|
Nadia McCaffrey's |
|
Near-Death Experiences |
| |
 Our condolences to Nadia over the loss of her son Patrick who was killed on June 22, 2004 while serving his country in Iraq. Nadia McCaffrey is a perfect example of how a NDE can dramatically change a person's life. After being bitten by a snake when she was a child, she had a very beautiful NDE. Having to return to life from her NDE was a tremendous disappointment to her. Her desire to once again be in the spirit world of love and peace caused her to attempt suicide on two occasions. These attempts only resulted in two more NDEs. Her final attempt and resulting NDE eventually led to a dramatically changed life. In fact, it resulted decades of service to the dying and promotion of near-death experiences.
Her NDEs are profiled in Dr. PMH Atwater's excellent book entitled Children of the New Millennium (pages 109-113). She is the president and founder of the Angelstaff volunteer and formerly headed the Bay Area Chapter of Compassion in Action, an organization that trains hospice volunteers. She is the facilitator for the San Francisco-Bay Chapter of IANDS and directs her own organization, Changing the Face of Death, a not for profit organization dedicated to public awareness, consciousness and service towards the dying.
On July, 1952, Nadia was a seven-year old child spending a vacation with her grandparents in France when a deadly venomous snake bit her. Her grandmother applied a tourniquet near the bite as Nadia drifted in and out of consciousness. Despite the doctor's help, Nadia slipped into a coma that lasted for 10 days. While in a coma, Nadia had her first NDE. The following is her near-death account. Nadia's First NDE
While in the coma, I was oblivious to the real around me, but I was oddly aware that I had left this dimension. It was then that I saw a beautiful being of light: the Lady of Light, hovering above in the room, who introduced herself to me as:
| "I am your little mother of the sky." |
She was so beautiful. I still see her so clearly, as though she was standing in mid air, glowing with an extremely bright and powerful light. A wondrous light that filled me with loving and warm sense of serenity. Mere words fail me when I try to describe the feeling of well being and love I felt in the presence of her light. Some how I knew it all, the universal mind of creation, the infinity of it all, I was part of it, I am part of it. The Love that the Lady of Light give me is so powerful and peaceful that it must be passed on to others. Some how I understand that this Love is what will save us, we must care for one-another and spread compassion in our world of sadness and destruction.
Leaving my body in my bed, I began floating in her direction. She then smiled very softly and opened her arms. She held up the palms of her hands helping me to understand that I should not come towards her. I could see that she wanted me to listen to what she had to say.
|
"Be strong and let's all love one another. Please share this love I have for you with others. There are many ways to love. Do not fear, as you will be guided. I will be with you always. You cannot stay with me now. You will show the way. You will be hope. In the middle of a garden you will see a rose, more colorful and beautiful than all the others. When the time will come, you will open yourself to others and share this message of love. To speak to me is prayer and to pray is to love." |
Before returning to my body, I remember looking upon gray, sickly state and feeling no pain or discomfort.
Later, while still in the coma she again visited me and just as before I left my body to join and she held out her hand and again repeated the same exact message as before but with one additional thought:
| "And you will now return to life. You have a lot to learn, and a lot to accomplish. My love will always be with you. Never forget." |
Looking back one last time, I saw a long white gown with a cord knotted around her waist. Her head and shoulders were draped in blue material. There was a live green snake at her feet and a tear shaped drop of blood on her right foot. Both her arms were extended toward me with her palms up and her head was slightly bowed to the side. Slowly both her arms came to rest on her chest crossing each other.
I wanted so very much to curl up in her arms, to remain with her rather than returning to my body, but I had no choice! My body claimed me and was immediately overwhelmed by pain and sadness.
The Aftermath
I was unable to completely understand what had happened to me and had to stay in bed for several weeks. My leg had swollen to three times its normal size, which frightened me because it was the same mottled color as the snake that had bit me. Consequently, I refused to talk with anyone. I hated being back in this dimension and I was filled with resentment and longing to slip out of my painful and disfigured body.
Later that year, after my recovery, I learned that an adult will survive only twenty minutes after being bitten by the asp and that I had stayed over two hours without the serum.
After some time passed I started asking Therese for some explanation about the beautiful lady Lady of Light. I desperately needed some information about my experience. She seemed startled by my account, and was filled with fear and horror by what I had told her. She cautioned me:
|
"People would not understand. They would put you away forever if you tell anyone about this." |
From that day on, she thought that I was possessed and never let me forget it until the day she died. Another Suicide Attempt
In 1962, at the age of seventeen, Nadia was having suicidal thoughts. She wanted desperately to return to the light to her Lady of Light and feel her total love. As a Catholic, she would pray before a statue of the Virgin of Lourdes where she could recall her NDE and express her love. Telling others about her NDE only brought negative remarks which caused her to be very depressed. Her desire to return to the light became so powerful that she attempted suicide on two occasions.
Her first suicide attempt involved swallowing the entire contents of approximately 15 bottles of drugs which made her become violently ill. Nadia lost consciousness and was taken to the hospital and had her stomach pumped. She recovered, to her dismay, and was placed under the supervision of a psychiatrist.
A few months later, she tried to commit suicide again but this time she calculated the exact dosage of drugs necessary to end her life. She was not going to fail this time. After taking the drugs, she was eventually discovered by a friend who determined that Nadia had a feeble pulse. Again, she was taken to the hospital but this time it took two hours. As orderlies were wheeling her into the emergency room, she had her second NDE. Nadia's Second NDE
I was out of my body. I floated there for awhile, and looked down at lifeless body on the gurney. However, the real me had become a comfortable glowing shape.
For a while, I watched on as the nurses and doctors worked quickly to revive me. Then, I lost interest and my attention turned towards a long dark tunnel. At the end of the tunnel was a very bright light and I floated to the opening. Once inside, I moved with what seemed to be an extraordinary and effortless speed, and finally reached the light.
My thoughts were dominated by one clear thought:
|
"Oh, the light, the peace, the extraordinary feeling of love. Once more I am in it." |
Then an extremely powerful and loud man's voice told me to go back because I had work to do. Then, I began going back and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
The Aftermath
Nadia regained consciousness and was terribly in pain. She noticed a nurse crying because she thought Nadia had died. Later, her doctors told her that they did not detect a pulse for approximately ten minutes and that they had given up on her. They were actually removing the tubes and needles from her body when her vital signs returned. Surprised, they quickly resumed their efforts and worked feverishly to stabilize her condition.
Hours later, Nadia became very depressed that she did not succeed in ending her life. She felt as if she was a prisoner in a cage of flesh and bones. Comments by Nadia The sense of isolation we feel as humans is a lonely experience. Our serenity comes to us in small pieces. Like hungry animals we must savor each morsel with gratitude, knowing that beyond this life we will find limitless serenity and love. As much as I wanted that, I was forced to realize that I had been tasked and that I would not be allowed to shirk from my responsibility. My choice was simple. I could live a twisted life full of bitterness, or I could accept my responsibility with an open heart.
One might think that such a decision would take many years of agonizing, yet it was as though I simply thrown a switch and turned on a new light -- the light of my own responsibility. Since that day, I've not once contemplated suicide again.
This experience changed my life completely. Once I understood that I couldn't go back, I stopped fighting with the world and began trying to pass on the love that I received to those around me.
In my work with the terminally ill, I draw upon my own experiences for the benefit of those who are making their transition to another dimension. Having lost my own fear of death long ago, I know with every fiber of my being that love can never fail us. It is this certainty that I can pass along to people who are dying and to those that are troubled and in turmoil.
|
"When the heart weeps for what it has lost, the soul laughs for what it has found." - Sufi aphorism |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
 |
| |
Send comments to: Kevin Williams
Copyright © 2005 Near-Death Experiences & the Afterlife
Last modified: January 08, 2005 |
| |
|
