Divine Encounters Episode 007 | Near-Death Experience Story
Jane Thompson had just turned 34 and was giving most of her attention to a real estate career when, she says, a sudden illness took her to the emergency room and out of her body. In this Divine Encounters episode she tells Alex Ferrari what she says she saw and felt, from a web of connected souls to a white light that she understood was also her, and about the voice that told her she had to go back.
Key Takeaways
- Jane says she was 34, a busy real estate agent in 2008, and putting most of her energy into work when her near-death experience happened on August 22, 2008.
- She describes waking with a burning fever and pain she says was a thousand times worse than flu aches, and calling a family member from a phone she nearly left in another room.
- She says that as she waited for a scan, the lights, the sounds and even a ticking clock became painfully amplified.
- She describes rising to the ceiling, looking at her body and seeing “the shell of me,” then watching the room become balls of white light joined by thin lines like a spider web.
- She says the tunnel felt like a thrilling amusement park ride, and the white light brought the deepest peace she has ever felt.
- She says she understood the light was also her, and that she was not separate from it.
- She says an inaudible voice told her twice that she had to go back, and that she protested before being pulled back into her body.
| Guest | Jane Thompson |
| Episode | Divine Encounters 007 |
| Age at the time | 34, on August 22, 2008, at 1:20 p.m. |
| What Jane says happened | A fever of 106 degrees and severe pain led to the emergency room, where she left her body |
| Where she says she went | The ceiling of the ER, a void, a black tunnel and a bright white light |
| Who she met | A crowd of souls, and an inaudible voice that told her to go back |
| The message | She is not separate from the light, and everyone is connected |
| What followed | Her first surgery that evening, and a longer spiritual journey |
A Career-Driven Life in 2008
Alex asks Jane what her life was like before she died. She had just turned 34, she says, and she had logged some time as an adult. Career was her main focus. She was a real estate agent, which she describes as a seven-day-a-week job where you are on from the minute you wake up to the minute you go to bed. She enjoyed the challenge and the movement of it.
It was 2008, so the market was not great and the environment was competitive. She liked that. She did not like how cutthroat it could be. She felt she was willing to put in whatever effort it took to move forward in a really ethical way. Work got most of her attention. She also had a serious boyfriend, and they were talking about marriage. Things were good between them. He, too, was very into work.
A Morning She Could Not Move
Jane gives the date and the time exactly, because it happened in the emergency room. It was August 22, 2008, at 1:20 p.m. The night before, she says, she had not been feeling well and went to bed early. When she woke, she was hot and sweating, burning up, but still under the comforter. She tried to move the blankets off and could not move her body.
When she tried, she felt excruciating pain. She compares it to the all-over aches you get with the flu, but a thousand times more intense. She was fading in and out. It was very early, and each time she opened her eyes the room was a little brighter, so she knew time was passing.
She had her cell phone next to her, which she finds interesting looking back. Her habit then was to plug her phone in at night in the living room. That night, for some reason, she brought it into her bedroom. Thank goodness she did, she says. When she finally found the strength to get the blankets off, she reached for it and called a family member. She said something was wrong. She felt awful, she was in pain and burning up, and she needed to go to the doctor. Her relative said she would get dressed and be right over.
Two Hospitals and a World Turned Up Too Loud
The first hospital, the one closest to her home, did an MRI that came back inconclusive, so they sent her to another. By the time she got there she was hurting so much that she could not hold up her head. They put her in a wheelchair to get into the ER, her head just hanging. She says she could feel herself dying. She knew her body was quitting.
While she waited for a CT scan, everything around her became very amplified. Hospital lights are harsh anyway, she says, but now the fluorescent lights seemed to beat down on her. She could hear children in the waiting room down the hall, and they sounded like they were screaming. Someone told her they were actually being pretty good. Even the second hand of the clock on the wall was loud.
When they came for her, they suspected kidney stones. They needed to get an IV in before the scan. She was dehydrated from the fever, and they were not letting her drink or eat. She lay there, and that was when she began to feel herself trying to leave her body. This was different from blacking out because of sickness or pain. Her temperature was 106 degrees and she was fading fast.
“I Can’t Take Any More of This Pain”
She remembers having one thought: she could not take this pain anymore. At that moment she closed her eyes. She had been burning up, and now she started to feel very cold all at the same time. She began to convulse, feeling her body shake all over. And right then, she says, she completely disconnected from the outside world and from her body, and from the pain and the sensations.
She was up on the ceiling. She looked down at the body and realized it was “the shell of me.” She did not see any life in it anymore. She saw the scene around her: doctors, nurses and a couple of people she knew, watching everything that was happening. She was just taking it all in, observing.
Balls of White Light Joined Like a Spider Web
Then she began, very gently and very slowly, to float up. The walls of the hospital started to disappear. So did the machines she had been hooked up to, and the bodies were no longer visible. What she was looking down at now were little balls of white light. Those, she says, were everybody’s souls.
She also saw how everyone was connected by a thin, iridescent line, “exactly the way a spider web looks” if you catch it just right in the sunlight. From her new perspective she could not understand the busyness, what looked like frantic energy from the people below. She kept floating backwards. If you are curious about the idea that everything is connected, our glossary entry on oneness explores it.
The Void, the Tunnel and the White Light
She believes she was in an in-between space for a while, a void. It was very black, and it was very quick. She had the feeling she would not have wanted to stay there long. Then she was pulled quickly into a tunnel. It was very black too, but not scary at all. In her words, it was like “I was on a ride at the amusement park having the time of my life,” she says. It was fast and fun and thrilling.
She was out of the tunnel just as quickly, and into a brilliant, clear white light. The contrast was strong: the tunnel black and fast, the light bright and very calm. She needed a second to orient.
As soon as she settled, she says, the first thing she felt was “the deepest peace that I’ve ever felt in my life.” It was safe and warm. She felt loved and cared for. Then she began to soak up the love, which she describes as truly unconditional. She felt almost as if she were blending with the white light, though she was still her own unique vibration. And with that blending she began to understand that this beautiful white light was also her. “I’m not separate from it,” she says. She was part of all of this vastness, and she loved every minute.
A Comfortable Crowd, and Then a Voice
Then she noticed she was not alone. She felt almost like a crowd around her, a really comfortable one, and she realized it was other souls with her. She did not have long to take that in. She heard an inaudible voice: “You have to go back.”
It was like a gut punch, she says. It was the last thing she wanted to hear. She was so present in that moment, and it felt so good, that she was not thinking about anything else. She started to protest. No, no, no, she did not want to go back. “Please don’t make me go back,” she remembers saying. The voice told her again that she needed to go back, and she knew that was what would happen. She protested a little more.
Then she felt herself go backwards into the tunnel quickly, and right back into her body through the top of her head, as if sucked in. A bit of the pain came back for a brief second, enough for her to know that she was back in this world. Then it was total blackout until later that evening, when she went into pre-op to prepare for her first surgery to get well again.
Later Reflections on the Spiritual Journey
Near the end of the conversation, Jane offers a thought about the path that followed. She says that as you go on a spiritual journey, your habits and your way of healing change. At first, “we’re like these kids in a candy shop,” she says. We want to read this, gather that, try this. We collect tools and do the research and see what resonates.
But there comes a point, she says, when you do not have to keep doing that. You can relax. You can “pick up your toolbox of everything you’ve collected” and move on to what’s next. If we stay in research mode too long, she says, we do not get to experience “the beauty of flow.” Sometimes you go back to research mode; it is a cycle. She wants people to know they can take breaks, especially if they feel like they are spinning their wheels. That is an indicator, she says, that it is time for a breather.
How Jane’s Story Fits With Other Near-Death Experiences
Leaving the body, floating above the hospital room, a tunnel, a light, peace and a sense of being sent back are all common in near-death accounts. Jane’s version has some especially vivid details: the sensory overload before leaving, the souls as balls of light and the tunnel as an amusement park ride. In 1983, psychiatrist Bruce Greyson published a 16-item scale that researchers still use to describe near-death experiences. What they mean remains a topic of discussion. We share them as lived experiences and make no medical claims.
For a broader view, start with our complete guide to near-death experiences and the glossary entry on the near-death experience.
Taking a Breather
Jane’s closing advice is practical, and you can use it right now. If you have been in research mode for a while, reading, listening, gathering, consider pausing. A simple mindfulness break counts. Put the books down for a day and notice what is already here.
Her story is also a reminder that the busy life she describes at the start, the constant being on, can be paused. She says that from above, the frantic energy below looked like something she could not understand. You do not have to wait for an emergency to take a step back.
Questions to Sit With
- Jane says her career took most of her attention. Where does most of your attention go, and is it where you want it?
- She says she understood the light was also her. How does it feel to consider that you are not separate from what you love most?
- She says it is okay to take breaks from spiritual research. What would a breather look like for you this week?
This week, pick one evening to put down every book, app and podcast about growth, and just do something simple. Notice what comes up in the quiet.
Spiritual Takeaways
- Jane says everyone’s soul is a ball of light, connected to others by thin lines like a spider web.
- She says the white light is unconditional love, and that she is not separate from it.
- She says other souls surround us in a comfortable crowd on the other side.
- She says there is a time to gather spiritual tools and a time to use them, and to rest in flow.
- She says taking a breather is part of the path.
Please enjoy my conversation with Jane Thompson.
Guest Links: Connect With Jane Thompson
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 Jane Thompson?
Jane Thompson is a near-death experiencer who shares her story in this Divine Encounters episode with host Alex Ferrari. She says she was 34, a real estate agent, when she had her experience in an emergency room on August 22, 2008.
What happened to Jane before her near-death experience?
Jane says she woke up burning with fever and unable to move because of severe pain. She called a family member, went to two hospitals, and says her temperature reached 106 degrees while she waited for a scan.
What did Jane experience in the emergency room?
She says everything around her became amplified, and then she felt herself leave her body, rose to the ceiling and looked down at what she called the shell of her body, with doctors and nurses around it.
What did Jane see when she floated up?
She says the hospital walls and machines disappeared, and she saw balls of white light that she understood were everyone’s souls. She says they were joined by thin, iridescent lines like a spider web.
What was the tunnel like for Jane?
Jane says it was very black but not scary at all. She compares it to an amusement park ride that was fast, fun, thrilling and exciting.
What did the white light feel like?
She says she felt the deepest peace of her life, along with safety, warmth and unconditional love. She says she felt as if she were blending with the light and understood that it was also her.
Who was with Jane in the light?
She says she felt a comfortable crowd around her and understood it was other souls. She did not have time to learn more before she heard the voice.
Why did Jane come back?
Jane says she heard an inaudible voice tell her twice that she had to go back. She says she protested, but was pulled back through the tunnel and into her body through the top of her head.
What does Jane say about spiritual research?
She says that early in a spiritual journey we are like kids in a candy shop, gathering tools. Later you can use your toolbox, take a break, and enjoy the flow. She says feeling like you are spinning your wheels is a sign it may be time to rest.
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 oneness means
- What a near-death experience is
- Rosemary Thornton on being clinically dead for ten minutes
- Dianne Sherman on dying during surgery and why we never truly die
- Efrat Shokef on being shown what really matters on Earth
- Sarah K. Grace on being told she was not done
- Lee Papa on being asked to leave or return
- 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.
Jane Thompson 0:08
Well, my NDE, I had just turned 34. So I had logged in some time as an adult, I was very much into career. That was my main focus. I was a real estate agent, which is a seven day a week job. It's you know, from the minute you wake up to the minute you go to bed, and you're on all the time, and I enjoyed it. I liked the challenges of it. I liked the movement of it. And this was in 2008. So the market was not great. So it was a very competitive environment, which I liked. And it was cutthroat, which I didn't like. But I felt like I was willing to put in whatever effort I needed to move forward in a really ethical way. But work got most of my attention. And I had a really serious boyfriend. And we were, you know, talking about marriage and getting closer and closer to that. So relationship wise things were good. I was happy with him. And he was very into work. It was August 22 2008. My near death experience happened in the emergency room. So we've got the exact time. It was at 1:20pm that day, the night before, I hadn't been feeling really well. And I went to bed early. When I woke up. The next morning, I was hot, I was sweating. I was burning up hot, but I still had the comforter that covers over me. And when I moved to try to take the blankets off, I couldn't move my body. And when I would try to I was experiencing excruciating pain. It was the type of pain that you get those all over body aches that you get when you have the flu. Except it was like 1000 times worse, more intense than that I was fading in and out. It was very early in the morning, the sun was just starting to come up. So my bedroom was just starting to light up each time I would open my eyes, I could see that it was brighter. So I knew that a certain amount of time had gone by and I had the phone next to me my cell phone, which is so interesting, looking back because my habit at that time was to plug my phone in before bed in the living room. But something that night before I just brought it into my room and thank goodness that I did. Because I finally got enough energy or strength to get the blankets off of me. I reached for the phone. And I called a family member and I said something's wrong. I feel awful. I'm in pain and burning up. I need to go to the doctor. And she said, Okay, let me get dressed. I'll be right over. The first hospital that I went to was the one closest to my house. And they did an MRI but it came back inconclusive. So they sent me to a different hospital. By the time I got there I was I was hurting, I couldn't hold up my head. They had me in a wheelchair to get into the ER, my head was just hanging. And I was really I mean, I could feel myself dying. At that point. I knew my body was quitting. And as I was waiting for the CT scan there, everything around me became very amplified. The the lights in the hospital are pretty harsh anyway, those fluorescent lights, but boy, were they beating down on me at that point. There were kids that I could hear in the waiting room down the hall. And it sounded like they were screaming as the kids were so loud. And she said they're really actually being pretty good. And it just everything was so amplified, even the clock that was on the wall. The second hand as it was ticking, I could hear it loudly. And they came and got me for the CT scan. At this point, they suspected kidney stones. So they needed to get the IV in before they could do the scan or special type of scan that they wanted to do. By this point. I was so dehydrated from that fever and they weren't letting me drink or eat anything. And I was lying there and I remember that's when I started trying to leave my body that's when it wasn't just lacking out because I was sick or in pain. I was I could feel myself trying to leave my body and I was completely really worn out, my temperature was 106 degrees. And I was fading really fast. I remember having this thought of, I can't take this pain anymore. I can't take any more of this pain. And right at that moment, I close my eyes, and I was burning up from the fever. And I started getting very cold all at the same time. And I started convulsing, I could feel my body shaking all over my head. And it was right at that moment that I completely disconnected from the external world in a way disconnected from my body. I definitely disconnected from the pain at that point, the sensations. And the more that I realized that the real me, I was up on the ceiling, I looked down at that body, and I realized that that's the shell of me, I didn't see any life in in that body anymore. And I saw the scene around me, doctors, nurses, the couple of people there that I knew that were watching everything that was happening. And I was just taking it all in, I was just looking around, observing. And all of a sudden, I began very gently, very slowly floating up, the walls of the hospital started to disappear. The machines that I was hooked up to were disappearing, the bodies were no longer visible. What I was now looking down at were these little balls of white light, which that was everybody's soul, I was seeing everybody's soul. And I saw how everybody was connected by this really thin, iridescent line that looks exactly the way a spider web looks if you catch it just right in the sunlight. From my perspective, I didn't understand that busyness and what looked like frantic energy. So I kept floating backwards. And then I was really in what I think was the in between space for a little while the void, it was very black was very quick, I got the feeling I wouldn't have wanted to have stayed there for a long time. And then I very quickly got sucked into a tunnel. And the tunnel was very black, but not scary at all. And I was moving through it, like I was on a ride at the amusement park having the time of my life. It was fast. It was fun. It was thrilling. It was exciting. And that was also very quick moving through the tunnel. And then I immediately locked right out of the tunnel. And I was in this beautiful, brilliant, clear white light. And there was such a contrast from the tunnel, the tunnel was black and fast. And the white light was bright. And it was very calm. And so I needed a second there to orient to this change as well. And as soon as I settled in there, the first thing I immediately felt was the deepest peace that I've ever felt in my life. Just an overwhelming sense of peace, and it felt safe and warm. And I felt very loved. I felt very comfortable. I felt very cared for in that space. And as I was feeling the peace, then I started really feeling the love that really started getting soaked up. And it was, you know, truly unconditional love. I felt almost as if I was blending with the white light. But I was still also my own unique vibration, my own unique self. And then with that blending, then I started to realize that this white light, this beautiful white light, it's also me, I just had that understanding that I'm not separate from it. It's me, I'm part of all this vastness, this beauty that I'm taking in, and I was loving every minute of it. And I then at that point started to notice that it wasn't just me that was there. I felt almost like a crowd around me.
But a really comfortable crowd, and I realized it was other souls that were there with me. And I didn't have really a lot of time to understand that because right at that moment, I heard it was an inaudible voice that I heard. You have to go back. And that was I mean, that's like a it was like a gut punch. That was the last thing I wanted to hear. Because I was so much in that moment. I was so present for that moment. And it felt so good that I wasn't thinking about anything else but that and so to hear you have to go back. I did not want to hear that. I'm at all. And I started to protest. I said, No, no, no, no, no, I don't want to go back, please don't make me go back. And then I heard it again, you need to go back. And I knew, I knew that's what was going to happen. I protested a little more, though. And right, then I felt myself go backwards into the tunnel quickly. And then quickly, right back into my body in through the top of my head. It was like I got sucked back into my body, I had a little bit of the pain come back, I experienced the pain just for a brief second. And it was enough for me to know, Okay, I'm back in my body. I'm back in this world, here I am. And then it was total blackout until much later that evening, when I went into pre op to prepare for what would be my first surgery to get well again, as you evolve, and you go on this spiritual journey, your habits change, and your way of healing changes. And when you first start out, we're like these kids in a candy shop. And we want to read this and gather that info and try this. And, you know, you're gathering all the tools, and you're doing the research and you're learning, and you're seeing what resonates with you, and what doesn't, what works for you and what doesn't. And then there does come a point where you don't have to keep doing that there is a time where you can relax and all of that. And you don't have to keep filling your brain with all these things. There is a time where you just, you know, pick up your toolbox of everything you've collected. And then you move on to what's next. And I think if we stay in research mode for a long time, we don't get to experience the beauty of flow. And then sometimes you go back to research mode, it's just, it's a cycle, but I want people to know they can take those breaks, especially if you feel like you're spinning your wheels. That's an indicator. It's time to take a little bit of a breather.
Our Sponsors
- Next Level Soul TV: exclusive spiritual films, 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.
