A Canadian nurse has shared an extraordinary account of her near-death experience, during which she claims her heart stopped and she relived the final moments of loved ones who had passed away. Julia Evans, a nurse by profession, described her ordeal as stemming from a severe allergic reaction to lilies, which led to a cascade of life-threatening events in 2018.
An Unexpected Allergic Reaction
The incident occurred shortly after Julia began her shift at a hospital. Despite being aware of a potential allergy to lilies, she underestimated the severity of her reaction. Upon encountering a bouquet of lilies at the nursing station, she began to experience a rapid onset of symptoms. She described a scratchy throat and a feeling of her airway constricting, likening it to swallowing sandpaper.
“I started to turn blue,” Julia recounted in an interview with podcaster Jeff Mara. “I was drowning in air.” The situation escalated quickly, with medical staff recognizing the signs of anaphylactic shock. However, a critical error in medication administration compounded the crisis.
Medication Error and Cardiac Arrest
During the emergency, a doctor administered epinephrine, but the dosage was reportedly ten times stronger than intended due to a mix-up with the medication. This potent dose sent Julia’s heart into overdrive, leading to cardiac arrest. She described the sensation as her body becoming like “The Hulk” due to the surging epinephrine, which paradoxically allowed her to breathe again momentarily before her heart stopped.
“My heart exploded… there was so much medication that it just stopped,” Julia explained. She reported that her body went “flaccid” and her skin turned “the colour of death.” Colleagues attending to her noted that she seemed to have “went somewhere completely different” during this critical period.
Reliving Others’ Deaths
While in this state of cardiac arrest, Julia experienced what she describes as a profound connection to the deaths of people close to her. She felt the physical and emotional pain associated with their passing.
- Best Friend’s Death: She vividly felt the experience of her best friend, who had died by suicide. Julia described it as feeling “the back of my head had blown away,” and the sensation of letting go of that pain.
- Stepmother’s Drowning: She also felt the final moments of her stepmother, who had died years earlier in Mexico from drowning and a massive heart attack, passing away in Julia’s arms.
- Biological Mother’s Death: Simultaneously, she experienced the death of her biological mother in 1983 from a brain aneurysm. Julia realized later that she was not just remembering these events but actively feeling the pain and trauma associated with them.
These intense experiences occurred on the same day her stepmother had died years prior, adding another layer of emotional resonance to the ordeal.
A Glimpse of the Other Side
Julia described entering a realm where “your belief systems, your senses, your body are pixelated away.” In this strange state, she heard her biological mother speaking to her as if she were present. Subsequently, she experienced an out-of-body phenomenon, hovering approximately two feet above her physical body.
From this vantage point, she could perceive her colleagues working to revive her. She recalled a mental plea: “I was screaming in my mind ‘I would come back if I could’.”
The Experience of Light and Love
Following the life-saving interventions by her colleagues, Julia regained consciousness. Reflecting on the experience, she described encountering a “light” that was overwhelmingly peaceful and felt like “home.” She sensed the presence of everyone who had passed away before her.
“There was so much love within that moment that I was gifted the greatest gift and that’s that self-love,” Julia stated. She found the experience to be profoundly comforting and transformative.
Coming to Terms with the Ordeal
Years passed before Julia fully processed the extraordinary events she had undergone. The anniversary of the incident served as a catalyst for her to acknowledge the reality of her near-death experience, including seeing the light and feeling her mother’s presence.
Despite the terrifying nature of her medical emergency, Julia managed to find a moment of dark humor. She reportedly joked with her co-workers after regaining consciousness, “Well, I think I’m going to take the day off.” Her account highlights the profound and often inexplicable nature of near-death experiences and their lasting impact on those who undergo them.
