It was February of 1975, at that time I was an alcoholic out of control. I was also using recreational drugs. But primarily, alcohol was my drug of choice. I was totally out of control. I had a lot of friends in the entertainment business; Ringo Star and a bunch of other people.
They were having a TV special on the west coast. Hoight (a friend) had called me and asked me if I would like to go. I told him that I would love to, because I knew there was going to be a lot of booze, and partying. While they were doing their special, I was doing my thing.
After about three or four days out there, I became ill. I had sever e pain in my abdomen. I flew into Oklahoma city, called a senator friend of mine, and asked him to send a car for me because I was sick. They sent a car and took me home. And I checked into Whatley hospital in Texarkana, Texax in February of 1975. I ch ecked in with electrolytes, which means that the chemicals in my body were so far out of balance that they had to give me IVs to build me up
At that time of my life, I was atheist. I was hard core atheist and was living for myself. Atheists are sel f centered, they live for themselves. This is where I found myself in 1975 in my hospital.
After 3 days they operated me. Later, I found myself in the intensive care on a respirator, which means it was breathing for me. I couldn’t speak. I’ve been th ere in a comma. I heard these people talking about how sick I was and how I was going to die and how I wouldn’t get out of the hospital. At that time my hair was very long because I just wore my hair long. And I heard one guy say, “ My, his hair is long. ” And another guy said, “ Not nearly as long as it is going be before he gets out of here. ” And the third voice said, “ He's not going to get out of here. He's going to die. ”
And after 3 days, I could breath on my own. I remember my doctor, my surgeon, Dr . Donald Dunkon said to me, “ Don, if you have anything to get right, if you have anything to get signed, you get it done because we are not sure how long you have. ”
I knew I had a condition which is that was called Acute hemorrhagic narcotic pancreatitis. You don’t live with this disease. You could live with pancreatitis. You could even live with Acute pancreatitis, but you do not live with Acute hemorrhagic narcotic pancreatitis. Dunkon had told my two sons that I would be dead before morning. They d idn’t expect me to survive.
I was laying there, a professed atheist. I didn’t believe in God. I believed in the power of the universe because I’ve seen it. As a physician, I’ve dealt with life and death. I believed in something, but don’t talk me ab out God. And surely don’t talk to me about resurrection, virgin birth or these type of things because I am in research and science. The Majority of PHDs in research and science don’t believe in God. They do not believe a supreme being. They are beginni ng to believe there is an order in the universe because the further along we go, we see the order
It is very easy to be an atheist when you are successful. You have worked your way from Oklahoma welfare to be one of the most powerful men in your part o f the country – one of the most powerful men in the state of Oklahoma, politically. It is very easy to be an atheist when you have done all of that. A man could sit back and say " I don’t need God. What is God
But it is very difficult to be an atheist when you are lying on the death bed, because you began thinking " what if these people are right? " There had been one man named Ron Short, that stood between me and the gates of hell. One man had witnessed to me about the love of Jesus for 5 years, befor e I became ill. I would debate him and I liked him, because he did what he said he was going to do. He was the only one that I saw that profess to be Christian and lived what he said he was going to do. I really respected him. I didn’t believe what he said but I respected him.
When I was lying on my death bed and knowing that I was going to die, guess who I thought about? I thought, " what if Ron is right? What if there is a Heaven and a Hell. " Almost immediately the most pressing thought in my mind is how do I get saved. What is saved? How do I get saved?
So I sent people out to get Ron Short. I wanted him to come down because I wanted him to do whatever he had to do. I had no idea how a man hanging on a tree in Israel 2000 years ago could save m e. What is that to me? But I knew he had something that I had to have. That night Ron wasn’t home, he was in Alabama. So I had people go and get Ron.
That night was the longest night that I’ve had in my entire life, before or since. As I am laying t here in bed, I had begun to fade away into darkness. It was so, so dark. It was like the darkness just penetrated into your very being. I can tell you that I left my body because I remember coming back into my body. I don’t know where I was out of my body.
There are people that talk about a light, or floating above, a feeling of warmth or love. I didn’t feel any of that. I felt none of that. I felt untold terror, untold terror. I knew that if I went all the way, if I slipped all the way, I would never get back. In my being of beings I knew that. So I fought all night long
They told me later on that I not only pull the mattress cover off the mattress, I put the mattress upon me. I had to stay, I had to wait till Ron got there. Whatever he h ad to do, I had to wait
But again when I would leave my body, I would be going down into deep dark terror. My skin began to get cold. Not the kind of cold you feel when you walk out in the air, no, this was bone chilling cold. And I could feel the co ldness began to come up my legs.
Again I would begin to leave my body and would be in the darkness, in that void. I remember one time entering back my body, I felt my body thud, my physical body thud. Believe me, believe me, that was the most horrifyi ng terrifying experience that I had ever encountered
I fought all night long. The next morning around 9:30 or 10 o’clock, Ron came in. He said, “ Dr. Whitaker, what do they say are your chances? ” I said, “ Ron, they tell me I have none .” He said, “ Now is the time. ” I said, “You're right
Before, I had cursed him, I had spit on him, but now it was the time because I had to have whatever he had. I had a short period of time left on earth and I didn’t have any idea when I might make that trip and go al l the way.
At that time Ron simply led me in a sinner’s pray. I had no idea what a sinner’s prayer was, but I trusted Ron. He led me through the sinner’s prayer and told me that Jesus had died for my sins. He had died for the sins of the world. I di dn’t quite understand that. He showed me in the word of God where that was written.
You have to understand that I am a man of books. I’ve spent big part of my life, 25 or 26 years of life in books, all types of scientific books. I have degrees in Chem istry, all the way up to medicine doctor to practical medicine
He told me and I believed him because it said so in this book. It was a new book to me, it was called Bible. I had Ron lead me, and I said the sinner’s prayer. I can tell you one thing, t here was a peace that came over me like I have never known
I’ve searched for that peace in the bottles, alcohol, needles, drugs, and women. I’ve searched for it in all type of places. But there was no peace in my life. But once I accepted Jesus Chri st as my Lord and savior, I was no longer afraid. I still believed I was going to die because I knew the condition I had, and you don’t survive it. I knew that, I am a physician. I knew what I had you did not survive.
Ron showed me in the word of God where it says, “ These signs shall follow those that believe. They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. ” ( Mark 16:18 ) I walk around on planet earth this day , taking no insulin, taking no enzymes, eating whatsoever I want, and everyday God produces in my body the correct material for me to function without having to take medication.
When you see blind eyes open, you see the cripples walk, you see the lepros y cleansed, and you see them with your own eyes, then it doesn’t take a rocket science to figure out that Bible is true.
https://www.divinerevelations.info/documents/rawlings/to_hell_and_back_dr_rawlings.pdf