because some
00:18:47.859 --> 00:18:50.940
would say our human instinct is to stay alive.
00:18:51.160 --> 00:18:55.339
It's to be here in our body. So what was it about
00:18:55.339 --> 00:18:58.259
that place that made you want to stay? Oh, no,
00:18:58.259 --> 00:19:03.140
no, no. When we're here in our physical bodies,
00:19:03.339 --> 00:19:08.119
this is a temporal. This is temporary. When we're
00:19:08.119 --> 00:19:12.920
there, it's much more. It's 50 times greater.
00:19:13.369 --> 00:19:18.089
It's 500 times greater. It's more alive. This
00:19:18.089 --> 00:19:21.069
is just a dream. There, it's real life. Here,
00:19:21.990 --> 00:19:27.289
it's just a vapor, as scripture says. Okay. I
00:19:27.289 --> 00:19:30.029
want to ask you about the angelic figure at the
00:19:30.029 --> 00:19:33.569
gate, because it sounded like the description,
00:19:34.269 --> 00:19:38.430
the typical Saint Peter with the clipboard at
00:19:38.430 --> 00:19:41.309
the pearly gate kind of thing. It almost sounded
00:19:41.309 --> 00:19:44.730
too cliche, but is that what you felt was going
00:19:44.730 --> 00:19:48.150
on? Was he just checking, hey, you can go and
00:19:48.150 --> 00:19:50.289
you can't go? What's the deal with a clipboard?
00:19:51.150 --> 00:19:54.390
Well, I think it was also in the minds of a seven
00:19:54.390 --> 00:19:58.930
-year -old. I think that if, like you were saying,
00:19:59.369 --> 00:20:05.430
if it was 20 years later, the whole experience
00:20:05.430 --> 00:20:09.720
may have been different. A seven -year -old The
00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:14.039
mindset may have been a clipboard. A 20 -year
00:20:14.039 --> 00:20:18.380
-old or 27 -year -old may have been something
00:20:18.380 --> 00:20:21.720
different. Someone checking you in, you know,
00:20:22.359 --> 00:20:26.099
like a teacher doing bro -call or something like
00:20:26.099 --> 00:20:28.539
that. You know, that's an experience of a seven
00:20:28.539 --> 00:20:33.259
-year -old in elementary school. The angelic
00:20:33.259 --> 00:20:38.529
figure was... A person was, I don't even say
00:20:38.529 --> 00:20:42.369
it was a person, but it may have been St. Peter,
00:20:42.450 --> 00:20:48.430
may have been, who knows? But it was somebody
00:20:48.430 --> 00:20:53.829
or an angel, angelic figure up there who was
00:20:53.829 --> 00:20:59.970
just saying, you need to go back. You still have
00:20:59.970 --> 00:21:04.369
purpose on earth. And obviously I do have purpose
00:21:04.369 --> 00:21:07.799
because If I didn't come back, I wouldn't have
00:21:07.799 --> 00:21:11.460
two daughters of my own. All right, let me call
00:21:11.460 --> 00:21:13.480
for what may be a little bit of speculation.
00:21:14.119 --> 00:21:16.700
What do you feel was beyond that gate versus
00:21:16.700 --> 00:21:22.140
where you were? Well, OK, I think that where
00:21:22.140 --> 00:21:28.059
I was at was the entrance to the heavenly realm.
00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:32.819
And beyond the gate, I think I believe was was
00:21:32.819 --> 00:21:37.759
heaven. was the throne of God, the purling gates,
00:21:38.099 --> 00:21:41.359
whatever you may, the streets of gold, however
00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:44.880
you may want to illustrate that, the crystal
00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:47.500
sea. Or if you want to just call it heaven, call
00:21:47.500 --> 00:21:51.259
it heaven. That's okay. Exactly. And I've had
00:21:51.259 --> 00:21:53.880
a lot of other people tell me about something
00:21:53.880 --> 00:21:57.940
kind of similar, whether it was a gate or a hill
00:21:57.940 --> 00:22:01.339
or a passageway or something else. Many people
00:22:01.339 --> 00:22:05.710
feel like I'm headed somewhere and I really want
00:22:05.710 --> 00:22:08.309
to go there, but I also know if I go I'm not
00:22:08.309 --> 00:22:11.390
coming back to my body and It sounds like that's
00:22:11.390 --> 00:22:16.289
how you felt Yes, I believe that if I had crossed
00:22:16.289 --> 00:22:20.470
that gate Well, the time will come when I will
00:22:20.470 --> 00:22:24.630
when I cross that gate then there's no There's
00:22:24.630 --> 00:22:28.750
no return to the earthly realms now if you can
00:22:28.750 --> 00:22:32.309
think of any other detail that you can remember
00:22:32.309 --> 00:22:35.710
about looking down, seeing that person beside
00:22:35.710 --> 00:22:38.950
you that you felt was Jesus. Was there anything
00:22:38.950 --> 00:22:42.369
else you remember about that? I just felt like
00:22:42.369 --> 00:22:47.450
he had a loving presence that had his arm around
00:22:47.450 --> 00:22:51.130
me. I just felt his presence beside me. I didn't
00:22:51.130 --> 00:22:55.710
look to see who it was. I was looking down to
00:22:55.710 --> 00:22:58.529
see what the doctors were doing. I felt love.
00:22:59.210 --> 00:23:03.759
I felt belonging, I felt like I will be there
00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:07.220
again someday. You also mentioned that you had
00:23:07.220 --> 00:23:10.059
been going to church since you were a young boy
00:23:10.059 --> 00:23:13.920
years before this. And I forget your exact words,
00:23:13.980 --> 00:23:16.220
but it sounded like you really believed what
00:23:16.220 --> 00:23:19.279
you were learning in church. And then at seven,
00:23:19.380 --> 00:23:23.200
you have this extraordinary experience that most
00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:26.329
seven -year -olds don't have. In what way did
00:23:26.329 --> 00:23:29.609
that, do you think, changed you? So that, I mean,
00:23:29.690 --> 00:23:32.029
you were growing up a different kind of person
00:23:32.029 --> 00:23:34.910
than the other seven and eight and nine and ten
00:23:34.910 --> 00:23:37.950
and fifteen year olds were. How were you different
00:23:37.950 --> 00:23:41.490
than everybody else? How am I different? Well,
00:23:41.650 --> 00:23:44.269
I think everybody's different in their own way.
00:23:44.809 --> 00:23:50.089
I grew up in a, as a missionary kid in a Native
00:23:50.089 --> 00:23:54.230
American culture, standing out like a sore thumb.
00:23:54.799 --> 00:24:00.500
really had us surrounded by spiritual training
00:24:00.500 --> 00:24:05.980
and really knew, really had us in scripture.
00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:09.619
But how did your NDE make you a little bit different
00:24:09.619 --> 00:24:13.660
than everybody else? Or did it? Well, I'm not
00:24:13.660 --> 00:24:16.700
going to say my NDE made me any different. When
00:24:16.700 --> 00:24:22.059
it all comes down to it, when I had an NDE, I...
00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:26.099
had an NDE just like anybody else, just like
00:24:26.099 --> 00:24:31.579
if it was a kid who never even went to church,
00:24:32.539 --> 00:24:37.839
never had any kind of knowledge of God or anything
00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:43.700
like that. And if God so sees fit to allow that
00:24:43.700 --> 00:24:48.400
child to have an NDE like that, to experience
00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:53.910
God like that, then God will do that. I'm not
00:24:53.910 --> 00:24:56.529
saying that my NDA would be any different than
00:24:56.529 --> 00:25:00.069
anybody else's. Most people in this life have
00:25:00.069 --> 00:25:03.910
some degree of fear of death, healthy fear of
00:25:03.910 --> 00:25:07.609
death, we'll call it. Even people of faith have
00:25:07.609 --> 00:25:10.329
some degree of fear of death. How about you?
00:25:10.809 --> 00:25:15.549
Having had this experience of death, I have no
00:25:15.549 --> 00:25:18.529
fear. I don't fear death. No, I'm not going to
00:25:18.529 --> 00:25:23.589
go walk out and Jump out in front of a semi or
00:25:23.589 --> 00:25:25.829
nothing like that. I'm not gonna speed it up
00:25:25.829 --> 00:25:31.490
but I don't fear it because The way that I see
00:25:31.490 --> 00:25:34.390
it is that I've already experienced it. I know
00:25:34.390 --> 00:25:38.130
what it's like It's walking one from one room
00:25:38.130 --> 00:25:41.150
into another as far as I'm concerned as far as
00:25:41.150 --> 00:25:44.670
what I've experienced and may I suggest that
00:25:44.670 --> 00:25:48.289
that is You're not having a fear of death because
00:25:48.289 --> 00:25:52.250
the experience is something that did make you
00:25:52.250 --> 00:25:55.910
a little bit different than most of us in a good
00:25:55.910 --> 00:26:00.490
way. I would, over the next few days, I'm going
00:26:00.490 --> 00:26:02.549
to give you a little assignment. Just think on
00:26:02.549 --> 00:26:06.369
that topic right there. How did having that fear
00:26:06.369 --> 00:26:09.690
of death removed affect your life since then?
00:26:10.329 --> 00:26:12.549
Did it make things easier? Did it make them more
00:26:12.549 --> 00:26:15.869
difficult? And then you and I'll talk again sometime
00:26:15.869 --> 00:26:20.509
in the future. Sure. Well, I can tell you, kids
00:26:20.509 --> 00:26:23.130
and stuff like that, they might watch some sort
00:26:23.130 --> 00:26:27.430
of scary movie or something like that, and it's
00:26:27.430 --> 00:26:30.789
like nothing to me. It's a movie. That's the
00:26:30.789 --> 00:26:35.369
way I see things. It just doesn't bother me as
00:26:35.369 --> 00:26:41.150
much. I know that my life, my real life is to
00:26:41.150 --> 00:26:44.950
come is not on this earth, and I don't fear that.
00:26:46.009 --> 00:26:49.250
There were somebody out there today that is really
00:26:49.250 --> 00:26:52.430
struggling with faith in the future. They're
00:26:52.430 --> 00:26:55.730
really totally afraid of death or they're mourning
00:26:55.730 --> 00:26:58.369
the passing of a loved one. What kind of message
00:26:58.369 --> 00:27:01.369
of hope do you have for them? My message of hope
00:27:01.369 --> 00:27:06.210
is that death does not have to be fear. When
00:27:06.210 --> 00:27:10.910
you have a faith in God and a faith in His Son,
00:27:10.910 --> 00:27:14.750
Jesus Christ, that this life is just temporary.
00:27:15.019 --> 00:27:20.900
This life is just a vapor, and our eternal home
00:27:20.900 --> 00:27:23.940
has nothing to do with this earth. Our eternal
00:27:23.940 --> 00:27:28.220
home is in heaven, and our eternal hope is in
00:27:28.220 --> 00:27:32.759
heaven. And that salvation is through the shed
00:27:32.759 --> 00:27:35.799
blood of Jesus Christ and for what He did for
00:27:35.799 --> 00:27:40.200
us. That is our hope. That is our home. That
00:27:40.200 --> 00:27:44.650
is our eternal life. That is my message. David,
00:27:44.990 --> 00:27:47.109
I really appreciate your time today. I really
00:27:47.109 --> 00:27:50.609
appreciate you having the courage to share all
00:27:50.609 --> 00:28:04.079
of this. Thank you very much. Thank you. If you
00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:06.619
want to share your near -death experience, or
00:28:06.619 --> 00:28:08.579
if you have questions or comments about the show,
00:28:09.079 --> 00:28:12.119
send an email to eric at roundtripdeath .com.
00:28:12.519 --> 00:28:14.680
Until then, I wish you everything good that you're
00:28:14.680 --> 00:28:17.099
looking for in this life and the next.
