Table of Contents
- Arrival at the Hospital
- Initial Treatment Delays
- Medical Intervention
- Loss of Consciousness
- First Out-of-Body Vision
- Experience in Darkness
- Discovery of Movement
- Emotional Reaction and Return to Darkness
- Breaking Through the Barrier
- Realization of Self-Imprisonment
- Encounter with Grandmother’s Spirit
- Alone in Light and God’s Arrival
- Life Review: The Good
- Life Review: The Bad
- Surrender to God
- Questioning God’s Absence
- Journey Through DNA
- Decision to Return
- Waking in Hospital
- Sharing the Message
Introduction
My name is Penny Whitbroat. In 2015, I had a near-death experience due to an allergic reaction that caused me to stop breathing.
Arrival at the Hospital
I went to the hospital unsure of the cause of the reaction. I had an established allergy to shellfish and used my EpiPen. The nurse at the desk was someone I knew from working at that hospital. I was concerned about the care I might receive. Wheezing and struggling to breathe, I told her I was having an allergic reaction and placed the empty EpiPen on the counter. She asked why I came if I had used it, which showed a lack of understanding of anaphylaxis basics.
Initial Treatment Delays
She took me back but said there was no bed available, so she placed me in a wheelchair in a hallway near the bathroom and doctor’s quarters, where no one could see me. My condition worsened; I had to look up to breathe. EpiPens come in pairs, so I administered the second dose myself in the ER, which helped for about 15 minutes. Then, I developed stridor, a squeaky breathing sound as my airway closed.
Medical Intervention
A doctor heard the sound, rushed to me, and wheeled me to a room with a bed. Due to anaphylaxis, my veins flattened, making IV insertion difficult. They moved me to the trauma room. Nurses tried IVs on both sides, but they were unstable. They gave me shots of Benadryl, steroids, and more epinephrine. When my husband arrived, I was sitting upright, tears streaming, unable to breathe. He urged the doctor to act, but the doctor said there was plenty of time.
Loss of Consciousness
Everything felt distant, like in a tunnel. I stopped breathing and collapsed. They called a code. I was out of my body, looking down. I did not recognize myself at first and thought the person coding was in bad shape. I saw staff rush in and my husband pushed out. They induced a coma, placed me on a ventilator, drilled an IV into my shin bone for drugs, and life-flighted me to Lexington. I spent about five days in the induced coma.
First Out-of-Body Vision
I returned to awareness in my sister’s car. She was driving from Wisconsin to Kentucky in pouring rain late at night. I wondered why she was out in bad weather. She stopped at a gas station, pulled out her phone, and typed “hang on kiddo, I’m coming.” Her clothes were wrinkled and mismatched. After the coma, I confirmed this event. Then, I returned to darkness.
Experience in Darkness
The place was completely dark; I could not determine its size. I felt held down, struggled to breathe, and panicked due to claustrophobia. A deep sleep overcame me repeatedly. It felt like 10 years compared to earthly time. I questioned if I had died or ever existed, doubting my past life as a fabrication. No one seemed to search for me.
Discovery of Movement
An inclination prompted me to lean forward, allowing movement like a plank. I saw a light to the left and turned toward it, flying fast through darkness. I reached a barrier with something on the other side. Staring cleared it, revealing myself in a hospital bed with my daughter nearby. She wore a flannel shirt in summer, which puzzled me. From about 30 feet (9.14 meters) away, I saw details like fabric texture and knew her thoughts. She was scared, though stoic. I was in soft restraints, on coma drugs, critical but stable.
Emotional Reaction and Return to Darkness
Feeling her fear broke my heart. I tried to hug her, but my hands hit the wall. Frustrated, I questioned God about the torment. I was sucked back into darkness.
Breaking Through the Barrier
I returned to the light; the barrier was now like a bubble. My hands passed through, and I entered fully. Above my body, I wondered if lying on it would reintegrate me. I tried willing my body to open eyes or move a finger, but failed. Frustrated, I was pulled back to the barrier’s other side.
Realization of Self-Imprisonment
I reasoned this was not accidental; I had created this place. After my divorce, hurt by abandonment, I built emotional walls, avoiding relationships and socializing due to social anxiety. This isolation manifested as a physical prison in the afterlife. Realizing this cracked the darkness like an egg, letting light in.
Encounter with Grandmother’s Spirit
A large, bright female spirit approached, drawing me into her arms. Her energy whirlwind cast away darkness shards. She calmed me telepathically; her words coursed through me like anesthesia. I recognized her as my grandmother, who died when I was nine or ten. She had brilliant green eyes and flame-like orange-red hair. She affirmed she was alive, as energy changes forms per God’s law, borrowed by science. This assured me of heaven based on science.
Alone in Light and God’s Arrival
I floated alone in light, then everything shook like an eternal earthquake. I knew it was God. Panicking, I tried recalling good deeds, but failed. A brighter light approached; God declared “I am,” affirming himself as creator of everything.
Life Review: The Good
God started with good. He showed me paying for a woman’s groceries when she was short, as I empathized from my single-mom days. This act rippled: years later, she volunteered at a food pantry, helping another humiliated woman similarly. It taught that purpose is in the moment—help who is near now, not a grand plan.
Life Review: The Bad
For the bad, he showed a difficult coworker nurse, inattentive to patients. I never gossiped but harbored negative thoughts. God revealed her abusive childhood by her father; despite it, she chose nursing to help others. My negative energy chained her, making growth harder. I should have focused on her good. This changed me: control thoughts, as they harm like words.
Surrender to God
I debated trusting God, knowing he saw everything about me. I surrendered. His light entered through my toes, healing hurts, up to my heart, enabling beautiful singing despite my poor voice. It warmed my eyes; I squeezed them shut, but it shot out, returned, and illuminated my brain, granting full understanding (blocked upon return).
Questioning God’s Absence
Irritated, I asked where God was during my children’s struggles after their father’s abandonment—checking the mailbox for unfulfilled promises. God understood, showing a future vision: at my grandson’s soccer game (he was two then, five in vision), my son said he would be the dad he deserved, breaking the cycle of absent fathers. We took the hurt to turn it around. This confirmed years later at an actual game.
Journey Through DNA
Fully vulnerable, God held my hand; we sped through my DNA spirals, feeling strands on my skin. He stopped at “junk DNA,” pointing to himself there. He is in everyone as father, like biological fathers, undeniable by testing.
Decision to Return
Past that point meant staying permanently. Feeling loved without earning it—made on purpose for a purpose—I reviewed my life as wasted, unfulfilled by walls. I chose to return, tear down walls, and embrace my creation. God pulled away; I cried.
Waking in Hospital
I awoke; a nurse said I was back. I told her I was with God moments ago. She fetched family; I repeated it. They seemed skeptical; she sent them away, turned off lights, closed curtain. God reappeared, startling me. He laughed, saying he is never gone. He instructed sharing: he is God, creator; we are made on purpose for a purpose.
Sharing the Message
A friend invited me to speak at the International Association of Near-Death Studies support group in Cincinnati. Despite social anxiety, I agreed and continue speaking. I have had no more respiratory failure; conditions settled with answers. It has been a journey.
