A
Couple Tells of His Near-Death
Experience
For
several years I've had the pleasure
of reprinting lessens of love
by Joyce
and Barry Vissell of The
Shared Heart Foundation..
Now here is one that shows how
a near-death experience has drawn
then closer and demostrates the
true essence of love.
 .
Lessons
from my Recent Near Death
Experience
By
Barry Vissell
It was Saturday, June 20,
2009, and we had one more week
till our daughter Rami’s
wedding to her fiancé River.
I had no idea that this day
would shake my whole world.
We worked to get our house
and property ready for the
anticipated 170 people. Our
new refrigerator arrived and
I emptied out all the food
from the old one. I found a
frozen piece of chocolate cake
baked by our son months before
and couldn’t resist tasting
it. It was still delicious.
After the new refrigerator
was filled and shelves adjusted,
I made myself a cup of green
tea, went into the office,
and started working on the
computer. I had only had a
few sips of the tea, when I
started feeling light-headed
with a very strange “buzzing” in
my head. At first I thought
I was hypoglycemic, or maybe
the green tea somehow had an
unusually large amount of caffeine.
But the sensation felt very
different than anything I had
ever experienced. It was not
at all unpleasant, just unusual.
And it was getting stronger
by the minute. The “buzzing” was
now spreading throughout my
whole body.
I got down on my hands and
knees, touching my forehead
to the floor, hoping to bring
more blood to my brain. Not
helpful. It kept getting stronger.
I thought, “Maybe I’m
down on my hands and knees
to pray for help, or to be
closer to the earth.” I
did indeed pray for help.
Sitting on my chair again,
ever the medical doctor, I
wondered if I were having a
stroke. Not your typical stroke
that involves pain or paralysis,
but an atypical one that was
only affecting my sensations
and not my muscles. I even
thought about Jill Bolte Taylor’s
description of her own stroke
in her book, My Stroke of Insight:
A Brain Scientist's Personal
Journey.
There was only one thing in
the whole world I wanted to
do – and that was to
find Joyce. I got up off the
floor, not at all sure I could
stand, let alone walk. I found
I needed to will myself to
put one foot in front of the
other, but my balance seemed
OK. I made it to the kitchen,
found Joyce, and let her know
I needed her help. It has often
been difficult for me to ask
Joyce for help, to lean on
her strength and love, but
in this moment it was a “no-brainer.”
She took one look into my
eyes and immediately knew something
was very wrong. Although my
pupils seemed normal, my eye
movements were sluggish and
my skin was cold and clammy.
She helped me lay down on the
couch, sitting close to me,
and together we tried to piece
together what was going on.
My thinking faculties seemed
fine, even hyper alert. Caffeine
overdose was out of the question.
Stroke was very unlikely, given
the progressive quality of
the symptoms. Now my skin was
becoming hypersensitive. The
blanket Joyce had placed upon
me felt like it was filled
with lead. Even her hands upon
me felt oppressively heavy,
a clear warning sign. Normally,
there’s nothing I like
more than Joyce’s touch.
I kept returning in my mind
to the chocolate cake. Poisoning
seemed to be what was happening.
But really … chocolate
cake? In the freezer? Then
I wondered if John-Nuri had
added something “special” to
the recipe … something
that could be mind-altering.
Our 20 year old son was at
a party with his friends and
Joyce called his cell phone
and left an urgent message.
Even though it had been more
than 35 years since our “experimenting” with
psychedelics, I knew what I
was experiencing was no “bad
trip.” There was no mind
altering, no euphoria, no hallucinations … just
this intense physical sensation
that was vibrating or buzzing
without pain. And it kept getting
stronger!
Joyce was on the phone, trying
to reach a doctor friend. On
the couch, I had the oddest
sensation of starting to go
to sleep without being even
remotely sleepy. It felt like
my body was shutting down internally
and I, my real self, my conscious
self, was somehow detaching
from my body. I was starting
to feel profoundly peaceful,
more peaceful than I have ever
felt. Letting go in that moment
would have been blissfully
easy, but another part of me
understood that this could
very well be my body’s
way of dying. I felt that,
as intense as the poison was,
I had a choice of whether to
stay or leave. I even thought
about Rami and River’s
wedding in exactly one week.
I needed to be there. Rami
needed me to be there to bless
her union with River. And I
had so much more to give and
experience in my own life.
I called out to Joyce. She
came right over and sat close
to me. I asked her to keep
me engaged, to help me stay
awake … to anchor me
to my body. We talked about
going to the emergency room,
but it never seemed quite right.
I really wanted to stay at
home, surrounded by love and
quiet. Some moments I wondered
if I was dying, so intense
was the experience. Other moments
I felt I had the conscious
decision to live or die.
My body started to shake and
Joyce found more blankets to
put on me. I couldn’t
tell if I was cold or hot.
I just wasn’t that connected
to my body.
Joyce asked me to stand up.
She may as well have asked
me to climb Mt. Everest. It
wasn’t that I felt weak,
or even sick. The difficulty
was simply being in my body.
Somehow I made it to my feet.
Then she took my arm and asked
me to walk with her. With great
effort, I placed one foot in
front of the other. She guided
me outside onto our deck, to
a chair in the warm sun. Joyce
knows how much I love the sun,
but it didn’t feel good
and, after just a few minutes,
she helped me return to the
couch.
John-Nuri arrived home and
breathlessly entered the room.
He assured us there was nothing
unusual in the cake, and I
knew he was speaking the truth.
I looked up into his loving
brown eyes and asked him if
he felt I was dying. In that
moment, he felt more like a
compassionate father than a
son. I felt a great need for
his love, and complete trust
in his intuition and healing
ability. He looked deeply into
my eyes before assuring me
I was not dying.
I felt bathed in the love
of my wife and my son. I received
an inner assurance that I would
live. I just needed to now
ride out the rest of the process.
I needed to let my body do
its miraculous job of detoxifying
and eliminating whatever I
had ingested.
It was then that I finally
remembered something else I
had tasted during my busyness
in the kitchen. It was my home
grown Kombucha. Widely revered
for its immune strengthening
properties, it looks like a
mushroom but is really a symbiotic
relationship between bacteria
and yeast that is grown in
a solution of sugar and black
tea. The “mushroom” had
been growing for several months,
and I remembered sampling the
solution about an hour before
my symptoms started. It tasted
normal. Luckily I only poured
myself about two ounces of
the drink. Had I poured myself
a full glass, you would probably
not be reading this article
right now.
My medical friend later told
me, after much research and
several calls to Poison Control,
that my Kombucha culture somehow
became contaminated. Some stray
organism invaded the mixture,
reproduced itself, and secreted
a neurotoxin that poisoned
me. There have been other cases
of poisoning with home grown
Kombucha, including one reported
death.
Hours later, upon returning
from a trip, our daughters,
Mira and Rami, and our soon-to-be
son, River, arrived and added
their love to the mix. It was
unbelievably sweet to be surrounded
by so much good energy.
I feel so different as a result
of this near death experience.
I have never felt so grateful
to be alive. Today marks 10
days after the poisoning. I
received IV treatment to support
and flush out my overburdened
liver. Within 24 hours I was
90 percent clear of symptoms,
and after 3 days back to normal
except for an occasional episode
of nausea and lightheadedness.
The wedding was a blessed event
with love filling every moment.
I notice I take more time
to give and receive love with
friends and family. Being so
close to death really forces
me to appreciate life, to slow
down and notice all the beauty
around me, to be a better human
being.
I am so aware of the fragility
of our bodies. Two ounces of
a drink placed me on the brink
of a precipice. A few seconds
are all that are needed to
destroy a human body in a car
accident. How much have I taken
life for granted. I realize
that every minute of life is
precious. Every day holds the
opportunity for more growth
and love.
After officiating at the wedding
ceremony, Joyce and I became
separated while we were greeting
friends and family. Joyce noticed
the time. It was exactly one
week since she sat on the couch
helping me to stay in my body.
Overcome with gratitude that
I was alive, she ran to find
me, and invited me to be alone
with her for a moment. With
the noise of celebrating in
the background, Joyce and I
held tightly to each other
and gave thanks for more time
to be together on earth, and
to keep giving our gifts of
love to the world.
© Copyright The
Shared Heart Foundation.
Reprinted with permission. |
