Tim O'Reilly: Round Trip, The Near Death Experience
What Researchers Found
The Story
Timothy O'Reilly was a 10-year-old boy in 1962 when he had a near-death experience. He went down into an empty lot with a swamp to cross on tires. During a rock fight with other kids, a large rock hit him in the back of the head. It knocked him unconscious into the shallow water. During the experience, he felt like he was still standing. His mind continued as he entered a black void. He sensed a transparent body with outstretched arms. He heard a buzzing sound like in a movie. He felt no fear, no light, and no unconditional love. Then his legs below the knees seemed to melt, and he swayed. His spirit returned to his body. He woke up in the water. Friends helped him home, and his grandfather took him to the hospital for stitches. After the NDE, he did not tell anyone and forgot about it. Years later, in the mid-1980s, he read Raymond Moody's book on NDEs but did not connect it to his own. About 30 years after the event, while at the School of Visual Arts, he realized the link. This inspired him to make the documentary 'Roundtrip: The Near-Death Experience' as his thesis project. It shares his and others' stories. He now writes screenplays about NDEs to spread awareness.
“light white light or Speck of one and the next thing I know um I felt like my”
The account describes a subjective internal experience in a black void with buzzing and bodily sensations during brief unconsciousness from head trauma, but contains no claims of veridical perceptions of external events, impossible vantage points, or verifiable details. No attempts at verification were made contemporaneously, and the experience was not connected to NDEs or reported until decades later after reading relevant literature.
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
The account describes a subjective internal experience in a black void with buzzing and bodily sensations during brief unconsciousness from head trauma, but contains no claims of veridical perceptions of external events, impossible vantage points, or verifiable details. No attempts at verification were made contemporaneously, and the experience was not connected to NDEs or reported until decades later after reading relevant literature.
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.