Divine Encounters Episode 081 | Near-Death Experience Story
Julie Papievis was a Catholic woman who had always felt close to the Holy Spirit when, she says, a speeding driver ran a red light and hit her car, leaving her in a coma for six weeks. In this Divine Encounters episode she tells Alex Ferrari what she says she experienced: an open place with a narrow aisle, her two late grandmothers, eyes like tunnels of blue light, and a gentle instruction to go back and be happy.
Key Takeaways
- Julie says she was raised Catholic and always felt a special connection to the Holy Spirit.
- She says a young driver, speeding and distracted, ran a red light and struck her driver’s door as she left a shopping mall.
- Julie describes an off-duty paramedic who happened to be nearby and lifted her head to keep her airway open until help arrived.
- She says she was in a coma for six weeks, and that her parents refused to give up on her.
- She describes meeting two figures who looked like her late grandmothers, though she feels they were really God and the Holy Spirit.
- She says she was told “go back and be happy,” and felt “wrapped in a big, warm blanket” of protection.
- Julie believes children and the very old understand most clearly that we come from God and return to God.
| Guest | Julie Papievis |
| Episode | Divine Encounters 081 |
| Background | Raised Catholic, with a lifelong connection to the Holy Spirit |
| What Julie says happened | A driver ran a red light and hit her car at about 50 miles an hour |
| Time away | A coma of six weeks |
| Where she says she went | An open space with no floors or ceilings and one narrow aisle |
| Who she met | Two figures who looked like her late grandmothers; she feels it was God and the Holy Spirit |
| The message | “Go back and be happy.” |
Who Is Julie Papievis?
Julie was born and raised Catholic. She remembers her first communion as a big celebration with family and friends. She was able to speak at the church and read one of the readings, and says it was exciting. She loved that kind of thing. At her confirmation, she says, she felt a special connection to the Holy Spirit, which she thinks of as the living spirit.
She had just come home from a trip to Cancun with a girlfriend. They had a really nice time. She got home on a Sunday night, which was Mother’s Day weekend, and her brother drove her home after they visited their parents. Talking with him about the trip is her last clear memory. She went to work on Monday, and she has no memory of it.
The Crash
After work, Julie was leaving a shopping mall. A young man who had only recently gotten his license was speeding, she says, going over 50 miles an hour in a 35 zone. He was distracted and ran the red light, hitting her in the driver’s door. She was in a small sports car and he was in a bigger, older one. She says the force twisted her head around on her brain stem.
She is quick to describe the people who helped. An off-duty paramedic from the next town over happened to be at the scene getting a tire fixed. He called the nearby fire station and asked them to bring the jaws of life because her car was so crushed. He got to her first, broke the back window, climbed in behind her and lifted her head to keep an airway open so her brain would not lose oxygen. Julie says that was so helpful.
The paramedics from the station down the street were on her within about three minutes. From the call to the hospital door, she says, was 14 minutes. She calls the first responders amazing.
Her Parents at the Hospital
She says that when the paramedics reached her, she already had no blood pressure. They called ahead and a neurosurgeon was waiting at the hospital. Tests showed, she says, that there was not enough brain activity to keep her alive. In Illinois, she explains, next of kin has to be contacted before someone can be legally declared dead, so she was put on life support while her parents were called in.
Her father later said that getting the call about her crash was the worst day of his life, even though the family had recently been through a cancer diagnosis. Julie says it still makes her emotional. She says a doctor and nurse pulled her parents aside into a chapel and told them that the vast majority of people with her injury do not make it through the first 24 hours, and that those who do live in a nursing home. Her parents decided they would care for her at home if she lived through the first night.
A priest arrived to give her last rites, though her parents had not called their parish. Julie says she did die in those first 24 hours, and remained in a coma for six weeks. When the doctors wanted to place her in a nursing home after a month, her father said no. He chose a coma stimulation program to give her every chance to wake up.
A Narrow Aisle
Julie says she knew she was dead. She was in a place with no floors or ceilings, just open space and walls, except for a very narrow aisle on her left. She remembers thinking, “why did God make the aisle way so narrow?”
The next thing she knew, she was standing before her two late grandmothers. She says it was not really them. She feels it was God and the Holy Spirit in the form of her grandmothers. One grandmother did not speak. The other did not either, in words, but her eyes were “these endless tunnels of blue light.” Julie says everyone in her family has blue eyes, and she could not take her eyes off hers. She was happy to see them.
You Have to Go Back
Julie said, come on, girls, let us go down the aisle together. Her grandmother said, “you have to go back. You can’t go with us.” Julie protested that she could not go back because her body was not okay. She was pointing to her left side, which was paralyzed, and she has no idea how she knew that.
Her grandmother responded with thoughts, not words, conveyed through those blue tunnels, that her body would heal. Then Julie felt “wrapped in a big, warm blanket,” which she attributes to the Holy Spirit. She felt everything was going to be okay and that she was protected. Finally came the message: “go back and be happy.”
The next thing she remembers is waking from the coma six weeks later at a rehab hospital.
Why Grandmothers?
Julie later told the story to a man who has done a lot of work with near-death studies. She says he started laughing, because he had never heard of God or the Holy Spirit showing up as grandmothers. She says it made sense. It was the form of her grandmothers, and it was perfect. Who would she have felt more comfortable with? She was close to them, and happy to be greeted by them.
She also says the peace of that first moment was a peace you can never feel here on Earth. It was perfection, she says, and she would have been happy to go with them. If you are curious about how others describe meeting loved ones, see our glossary entry on afterlife and the one on heaven.
Waking Up Angry
Waking up was hard. Julie says she was paralyzed on her left side, could not see well and could not talk. It was bad. She remembered her experience in heaven, and she says she asked God how he could leave her in a body like this, one she could not do anything with. She could not even communicate. She figured out how to press her right hand to her face to say yes or no.
Her voice box was partly paralyzed too, so she could not speak in sentences until she had some voice surgeries. She says she never knew how much the brain stem controls.
Walking Again
Two weeks after she woke up, Julie told her father she wanted to start walking. The nurses said she was paralyzed. She said she wanted to try. Her father, a big man over six feet tall, picked her up by the back of her scrubs and held her while she took steps, so that she would feel she was doing it herself. They got in trouble, she says, because she was supposed to stay in a wheelchair at the rehab hospital.
She started getting better so quickly that people were surprised. She says the staff had not seen someone with such a severe brain stem injury wake up and recover as much as she did. About ten years ago, she completed a triathlon. She says she is healthy, swims regularly, has a wonderful family and good friends, and has met a wonderful man.
From God, Back to God
Julie’s idea of a good life is simple: giving good love and doing meaningful work, and helping friends and family. She calls it nothing more than that. She says she feels fortunate to live every day.
She has noticed something when she speaks to small children and to very old people. She feels those who have either just come from God or are about to return to God are the ones who most clearly understand. She wants to give that understanding to others through her story. She thinks of a large middle population, herself included before her injury, who are all busy living their own lives. That middle, she says, is who she most wants to reach.
Julie’s Experience Beside Other Near-Death Accounts
Meeting deceased relatives, entering a place of deep peace and being told to go back are among the most commonly shared themes in near-death accounts. Julie’s story offers a particular twist: she says the relatives she met were not exactly who they appeared to be. We share it as her experience in her own words, with no medical claims.
For a wider view, read our complete guide to near-death experiences and the glossary entry for near-death experience.
A Small Practice
Spend a few minutes this week with someone very young or very old. Listen without trying to fix anything. Julie’s suggestion is that they may already know something we have forgotten.
Questions to Sit With
- Julie felt held and protected in a warm blanket. When have you felt that kind of safety?
- She was angry at God when she woke up. Is there something you have been angry about that you could say out loud?
- Who in your life, young or old, seems to understand something about love that you could learn from?
Spend ten quiet minutes with a child or an elder this week, and simply listen.
Spiritual Takeaways
- Julie says she felt a peace in that place that cannot be felt here.
- She says the form we meet may be the one that feels most comfortable to us.
- She says she was told to go back and be happy.
- She says children and the very old seem closest to where we come from.
- She says a good life is giving good love and doing meaningful work.
Please enjoy my conversation with Julie Papievis.
Guest Links: Connect With Julie Papievis
Listen to the Episode
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Julie Papievis?
Julie Papievis is a near-death experiencer who was raised Catholic and tells her story on Divine Encounters with host Alex Ferrari.
What happened to Julie Papievis?
Julie says a speeding, distracted driver ran a red light and hit the driver’s door of her car. She says she died in the first 24 hours and was in a coma for six weeks.
Who did Julie meet in her near-death experience?
She says she met two figures who looked like her late grandmothers. She feels they were really God and the Holy Spirit in a form she would be comfortable with.
What did the grandmother’s eyes look like?
Julie describes them as endless tunnels of blue light. She says she could not take her eyes off them.
What was Julie told?
She says she was told she had to go back, that she could not go with them, and that her body would heal. The final message, she says, was to go back and be happy.
Why did Julie say she could not go back?
She says she pointed to her left side, which was paralyzed, and said she was not physically okay. She says she does not know how she knew it was paralyzed.
How did Julie feel when she woke up?
She says she was angry and asked God how he could leave her in a body like that. She was paralyzed on her left side and could not see or talk.
How did Julie recover?
She says she began trying to walk two weeks after waking, with her father supporting her. She later completed a triathlon about ten years before the interview.
What does Julie say about children and the elderly?
She says people who have just come from God or are about to return to God seem to understand her message most easily.
Who helped Julie at the scene?
She says an off-duty paramedic who happened to be nearby lifted her head to keep her airway open, and that first responders reached her within about three minutes.
Is a near-death experience medical evidence?
Next Level Soul shares near-death experiences as lived experiences 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 heaven means
- What the afterlife means
- Jeffrey Olsen on a horrific crash and being told to go back
- Efrat Shokef on a car crash and what matters on Earth
- Ishtar Howell on a car crash and a message from God
- Sheila Gillette on a divine meeting with Jesus
- Jacob Cooper on meeting his angels as a child
- 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.
Julie Papievis 0:08
I was born and raised Catholic. I remember making my first communion, and that was like a big celebration with family and friends the first communion. I was able to talk at the church and read on one of the readings, and that was so exciting for me. I love that kind of thing. And then my confirmation, I always have loved the Holy Spirit. I've always had such a connection I felt to the Holy Spirit, because it's the living spirit, and so I've always felt very connected to that. I was living a shopping mall. I just gotten home from a trip with a girlfriend from Cancun. We had a really nice time. And, um, I got home the day before Sunday, and then Monday, I went to work. I don't have any memory of the time at work, but, um, after work, I went to get some moisturizer for my for my son. That again down at Cancun, and I was leaving the shopping mall, and a young man who recently had gotten his license, was speeding, going over 50 miles an hour in a 35 mile an hour zone, and he was distracted and ran the red light and nailed me right in my driver's door. I was a little sports car, and he was in a bigger, older car, and at 50 miles an hour, he hit me in the force of his car hitting mine at 50 miles an hour, twisted my head around on the brain stem, and last year, I suffered most of it. But there was an off duty paramedic who was at the scene. He was from another town, the next town over, getting a tire fixed, but I guess they all have radios that communicate with each other, and there was another fire station right down the street, and so he called them, and he told them to bring the jaws of life because my car was so crushed, and saved time to be able to get me out. And he got to my car first, and he broke the back window and got behind me and lifted my head to serve an airway so I didn't lose oxygen going to my brain. And that really was so helpful. And then the paramedics were there, you know, again, right down the street. He called them right away. So three minutes they were full on me. I mean, they were quick. 14 minutes door to door from the hospital, from getting the call. Yeah. I mean, amazing. First responders, amazing. And they when, when they got to me, paramedic wagon, I already did not have a blood pressure, and so my body, like depleted, lose all control of all your body, bodily functions in the ambulance and everything. And because I didn't have any blood pressure, they knew that there was they needed to have any eg tests done in my brain to determine life or death status. And so they call ahead, always the hospitals to let them know what they're getting. And so they called to have a neurosurgeon waiting, and he was waiting, and he did meet eg on my brain, and it was shown that I did not have enough brain activity to keep me alive. So in most days, I could have been legally declared dead. But in Illinois, there's a law that your next of kin, your family member and caregiver or someone, he has to be contacted before you can be legally declared dead. So they were forced to put me on life support, and they called my mom and dad to come in and make the decision to keep me out or take me off. And we recently lost my dad to cancer, and this oncologist said, I know this diagnosis was the worst day of your life. And my dad said, No, getting the call about her crash was the worst day of my life. I mean, could make me cry right now, it's just, you know, I'm not a parent. I know you are, and I just can't imagine anything more devastating than to get that. And then, then they got pulled aside by a chapel when they went into the hospital, a doctor and a nurse, they were told that 96% of people with my injury die within the first 24 hours, and the 4% of people live live semi vegetatively, like in a nursing home, but my parents were going to get me cared for at home. They had made that decision, if I had made it past the first night, I guess all of a sudden a priest came to give me last rites, and my parents hadn't called our parish, and so they just really did not think that's when they I think they was they knew that it was that serious. I don't think it really hits people initially. It's too much information coming at them, and that's why, when they say that most people die, 96% of people die with my injury in the first 24 hours. I did die in those first 24 hours, and but I remained in a coma for six weeks, and my parents got me on life support and kept fighting for they, you know, my dad said I kept seeing they wanted to put me into a nursing home after a month, and they were giving them no hope, because it was brain stem. Was mostly my injuries. So, you know, that's your involuntary functions in your body. And so my dad said, No, we're not going to put her in a nursing home. We're going to put her in a coma stimulation program to give her a chance to wake up, and we're just going to give her every chance to try and get better. Last thing I remember when I got home like it was Mother's Day, when I got home from like, trip to Cancun and my girlfriend's husband. Then I dropped us off at my parents house, because it was Mother's Day, and my brother drove me home, and we were talking about my trip, and that's last memory I had when he dropped me off the night before. So then it was Sunday night, so I So what my neurosurgeon is told me, you remember in sleep wake cycles. So the last thing I would remember is before I went to sleep, and you won't remember Monday at work. And I don't I knew I was there because I was dead, and no floors or ceilings just open and the walls except this very narrow aisle way to the left hand side. And I remember thinking, why did God make the aisle way so narrow? And so the next thing I knew, I was before my two deceased grandmothers, and I feel like it really was not my deceased grandmothers. I feel like it was God and the Holy Spirit, because my one grandmother did not speak, and my other grandmother, it was like her eyes were these tunnels of blue light. We all had blue eyes, and she didn't actually speak words, but I couldn't take my eyes off her eyes, and I was happy to see them. And I said, Okay, come on, girls, let's go, like, down the aisle way that we're gonna go together. And my grandmother said, you have to go back. You can't go with us. And I said, Well, I can't go back because I'm not physically okay. I was pointing to my left side. It was paralyzed. And how I knew that I was paralyzed, no idea. And with again, these endless tunnels of blue light, it was just like thoughts that were like conveyed to me, not words, but it was like said that your body will heal. And then I just felt like I was wrapped in a big, warm blanket, like by the Holy Spirit. And I felt like everything was gonna be okay, and I was protected. And then she said, go back and be happy. And the next memory I had was waking up from the coma at the rehab hospital. Six weeks later, another gentleman was who's done a lot of work with near death studies. He said he started laughing, and he said, I have never seen God or the Holy Spirit show up in grandmothers and other people that he is like, you know, and, and I said it was just the oddest thing. It really wasn't like my grandmother's. It was just the form of them. And it was perfect, because, you know, who more would I feel more comfortable with? And I was so close to them, and it was wonderful to see them and for them to greet me, and I would have been happy to go with them, and but for me, it was it just was so amazing that when I first got there and I knew I was dead, it's a perfect piece that you'll never be able to feel here on Earth. It's just such perfection. I don't know how it could have been more perfect, because when I woke up from the coma. I was totally paralyzed in my left side, couldn't see, couldn't talk. I mean, it was bad. I was, yeah, in diapers, fed through G Tube. I mean, it was the whole nine, and it was bad. God, how could I remember my experience in heaven? And then I was like, How could you leave me in a body like this, that I can't do anything for myself, like, I couldn't even communicate. I figured out how to press like my right hand that wasn't paralyzed to my face to be able to say like yes and no. It's just like my voice box was partially paralyzed. So that's why I couldn't really speak like sentences, until they did some voice back surgeries, and I never had any idea how much your brain stem controls and what it all does. I just felt like I couldn't believe that he left me, you're in the body. And the fact that after I woke up, two weeks afterwards, I started, I said to my dad, okay, I think I want to start walking. And the nurses were like, Yeah, you're paralyzing. And I'm like, I want to try. And we got in trouble. My dad and I from lenders is because he was like, my dad was a big man over six, six and a big dude, and so he picked me up on the back of my scrubs, and he was like, okay, she wants to try and walk. And he was really holding me, but he's like, he wanted me to feel like I was doing something and that I wanted to do. And they were like, you can't be doing that kind of thing. She has to be in a wheelchair when she's here. And I started getting better so quickly. And everybody kept saying to me, you know, people he had, people hadn't seen in the hospital system, such a severe brain stem injury, and a person who had been deceased actually wake up and actually start to recover to the extent that I did, and then do a triathlon 10 years ago, giving good love and doing work that's meaningful and just help for my friends and family. It's really nothing more than that. It's pretty simplistic. I just really, I'm just so fortunate to live every day, usually very healthy, and I swim into the triathlon, and I still be able to do those kinds of things. And I've met a wonderful man in my life, and so that's wonderful, and I have a wonderful family and good friends, and so I think all of that is so important definition he's having. Patient. There's really, like, no definition. You know, I've said this to people before, so I noticed when I speak to kids or to people who are very old, so people who have either just come from God or just going back, or will be just going back to God, are the people who really get this. And I just really think that is what is so important tell people that, you know, people were just coming from God, and people are just going to get what they get. I just want other people to be able to get and I want, I want to give that understanding to other people who might not have that understanding through my story. And I just feel like there's a whole middle of population of us, and you know, myself included, before I gave my injury in that, and we're all living our own lives, doing our own thing. And I think that we get away from that, and I think that to be able to bring that story to people who are all in the middle, I think, is important.
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