Story about a near death experience and how that changed the life of an army veteran
The world disappeared right before his eyes and not a sound was heard . He was floating in space towards a light when a hand appeared in front of him .
Next thing he knew he opened his eyes and found himself in ICU in hospital . He tried to sit up but his body was connected to , so many tubes , he just stayed where he was lying on his back .
One of the nurses checked and recorded his observations and she said .
“Welcome back Craig . We thought you were gone . You actually died on the operating table . It’s a miracle that you’ve survived . “
Then he had a flash back of the moment just before his motor bike crashed into the truck .
“ Am I still in one piece ?”
He asked and the nurse replied .
“ You were impaled through the chest by a pipe that was protruding from the back of a truck you ran into . “
“ What . Are you serious ?”
He replied and the nurse said .
“ Now just try to relax . Have you any friends or family we can contact ?”
“ Nah , got no one , just me , you see , I’m a bit of a rebel . “
The doctor came to ICU for a visit and said ,
“There you are now . You’re like a weed . We can’t kill you “
Craig smoked and said .
“ Yeah they tried to do that before Doc without any success .“
“ What do you do for a living Craig ?
The doctor asked . Craig saluted the doc and said ,
“ Ex-Army Doc . Done my tour of duty so I’m officially retired . Can’t fit in to civilian life .
Seen too much I should forget but I keep remembering it , so I joined a bike club and rode with them until my parents passed away . Then I bought a place by the ocean .
That’s home now for me . “
“Try to get some rest and I’ll speak to you again soon . “
The doctor said as Craig lay back down and started to think of when he had looked down at his body there on the operating table , but didn’t bother mentioning that to anyone . A few days later he was moved from ICU to a ward with 8 other beds . After a week there in the recovery ward they moved him to a smaller ward on the ground floor where he was given some rehabilitation exercises .
Shortly after that the doctors were happy with his progress and he was discharged from hospital back to his beach house .
Craig was a keen surfer and lived alone . He lived a peaceful life there by the ocean and spent a lot of time picking up rubbish people they tourists left behind on the beach and around the tracks in the reserve .
He was happy to be back to his usual lifestyle again , up early everyday to see the sunrise , then catching a few waves before some fishing out on there on the ocean on his boat and later would sit and watch the sun go down .
Since the accident , he often thought about leaving his body and the hand that stopped him from getting to the light .
He never believed in God but since the accident he got into Zen and did some meditation
Over the next few weeks , he was having some dreams about a man who came to visit him . They shared some food and wine and then the visitor would always say ,
“ Remember me Craig because I remember you. “
He was troubled by this dream and spoke to some people who were able to interpret dreams and one of the ladies who was clairvoyant said “ The next time the visitor asks you to remember him ask what his name is “
So the next time he had that dream he asked the visitor what his name was and he answered “
“I am Jesus “
He told the clairvoyant about this and she told him.
“ You’re time here on earth is almost over but there is something you have to do first “
Craig looked at her and said ,
“ What do I have to do ?“
“You need to be baptized and receive Jesus into your life so that you can live with him forever in heaven .“
Craig did what she had said and shortly afterward Craig became ill and was taken back to the hospital where he had been before .
One night as the nurse came into the ward to check how he was and she overheard Craig talking .
“ Remember me Jesus “
He said .
By the time the nurse got to his bedside Craig had already passed away .
Note: Since my husband's cancer surgery 4/25/05, this book content has been integrated into the public speaking content for audiences interested in a sassy approach to personal and/or community awareness events. Another chapbook on intimate love poet
