Surviving A Near-death Experience: College Student's Close Call With Tricia Barker | NDE
What Researchers Found
The Story
Trisha was a 22-year-old woman heading to run the Austin 10K when a car accident caused severe spinal injuries. She waited 17 hours in the hospital without painkillers due to a lack of neurosurgeons and no health insurance. During surgery, with a 17% chance of death, she had an NDE. She left her body and watched the operation from above. She saw tall angels sending healing light into her spine. Her heart monitor stopped, and she moved through the hospital, verifying her stepdad eating a candy bar. She traveled to space and the cosmos, encountering God's intelligence through light. God shared messages like 'Be like a little child' and 'Love is all that matters.' A life review showed joyful nature moments and her judgmental tendencies. She entered a perfect heaven-like field, met her youthful grandfather, and rode in a truck with him. She flew toward God's light, feeling prayers pull her back and healing her wounds. God instructed her to look down at Earth, revealing people with light or shadows, and gave her a mission to teach and boost self-esteem. After the NDE, Trisha became more open, loving, and less guarded. She pursued teaching to awaken students, lost fear of death, and later felt her mission complete while continuing to educate.
“and God said that that was a beautiful thing you know that I was getting in”
This NDE includes one verified veridical perception from an out-of-body state: seeing her stepdad eat a candy bar in another hospital room, confirmed by family, which was unexpected given their health-conscious habits. The medical crisis involved clinical death (monitor stopped), but limited verifications (only one claim checked) and no documented pre-verification reporting cap the strength.
Score reflects verifiable perceptions reported. A low score indicates the experience was primarily spiritual or subjective, not that it didn't occur.
Score reflects transformation as described. Domains scored 0 indicate the topic was not discussed, not that no change occurred.
Are you here because someone you love has died?
These accounts were gathered because death may not be the end. Thousands of people have experienced something beyond — and come back to tell us about it.
What Researchers Found
This NDE includes one verified veridical perception from an out-of-body state: seeing her stepdad eat a candy bar in another hospital room, confirmed by family, which was unexpected given their health-conscious habits. The medical crisis involved clinical death (monitor stopped), but limited verifications (only one claim checked) and no documented pre-verification reporting cap the strength.
Score reflects verifiable perceptions reported. A low score indicates the experience was primarily spiritual or subjective, not that it didn't occur.
Score reflects transformation as described. Domains scored 0 indicate the topic was not discussed, not that no change occurred.