Posted on 01/17/2026 8:29:17 AM PST by bitt
Another remarkable story has emerged about a supernatural encounter during a near-death experience.
In a powerful new episode of the No Longer Nomads podcast, Billy and Isabella Garaffa shared their incredible story. Billy went into cardiac arrest in the middle of a hockey game and was dead for 16 minutes on the ice. But while he was physically dead, he was never more spiritually alive.
A Prayer Before the Game
Before he stepped onto the ice that day, Billy prayed for protection. What he didn't know was that prayer would set the stage for one of the most profound events of his life.
Just moments into the game, Billy collapsed. His heart had stopped. Chaos broke out around him, but as people scrambled to save him, Billy says he was already encountering something supernatural.
"I could smell the sweetest smell," Billy recalls. "I felt the Holy Spirit leading me."
He describes leaving his body and then being enveloped in a peace and love so powerful it felt more real than life itself. "That felt like the real life," he says.
A Wife's Cry and a Miracle in Motion
From the stands, Isabella sensed something was wrong when she saw him on the ground – "I just yelled, 'Jesus, help him!'"
Her desperate cry echoed as medical professionals rushed in. Looking back, Billy and Isabella both see God's hand orchestrating every detail—the right people in the right place at the right time.
"Everything was orchestrated," Billy says. "There's no other explanation."
A Heart Prepared for a Miracle
In a stunning discovery, doctors found that Billy's heart had grown rare collateral arteries—extra vessels that helped keep blood flowing even when his heart stopped.
"It's like God built this miracle into me ahead of time," Billy shares.
But the miracle went far beyond the physical. Billy describes his near-death experience as a journey into God's presence, an encounter that left him forever changed. ...MORE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq83Nal8gpE&t=11s
56 MIN
P
You can’t be dead for 16 minutes and live to tell about it.
Lazarus was dead for 3 days and lived to tell about it.
I believe what this guy says because I had a similar experience…..and God talked to me the whole time.
Tru dat!
Curious how these so‑called ‘near‑death experiences’ never seem to involve anyone briefly dying and winding up in hell—almost as if the stories line up perfectly with what people want to believe.
FTA
In a stunning discovery, doctors found that Billy’s heart had grown rare collateral arteries—extra vessels that helped keep blood flowing even when his heart stopped.
There have been a few NDE’s where the subject went somewhere that was decidedly negative.
CC
You shouldn’t be here at all. Nothing should. But here we are.
So what did he say?
I hope he took a shower first.
There are a lot of reports that suggest you may be wrong. The Pam Reynolds story is one of them. (Or, maybe our criteria for ‘dead’ are mistaken):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pam_Reynolds_case
A number of highly educated medical professionals have made a study of these cases; I don’t think they’re wasting their time and reputations on something that isn’t worth study.
Curious how these so‑called ‘near‑death experiences’ never seem to involve anyone briefly dying and winding up in hell—almost as if the stories line up perfectly with what people want to believe.
https://www.magiscenter.com/blog/negative-near-death-experiences-and-hell
I hope they have children. Those extra arteries sound like a good idea.
I dunno, but I’m guessing that “winding up in hell” is a kind of an eternal state!
That’s not true. They are few, but there are stories of ‘hellish’ experiences.
(And not all of these experiences involve obvious religious references. A person with no religious background that includes ‘hell’ isn’t likely to encounter it. Some people have suggested that we might encounter generally what we have grown to expect of the afterlife.)
It is of course rare, but it does happen, especially if someone is doing chest compressions.
I’ve been reading about these extraordinary near death experiences since the 1970s. Thanks for posting.
There's is nothing unusual about that. The heart can grow small
blood vessels to provide extra blood to areas
that have been blocked off from blood. But you must exercise
to get that to happen.
I would expect a person like a hockey player to have
that occur since the game is quite quite demanding on
the heart.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.