Divine Encounters Episode 011 | Near-Death Experience Story
Amber Cavanagh says she was a psychic medium from her earliest memory, a mother and former foster parent, when a headache the night before Christmas Eve turned into a stroke and a helicopter flight she did not expect to survive. In this Divine Encounters episode she tells Alex Ferrari what she says she found when the sun touched her face: a garden, her guides, her family’s higher selves, and a free choice about whether to come back.
Key Takeaways
- Amber says she was born a psychic medium and grew up feeling different and isolated before building a life with a husband and children, and fostering other children.
- She says a severe headache on December 22 turned out to be linked to a carotid dissection, and that she woke at 4:45 a.m. paralyzed on her right side and unable to speak.
- She says that as she was flown to a second hospital, she closed her eyes in the sun and opened them in the most beautiful garden she has ever seen, with no tunnel or in-between.
- She describes colors that do not exist here, a glow on everything, and a sense that every molecule could feel every other, with no separation.
- She says her guides, loved ones, and the higher selves of her husband and children were there, along with a large group she realized were her other lives across time.
- She says her guides told her what would happen on either path but did not tell her what to do, and that there was no rush and no judgment.
- She says she chose to come back, and that God “made me feel strong enough to make the decision on my own.”
| Guest | Amber Cavanagh |
| Episode | Divine Encounters 011 |
| When | December 2021, she says, during the COVID restrictions |
| What Amber says happened | A massive stroke left her paralyzed on one side and unable to speak, and she crossed over during a helicopter flight |
| Where she says she went | A garden with colors that do not exist on earth, a creek and a glowing landscape |
| Who she met | Her guides, loved ones, her mother-in-law, pets, the higher selves of her family, and her other lives |
| The message | Thought is everything; God does not judge; the choice is yours |
| Why she came back | She says she chose it, knowing the first months would be very hard |
A Child Who Was Always Different
Amber tells Alex that she was born gifted. She was a psychic medium from her earliest memory, she says, so very young. She was always a bit different and did not fit in. She did not know what was wrong with her when she was little, and she was fairly isolated and struggled to make friends.
She grew up and learned to deal with it. She had children and got married, and she and her husband have been foster parents on and off. She calls it a much longer story, but that is the nutshell. Her glossary-style way of putting it is simple: she had a sense of the unseen from the start. If you want to read more about this kind of gift, see our entry on mediumship.
The Day Before Christmas Eve
It was coming up to Christmas, she says, and she should have known, because December 23 is a day when nothing good ever happens in her family. The day before, December 22, she spent making gingerbread houses with her kids and their old foster kids. It was a busy day. She was preparing for a big dinner for about 30 people. That evening she, her husband and their kids settled in to watch a Christmas movie.
Then she got the worst headache of her entire life. She says she has had chronic tension headaches and some back and neck trouble, so it was not totally uncommon, but this one was really painful. She told her family she was not feeling well and went to bed. About an hour later she texted her husband and asked him to bring Tylenol and Advil. He did. She fell asleep, probably around 10:30 p.m.
The doctors think she fell into unconsciousness, she says, because the headache was caused by a carotid dissection, a left carotid dissection, which she says can be very painful.
Waking Up Unable to Move
She woke at 4:45 in the morning and had no idea what was going on. She thought it might be sleep paralysis. It turned out she was completely paralyzed on the right side of her body, with not even a shadow of movement, and she had lost all speech. She was in bed, but her husband was not there. She thought she was dreaming.
She wanted to get to the bathroom beside the bed. She pushed herself with her left hand and somehow sat on the edge of the bed. When she tried to stand, she fell, hitting the tall bed on the way down. Then she realized she was not dreaming. She needed her husband, who, it turned out, had fallen asleep on the couch. She tried to army-crawl with one arm, but paralyzed weight is dead weight. There was a wall, so she banged on it as hard as she could.
Her husband came in. He asked what she was doing on the floor. She could say two words, she says, one of them her sister’s name for some reason, and the other a swear word, which she jokes is not helpful, because swearing lives on the other side of the brain. He is a level three first aid attendant at work. He looked at her and, in something you should not say when someone is having a stroke, told her he thought she was having one. Then he put her through the tests: arms up, smile, talk. She could not do any of it. He called 911.
Being Heard, and Not Being Heard
Her parents live in their basement suite, and her mother heard the banging and came up. Amber was in her underwear, and she was trying to say she was cold and wanted some clothes before the ambulance came. She could not talk, and they could not understand. She started hitting herself with her good arm, but they thought she was telling them she was in pain. Strokes are not painful, she says. Finally her mother understood and put pants on her, and a fancy sweater, she does not know why.
The paramedics came and did not think it was a stroke, she says. They thought she was drunk, because they lived in a nice neighborhood and a nice house, and they seemed to think she was a drunk housewife. She says they were rude and moved very slowly. Her husband got angry and told them she does not drink, does not smoke and does not take birth control. Look at her, he told them. She cannot smile and she cannot talk. Let’s go.
He could not ride along, because of COVID restrictions in 2021. Halfway to the hospital, she says, the sirens were not on and no stroke code had been called. Amber grabbed the paramedic’s hand, afraid, and tried to show him with her eyes that she felt she was dying. He finally told the driver he thought it actually was a stroke. In triage, she says, the staff were chatting, until the person checking her in turned around and said that she was clearly having a stroke. Then a stroke code was called and everyone came running.
The Helicopter and the Sun on Her Face
She went straight to a CT scan, going in and out of consciousness. They found, she says, that she had a massive stroke, a completed one, and that it had caused a secondary stroke. She was dying. They arranged a flight to another hospital for brain surgery, which was the only option. They gave her a clot-reversing medication, she says, and it did not work. She still could not talk.
The whole family came to say goodbye. Because she said she would probably die before they got to the other hospital, her husband was allowed on the helicopter. They took off, the sun hit her face, and her husband tried to block it. She closed her eyes.
The Most Beautiful Garden
“I just close my eyes and open them,” she says, and she was on the other side. There was no in-between. There was no tunnel, no light to walk toward and no one calling her. She was in “the most beautiful garden I have ever seen.” The colors do not exist here. She had no shoes on, and even the grass between her toes was like nothing she has ever felt. It was more peaceful than any moment she has had as a human. There was a creek, and she could put her toes in it.
“Everything radiated God’s love and energy,” she says. There was “a certain glow to everything,” like in the film Avatar. Every molecule could connect energetically with everything else. The grass could feel the water, the water could feel the flowers, and she could feel all of it. “There was no separation.”
Guides, Loved Ones and All of Her Other Lives
Her guides were there. She says she already knew them, so she recognized them. A few loved ones were standing to the side, as were her husband and her kids. She says she was there to make a choice about whether to come back, and if the choice meant leaving her husband and kids, it would not even be a choice. She would just come back. What she means is that their higher selves were there. Every human has a higher self, she says, a higher being that is always on the other side, “the puppet master for all of your life.” You can read about this idea in our glossary entry on the higher self.
Her mother-in-law was there, who also died on December 23. Some of her pets were there. She did not talk to any of them. Everything was telepathic, and they were there in support. She also says that when you cross over, the question of why no longer exists. All the questions we have about why something happened are gone, because you know everything. Our human worries are gone.
Off to one side was a huge group of people. In a millisecond she knew: “those are all of my other lives.” They looked different from her. They were men, women, children, old and young, from different time dimensions, past, present and future, some looking like the 1800s and some like the 2300s. They were in support as well, she says, because we all work together on the other side, though not necessarily here.
Two Paths, No Pressure
Her guides did not tell her what to do. They did not say she had to go back. But they told her what would happen on either path. If she chose to stay, “if you choose to stay here, that’s totally fine,” and they showed her what her kids’ lives, her husband’s life and her family’s lives would look like. Then they showed her what would happen if she went back. “You will do amazing things,” they told her. But the first 18 months would be so hard that she would want to die and would question why she came back.
She says it was true. The first six months in particular were horrific, and there were times she wished she had stayed. If you are struggling, you are not alone. In the US you can call or text 988 any time.
Her guides explained the reason for those 18 months. Her main theme in this life is patience, and she has always struggled with it, with herself and others. She needed to learn a lifetime’s worth in 18 months. After that, she would shift from about 70 percent learning and 30 percent teaching to roughly 60 or 70 percent teaching and only 30 percent learning, so she could teach more people about, as she puts it, awesome things.
She felt as if she had 50 years to decide. There was “no rush, there was no judgment.” She could feel God’s energy there, but not a suggestion that if she did not return she was failing. Nothing like that.
The Decision, the Seizure and the Waiting Room
She pushed her feet into the grass for what felt like a long time and stood in the creek. From there, she says, she could see her family back on earth, bargaining with God, promising to do anything if she lived. She could see her body clinging to life in the helicopter. Her temperature was rising because her brain was shutting down. Her guides explained that she needed to decide before a grand mal seizure, caused by brain swelling, ended, because she would return to her body when it was done. If she was going to die, her brain would keep swelling and she would be brain dead.
Finally, she says, even though it was not that long, she decided she was going to go back and that she really wanted to do this. The second she decided, she was no longer in the garden. She was in a light-filled waiting room. Her soul chose not to be in her body for the seizure, because it is painful. She compares it to hearing about people above a hospital bed during surgery. As soon as the pain was over, she was back in her body, unconscious for a day or two. That, she says, is when the battle with her human self began.
What She Says About God
To close, Amber shares what she took from the experience. “Thought is literally everything,” she says, and “God is just love.” God does not have the ability to judge or hate anything. God did not give her an opinion about what she should or should not do. Instead, “God made me feel strong enough to make the decision on my own.”
Beside Other Near-Death Accounts
Many near-death accounts include a beautiful place, a sense of love and a choice about returning. Amber’s version stands out for how much freedom she says she was given, and for the way her guides laid out both futures. We share her story as her own experience and make no medical claims. For wider background, see our complete guide to near-death experiences, and our entry on spirit guides.
Questions to Sit With
- Amber says her guides gave her a clear picture of both paths and then left the choice to her. Where in your life could you ask for that kind of clarity, and then trust yourself?
- She says she needed to learn patience. What theme keeps coming back in your own life?
- She says God did not judge her either way. How would it change a decision you are facing if you knew no one was keeping score?
This week, take a decision you have been putting off and write down what each path might look like. Then sit with it quietly for five minutes before choosing.
Spiritual Takeaways
- Amber says thought is literally everything.
- She says God is just love and does not judge or hate.
- She says every human has a higher self that stays on the other side.
- She says the other side holds no separation, and every molecule can feel every other.
- She says the choice is yours, with no rush and no judgment.
Please enjoy my conversation with Amber Cavanagh.
Guest Links: Connect With Amber Cavanagh
Listen to the Episode
- Watch this episode ad-free on Next Level Soul TV
- Download the MP3
- More episodes: Divine Encounters
- Listen to Divine Encounters on Apple Podcasts
- Listen to Divine Encounters on Spotify
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Amber Cavanagh?
Amber Cavanagh is a psychic medium and near-death experiencer who shares her story in this Divine Encounters episode with host Alex Ferrari. She says she has been a medium since her earliest memory and has fostered children with her husband.
What happened to Amber before her near-death experience?
She says a severe headache on December 22 was caused by a carotid dissection, and that she woke at 4:45 a.m. paralyzed on her right side and unable to speak. After a delay in care, she says she was found to have a massive stroke.
Where did Amber cross over?
She says she crossed over during a helicopter flight to a second hospital. When the sun hit her face she closed her eyes and opened them in a garden, with no tunnel or in-between.
What did the garden look like?
She describes the most beautiful garden she has ever seen, with colors that do not exist here, a creek, and a glow on everything. She says every molecule could feel every other and there was no separation.
Who did Amber meet?
She says she met her guides, a few loved ones, her mother-in-law and some pets. She also saw the higher selves of her husband and children, and a large group she understood to be her other lives.
What are the other lives Amber saw?
She says they were men, women, children and elders from different time dimensions, past, present and future, some from the 1800s and some from the 2300s, all supporting her.
What did Amber’s guides tell her about returning?
She says they did not tell her what to do but showed her what would happen either way. They told her that going back meant doing amazing things, but the first 18 months would be very hard, in order to learn patience.
Why did Amber choose to return?
She says she felt she wanted to do it. She decided before a grand mal seizure ended and says God made her feel strong enough to make the decision on her own.
What was the light-filled waiting room?
Amber says that once she decided, she was in a light-filled waiting room while her body had the seizure, because her soul chose not to be in the body during the pain. When it ended, she was back in her body.
Is a near-death experience proof of an afterlife?
Next Level Soul shares near-death experiences as lived experiences told in the person’s own words. Researchers continue to study and debate what they mean. Nothing here is medical advice or a medical claim.
Keep Exploring
- The complete guide to near-death experiences
- What the higher self is
- What mediumship is
- Ginette Biro on seeing parallel lives in the afterlife
- Mark Hodges on other dimensions and past lives
- Wendy Rose Williams on meeting her soul group and seeing past lives
- Lee Papa on a choice to leave her son or return
- Sarah K. Grace on choosing to return at nineteen
- Browse more free masterclasses and the Divine Encounters podcast.
Follow Along with the Transcript
Alex Ferrari 0:00
Tell me what your life was like before you died.
Amber Cavanagh 0:08
So I was actually born gifted. I was a psychic medium from the moment, my earliest memory. So super, super young. And so, you know, I was always kind of different. I didn't really fit in. I didn't know what was wrong with me when I was young. And so I was fairly isolated. I had, I struggled making friends and stuff like that. But I grew up I learned to deal with it. had kids got married all that. So it's a much longer story. But that's in a nutshell. And so it was coming up to Christmas. I should have known because December 23, nothing good ever happens in our family, but we had spent the day the 22nd. I'm making gingerbread houses with my kids and our old foster kids, because we've been foster parents on and off. And so it was a busy day, and I knew, prepping for a big dinner there was going to be like, I think 30 People coming for dinner. And so we had a big huge day. And we were gonna watch a Christmas movie, my kids and my husband and I are sitting down watching a movie. And I all of a sudden got the worst headache headache of my entire life. I couldn't even function I just but I've had headaches kind of chronically tension headaches, stuff like that. I have, you know, some back and neck issues. So it's not wasn't totally uncommon, but it was really painful. So I said, You know what, guys, I just not feeling well. I have a really bad headache. I'm gonna go to bed. So they stayed watching a Christmas movie. And I went to bed and about an hour later, I guess I don't fully remember it. I texted my husband and said, this headache is really bad. Can you bring me some Tylenol and Advil? And he's like, Okay. And so we brought me that. And I guess I fell asleep. The doctors think I fell into unconsciousness because the headache was caused by my carotid dissection. Left carotid dissecting it, I guess can be really painful. And so I fell asleep, probably around 1030 At night, and I woke up at 4:45 in the morning. And I had no idea what was going on. I thought maybe I had sleep paralysis, because I couldn't properly move. And I didn't understand why. And it turns out, we found out like I was completely paralyzed on the right side of my body. I didn't even have a shadow of movement don't like they poked me nothing. And I also lost all speech. And so I was in bed, but my husband wasn't there. And so I was like what is happening? What is going on, and I thought I was dreaming. So I wanted to get to the bathroom, which was right beside the bed. And so I pushed myself off with my left hand and somehow sat on the edge of the bed. And then I tried to stand up while I was paralyzed, and I fell and you have a really tall bed for some reason, hit the whole bed on the way down. And then I realized I was not dreaming. And I had no idea what was going on. And I just needed to get to my husband. And it turns out he had fallen asleep on the couch. And so I was trying to like hook army crawl with one arm to the door. I couldn't move. Paralyzed weight is dead weight. You can't you can't do anything can't move. But there was a wall. And so I banged on the wall really, really hard. And I guess my husband had kind of stirred when I fell out of bed. But when he didn't hear anything else, he had fallen back asleep. And then I banged on the wall. And he came in. And it's like you didn't turn the light on. He's like, What are you doing while you're on the floor? And I'm I couldn't talk i i could say two words. Michelle, which is my sister's name for some reason. And fuck, which that's not helpful. And I could, yeah, because swearing is on the other side of my brain, which is wonderful. And I could like grunt or something. And he's like, why are you on the floor and he tried to pick me up and I weighed a ton and he couldn't under so he turned the light on came around. And he is a level three first aid attendant for work. And he looked at me and something you shouldn't say when somebody's having a stroke. I think you're having enough in stroke. And then he put me through the test, put your arms up, smile talk, like the be fast thing and I couldn't do any of it. So he called 911 My parents live in our basement suite and my mom had heard the banging so she came up of course because you know everybody's so human. I didn't have clothes on I had underwear and so I'm trying to tell them I'm cold Can I have some clothes before the amulet but I couldn't talk and they couldn't understand what I was saying. And so with my not paralyzed arm I started hitting myself but they thought I was saying I'm in pain. I strokes aren't painful. You cannot feel and you don't It doesn't wake you up. It's not Yeah, it just doesn't hurt, paralyze big, feels weird, but it doesn't hurt. And so I kept doing that. Finally my mum got it and put on a pair of pants and like a fancy sweater, I don't know why. And they the paramedics came, and they said, they didn't think it was a stroke. They they thought it was drunk, and so or fly because we live in a nice neighborhood, a nice house, and they just thought I was a drunk housewife. And they were really rude. And we're moving really, really slow. And my husband was getting super angry. And he's like, she doesn't drink. She doesn't smoke. She doesn't take birth control. This is a stroke. Look at her. She can't smile, she can't talk.
What are you doing? Let's go. So they very slowly got me into the ambulance. And my husband couldn't come in the ambulance again COVID. They're super strict about stuff, because it was in 2021. So we're just starting to be able to gather. And so halfway, they didn't turn the sirens on. And I know now because after having that first stroke, the first two, I had a few TAs and as soon as they suspect stroke, they call it on an radio and say, stroke code coming in. And so they didn't call it halfway through to the hospital, I grabbed the guy, I grabbed his hand because I was so scared. And I looked at him like trying to say like, I can feel like I'm dying. And he looked at me finally, and he said to the guy in the friend, I think it actually is a stroke deal, didn't turn on the sirens still didn't call a stroke code took me to the hospital in triage. And then they were all kind of shooting the shit with all the other paramedics while I was just sitting there. Finally a guy and the guy who checks you in triage, turned around and looked at me and said, What are you guys doing? She's clearly having a stroke. And then a stroke called Code was called and everybody came running in that time, my husband was on the way he had called my one sister, and she's on the way my kids didn't come, my husband was trying to protect them and wasn't sure what was happening or anything like that. So they took me straight to CT. And I started going kind of in and out of consciousness, all this stuff happened that they found out, it's I had a massive stroke, a completed stroke, and it caused a secondary stroke, and I'm dying. And so they need to light like me. So they got everything arranged to lifeflight me because I did brain surgery, that was the only option. They gave me TPA, it didn't work. That's the one that reverses strokes, didn't work, and didn't even get a shadow of anything back. I couldn't talk still. And so all the family came said goodbye, I got into the helicopter. And they let my husband come because I said I was probably going to die before we got to the other hospital. And we took off and the sun hit my face. And my husband tried to block it out, I closed my eyes when the sun hit my face. And I woke up on the other side, there was no in between there was no go towards the light, there was no one telling me to come or calling me there. I just close my eyes and open them. And I was in the most beautiful garden I have ever seen in my entire life or felt like there were colors that don't exist here I had no shoes on. And so just even the grass between my toes was like nothing you've ever experienced, it was more peaceful than any moment I've had as a human in this life, there was a creek and I could put my toes in it. And it was like everything radiated God's love and energy. And there is a certain glow kind of like Avatar, you know, a certain glow to everything. So every molecule could connect energetically with everything else. So the grass could feel the water, the water can feel the feel the flowers, I could feel all of that there was no separation. And my guides were there. And I had already known my guides. So I recognize them. There were a few of my loved ones sort of standing to the side, as well as my husband and my kid. Because I was there to make a choice. I had to choose whether or not I wanted to come back. And if the choice was I have to leave my husband and kids. And when it would not even be a choice I would just come back. But our higher selves are always there. So there's always a piece of be there. There's always a piece of you there. Every human in existence as a higher self or a higher being that is always on the other side kind of like the puppet master for all of your life. And so I needed to know that my kids and my husband would be with me, no matter the choice. My mother in law was there. She passed also on December 23 and bad day some of my pets were there. I didn't talk to any of them. I didn't need to I didn't go up to them. Everything was telepathic. They were just there in support. And then off to the other side, there was a huge group of people. And when you cross over, why no longer exists? So everything that we wonder or think, why would that ever happen? Why? It's gone? There's no why because you know, everything in the second year there, all of your hands, human on the ship is gone. And so there was this big group of people and I looked, and in a millisecond, I was like, Oh my gosh, those are all of my other lives. They look different than me, men, women, children, old people, young people, all different time dimensions. So past, present, and future, some looked like 1800, some looked like 2300s. And they were they're also in support, because we all kind of work together on the other side, not here necessarily. And so my guides, didn't tell me what to do. They didn't say you have to go back or not. They did tell me what would happen for either outcome. So they told me, you know, if you choose to stay here, that's totally fine. And this is what your kid's life will look like your husband's life will look like your family, this is what's going to happen, or sort of the future of everything you leave for choose not to go back to and then they showed me what would happen if I chose to go back, they said you will do amazing things. But the first 18 months, you'll want to die, it will be so hard that you will question why you came back and let me tell you, it was it was the first six months especially It was horrific, I did want to go back. But they said the reason for that is in 18 months, you are going to learn a lifetime of patience, because that's the main theme in my life. This This one is patience. And I've always struggled with it patients with myself and others. And I needed to learn a lifetime's worth of patients and 18 months, because after that, I would switch from 70% learning life and 30% teaching life to like 60 to 70% teaching life and only 30% learning. So essentially putting some of the lessons I might have learned aside so I could teach more people about I don't know, awesome things, which hopefully is now what I'll do. And so I felt like I had 50 years to decide there was no rush, there was no judgment, God didn't tell me to come back or not. God's energy was there, I could feel it. But there was no suggestion of, you know, if you don't come back here, you know, I'm judging you when you're failing and whatever, there was nothing, nothing like that. And so I pushed my feet in the grass, it felt like for a long time, because it just felt so amazing. stood in the water. And I could see myself here, I can see my family, I could see them bargaining with God, saying, you know, if she lives, I will do everything and anything you ever want, I will change my life, all this sort of stuff, I could see them all tacking because they were going to drive to the second hospital, I could see my body. And I could see, it was still clinging to life. My I was still in the helicopter, my temperature was rising. Because my brain was shutting down, I started helicopter land, and come to me get to the hospital. And my guides explained that I needed to make the choice. By the time I had a grand mal seizure, because of the brain swelling by the time the seizure was done, because I was going to go back into my body when the seizure was done. If I was going to die, my brain would keep swelling, and I would be brain dead because I would keep having seizures. And so finally, it felt like finally even though it was It wasn't that long that I was, you know, out of my body. I said you know, I'm gonna go back I really want to do this. And the second I made the decision so I wasn't in the garden anymore. I was in this like light filled waiting room, because my soul chose to not be in my body for the seizure because it's painful. So I was in this light filled rig kind of I think I've heard stories of people like above a hospital bed, when they're getting surgery and stuff like that. I think it's it was kind of like that, like this sort of little waiting area if you don't want to be in a body that's super painful. And as soon as the pain was done, I was not in the waiting room anymore. I was in my body and I was unconscious for a couple days a day two days. Yeah. And that's then when sort of the battle with my human self started. Yeah, thought is literally everything and God does not have the ability to judge to hate anything. God is just love God did not give me an opinion of what I should or shouldn't do. God made me feel strong enough to make the decision on my own.
Our Sponsors
- Next Level Soul TV: exclusive spiritual movies, series, audiobooks, courses and events. Get the app.
- Earthing.com: discover the science-based healing powers of earthing and grounding.
If you enjoyed today’s episode, watch and subscribe to Divine Encounters on YouTube.
