Woman says 'death is an illusion' after being declared dead for eight minutes
Brianna was declared dead for eight minutes and says her time in the afterlife felt like months
A woman who was pronounced dead for eight minutes has revealed what she saw – and says death is an illusion. Brianna Lafferty’s soul “floated” above her, before she passed over into a place where time didn’t exist. The 33-year-old had been battling a rare, life-limiting neurological disorder and said her body had already “given up”.
She heard a voice asking if she was ready – and agreed – as she entered into complete darkness. While there, Brianna learned that death is an illusion and that our time on Earth isn’t the end. “Death is an illusion because our soul never dies,” Brianna said.
“Our consciousness remains alive. And our very being only transforms. My thoughts instantly manifested into the afterlife. I noticed that our thoughts create a reality there – it just takes time – which is a blessing.
“We’re able to change our negativity into positivity, turning this into reality. I feel empowered and trust life’s events, especially the hard ones. Looking back, everything is so crystal clear as to why I suffered with illness and other tough struggles.
“There’s knowledge that everything does really happen for a reason, as I go with the flow and don’t get angry or upset when bad things happen. Also knowing that my thoughts and feelings are that powerful helps me live a gratitude filled life.”
Brianna had been suffering from myoclonus dystonia, a rare neurological condition that causes sudden, brief muscle jerks and contractions. She had exhausted all medication and was unaware of how bad her condition could get – and if it was possibly fatal.
After experiencing intense insomnia, where she was unable to sleep for more than a minute across four days, she thought her time was almost up. Brianna, who was pronounced dead for eight minutes, says the out-of-body experience taught her an important lesson.
She said: “I was suddenly separated from my physical body. I didn’t see or remember my human self. I was completely still, yet I felt fully alive, aware and more myself than ever before. There was no pain, just a deep sense of peace and clarity.
“This detachment from my physical form made me realise how temporary and fragile our human experience is. There’s a presence, or intelligence, higher than ourselves that guides and watches over us with unconditional love. Everything happens at once there, as if time doesn’t exist, yet there was perfect order.
“I experienced the beginning of everything and learned that our universe is made up of a bunch of numbers. I met other beings that I’m not sure were human, but they felt familiar. It changed the course of my life – what I feared no longer had power over me and what I used to chase didn’t seem important anymore.
“I came back with a sense of mission and deep reverence for both life and death.”
Brianna says that it felt like she had been gone for months when returning back into her body. She stayed in hospital for four days, trying to work out what had happened. Over this time, she had to readjust – not just physically, but spiritually, too
Now, she’s learned not to fear death and is grateful for the experience. She added: “I had to relearn how to walk and talk. I’ve also had lasting side effects and damage to my pituitary gland, which I got experimental brain surgery for to treat – and has been a success so far.
“I am a little fearful of having another near death experience, only because the recovery is tough. I’m not sure I can avoid it if it’s meant to happen again, though. But because of this, I have a heart of gratitude instead of anger.
“And I’m able to help others going through chronic illness, dying and spiritual awakenings using my own experience. I believe I survived because I have a purpose here on Earth.
“There have been many close calls where I should have died and didn’t. I’m aware that we choose hard, difficult and painful moments in our human experiences because our soul wants to know what isn’t available in the spiritual realm. It’s to learn and grow, but sometimes it’s because the sense of something new excites us.”