WEBVTT
00:00:03.790 --> 00:00:06.669
From the time that they pronounced me that was
00:00:06.669 --> 00:00:10.250
a good 45 minutes They cut my clothes and then
00:00:10.250 --> 00:00:13.609
they paddled my heart my heart stopped and I
00:00:13.609 --> 00:00:17.129
could see people screaming and crying But I didn't
00:00:17.129 --> 00:00:19.510
realize that was actually my physical body because
00:00:19.510 --> 00:00:22.890
I was somewhere else The only thing that I could
00:00:22.890 --> 00:00:26.809
feel if you can imagine Absolute love and peace
00:00:26.809 --> 00:00:29.829
there wasn't anything else to be felt. I was
00:00:29.829 --> 00:00:33.070
greeted by people I'd known in the past I'm back
00:00:33.070 --> 00:00:36.689
home again. Incredibly safe and felt at home.
00:00:38.929 --> 00:00:42.189
I'd like to welcome to the show today, David
00:00:42.189 --> 00:00:44.530
Cooke. Thank you so much for being here all the
00:00:44.530 --> 00:00:48.149
way from Kentucky, right? Yes, yes. I live in
00:00:48.149 --> 00:00:51.490
Kentucky. It is a beautiful place, although the
00:00:51.490 --> 00:00:54.090
last time I was there was snowing, but I hear
00:00:54.090 --> 00:00:58.679
it's beautiful in the summer. Yeah. It gets to
00:00:58.679 --> 00:01:01.299
be, it's pretty nice here. It gets to be hot
00:01:01.299 --> 00:01:04.159
and humid sometimes, but you'll find that probably
00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:07.859
anywhere, anywhere in the Midwest, I guess. Well,
00:01:07.859 --> 00:01:10.079
I know you're a listener of the show and I appreciate
00:01:10.079 --> 00:01:12.719
you reaching out. And I hope I don't surprise
00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:15.579
you too badly. I just feel like doing something
00:01:15.579 --> 00:01:19.819
backwards today. And that is before we've learned
00:01:19.819 --> 00:01:22.019
a little bit about you and get into your whole
00:01:22.019 --> 00:01:25.760
experience. I want to ask you one question about
00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:30.579
your NDE. Okay. And that is, what does it feel
00:01:30.579 --> 00:01:36.780
like when you leave this body and enter a heavenly
00:01:36.780 --> 00:01:42.760
place? Well, it feels, you know, that's a very
00:01:42.760 --> 00:01:47.379
good question, and it feels weightless. It feels
00:01:47.379 --> 00:01:51.280
like, you know, you feel the presence of your
00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:54.680
hands, you feel the presence of your body, presence
00:01:54.680 --> 00:01:58.129
of your feet. I can feel my feet on my legs right
00:01:58.129 --> 00:02:05.390
now. But when you go into an ulterior place,
00:02:05.810 --> 00:02:09.250
a heavenly place, a place other than your earthly
00:02:09.250 --> 00:02:13.210
bounds, you don't feel the weight of your body.
00:02:14.069 --> 00:02:18.389
It's like you're walking or you're floating.
00:02:19.069 --> 00:02:25.439
You just feel light. You move about. Just moving
00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:28.539
you want to go from here to there you go from
00:02:28.539 --> 00:02:33.699
here to there Maybe like no gravity Like no gravity
00:02:33.699 --> 00:02:37.479
exactly. Okay. Well, there's a little tease of
00:02:37.479 --> 00:02:40.599
much more to come But before we jump into your
00:02:40.599 --> 00:02:42.819
whole story David tell us just a little bit about
00:02:42.819 --> 00:02:45.280
you so our listeners can get to know who David
00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:53.379
cook is Okay. Well, I am 58 years old I had a
00:02:53.340 --> 00:02:56.240
Tragic, well, not so tragic, I guess you could
00:02:56.240 --> 00:02:59.659
say, but a life -changing experience back when
00:02:59.659 --> 00:03:04.199
I was 51 years ago, back when I was seven years
00:03:04.199 --> 00:03:09.199
old. I am the youngest of four. My oldest sibling,
00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:14.240
my sister, and my oldest brother had a part in
00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:21.120
my story. They were an intricate part in the
00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:25.060
bringing about my My hospital stay, I guess you
00:03:25.060 --> 00:03:30.580
could say. I have been a believer in Christ for
00:03:30.580 --> 00:03:33.659
probably since I was five years old. And my parents
00:03:33.659 --> 00:03:37.580
were missionaries to the Native Americans in
00:03:37.580 --> 00:03:41.340
Northwestern New Mexico, the Zuni Indians. And
00:03:41.340 --> 00:03:45.680
that's where my story takes place is in Northwestern
00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:52.039
New Mexico. I was the youngest of four. I have
00:03:52.039 --> 00:03:55.520
a middle brother also, and he was, he really
00:03:55.520 --> 00:04:01.199
didn't have a part of my story. I am husband
00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:05.819
of my wife. I'm a father of two daughters. I
00:04:05.819 --> 00:04:09.900
stepfather of three daughters and a son. I have
00:04:09.900 --> 00:04:13.280
a granddaughter and a step -granddaughter also.
00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:17.939
That is awesome. Aren't those daughters and grandkids
00:04:17.939 --> 00:04:22.079
the very best? Yes. And I say that with joy in
00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:25.259
my heart and half laughing because I didn't mention
00:04:25.259 --> 00:04:28.040
sons and Will, my son, is doing some editing
00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:30.180
on this and hopefully he's getting a little chuckle
00:04:30.180 --> 00:04:33.019
from it right now too because he thinks he's
00:04:33.019 --> 00:04:36.899
the favorite. So anyway, let's move on from all
00:04:36.899 --> 00:04:40.860
that before I dig myself a deeper hole here and
00:04:40.860 --> 00:04:43.920
get myself more in trouble with my family. Let's
00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:46.720
go back to when you were seven years old. I know
00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:49.240
what happened, but Please tell our listeners
00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:53.939
what led up to your big fall that day. Well,
00:04:54.120 --> 00:05:01.220
OK. I was like I said, I'm the youngest of four.
00:05:01.800 --> 00:05:05.920
And this particular day, in fact, it's right
00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:11.600
at 51 years. It was March 19th, 1975. So it was
00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:18.540
almost to the day I was home. And my mom was
00:05:18.540 --> 00:05:23.139
at work. My dad was away on a speaking trip to
00:05:23.139 --> 00:05:27.560
raise support for the ministry. And my oldest
00:05:27.560 --> 00:05:30.420
brother and a friend of his, my oldest brother's
00:05:30.420 --> 00:05:33.319
name is Greg and a friend of his name is Jamie,
00:05:34.019 --> 00:05:38.199
they were going to explore a canyon around our
00:05:38.199 --> 00:05:44.180
house. And so I followed my oldest brother and
00:05:44.180 --> 00:05:47.339
they came upon this canyon and there was this
00:05:47.339 --> 00:05:49.759
crevice that led down to the bottom of this cliff
00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:55.120
and they went down into this crevice and I stayed
00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:59.079
up on top and I was kicking these rusty cans
00:05:59.079 --> 00:06:02.199
over the edge of this cliff. This cliff was 75
00:06:02.199 --> 00:06:06.319
feet but down to the bottom and before long I
00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:09.180
got closer and closer to the edge of that cliff
00:06:09.180 --> 00:06:14.759
and I fell. I ended up falling head first. head
00:06:14.759 --> 00:06:19.639
first on the rock bottom and Jamie and my brother
00:06:19.639 --> 00:06:23.800
Greg heard me fall and they came running out
00:06:23.800 --> 00:06:28.279
Jamie screamed and he went and ran to get his
00:06:28.279 --> 00:06:31.459
father as he went and ran into his father his
00:06:31.459 --> 00:06:34.560
father King came down in their car to pick me
00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:38.560
up my brother came out and my brother did what
00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:41.839
he remembered that our parents taught us to do
00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:45.220
he got down on his hands and knees and he began
00:06:45.220 --> 00:06:48.759
to pray. He prayed that God would not let me
00:06:48.759 --> 00:06:52.620
die. Jamie's father came and picked me up and
00:06:52.620 --> 00:06:56.379
took me to the hospital there and on the way
00:06:56.379 --> 00:07:00.120
to the hospital he ran across my sister Christy
00:07:00.120 --> 00:07:03.899
and he says Christy you need to get in the car.
00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:07.680
David has been hurt. We need to go pick him up.
00:07:07.860 --> 00:07:11.970
She jumped in the car with Jamie's father. They
00:07:11.970 --> 00:07:14.509
got down to the bottom of the cliff and they
00:07:14.509 --> 00:07:17.649
walked up a small slope to where I was laying
00:07:17.649 --> 00:07:22.189
at my lifeless body. They picked up my lifeless
00:07:22.189 --> 00:07:26.050
body, laid it in the back of their car, took
00:07:26.050 --> 00:07:30.170
me to the Zuni hospital for whatever repairs,
00:07:30.750 --> 00:07:33.589
whatever the Zuni hospital could do. The Zuni
00:07:33.589 --> 00:07:37.310
hospital did not have the adequate equipment
00:07:37.310 --> 00:07:43.129
to prepare to do any kind of major surgery on
00:07:43.129 --> 00:07:47.769
my head that wasn't needing to be done. So a
00:07:47.769 --> 00:07:51.870
airplane had to be called in to fly me from Zuni
00:07:51.870 --> 00:07:56.569
to Albuquerque, New Mexico. And when I landed
00:07:56.569 --> 00:08:00.149
at Albuquerque, I went in and was checked into
00:08:00.149 --> 00:08:04.069
Loveless Batan Medical Center in Albuquerque.
00:08:04.370 --> 00:08:08.509
When I was checked into the hospital, this is
00:08:08.509 --> 00:08:14.449
where I can first remember an OBE or an NDE,
00:08:14.709 --> 00:08:19.790
however it might be described. But I remember
00:08:19.790 --> 00:08:23.350
being rushed into the hospital screaming my head
00:08:23.350 --> 00:08:26.470
off because I was not only scared to death, but
00:08:26.470 --> 00:08:30.610
I was in pain. Not only that, but I could also
00:08:30.610 --> 00:08:34.850
remember myself seeing the whole thing taking
00:08:34.850 --> 00:08:40.049
place. I was watching it. take place like I was
00:08:40.049 --> 00:08:45.350
overhead watching the nurses running in, rushing
00:08:45.350 --> 00:08:50.129
in. And I remember a female paramedic say, it's
00:08:50.129 --> 00:08:53.350
okay, buddy. You're going to be okay. I was rushed
00:08:53.350 --> 00:08:57.590
into the hospital and I entered the hospital
00:08:57.590 --> 00:09:03.490
and I had eight days in a coma in the hospital.
00:09:04.350 --> 00:09:08.230
My mom and dad showed up at the hospital. My
00:09:08.230 --> 00:09:12.049
dad thought he would never hear me ever again.
00:09:12.610 --> 00:09:17.889
Eight days in the middle of the night, my dad
00:09:17.889 --> 00:09:22.710
heard me pray. And my dad would always kneel
00:09:22.710 --> 00:09:25.870
down and pray with us at night before we would
00:09:25.870 --> 00:09:28.929
go to bed. And I always would pray the same thing,
00:09:28.990 --> 00:09:32.750
Dear Jesus, help us to obey our parents. And
00:09:32.750 --> 00:09:35.990
in the middle of the night, the silence was broken.
00:09:36.970 --> 00:09:41.809
with me praying dear Jesus help us to obey our
00:09:41.809 --> 00:09:46.929
parents and That's the first words that came
00:09:46.929 --> 00:09:49.450
out of my mouth when I came out of that coma
00:09:49.450 --> 00:09:54.909
During that coma I can remember times where I
00:09:54.909 --> 00:09:58.950
would be laying down there in the in bed and
00:09:58.950 --> 00:10:05.769
my Spirit my soul would leave my body and would
00:10:05.769 --> 00:10:09.639
float Above my body and up float and I would
00:10:09.639 --> 00:10:12.840
see myself laying in that bed I would not leave
00:10:12.840 --> 00:10:16.159
the room. My soul would not leave the room per
00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:21.100
se But I would float back down into my body during
00:10:21.100 --> 00:10:23.860
the time in the hospital though. There were times
00:10:23.860 --> 00:10:30.220
that I can remember my soul leaving my body and
00:10:30.220 --> 00:10:33.899
floating up above the hospital and Just kind
00:10:33.899 --> 00:10:37.360
of floating around above the hospital and then
00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:40.679
floating back down into my body. And there was
00:10:40.679 --> 00:10:46.600
one time in surgery where I was going into surgery.
00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:51.340
I had cerebral surgeries on my skull. I can remember
00:10:51.340 --> 00:10:55.620
the nurse giving me the shot. I can remember
00:10:55.620 --> 00:11:01.720
crying and saying, ow, ow, and crying. And as
00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:04.600
I went into the surgery, the doctor said, okay,
00:11:04.700 --> 00:11:09.070
come on, buddy. lifted me up off off of the the
00:11:09.070 --> 00:11:12.169
crib of sorts and it was like a metal crib and
00:11:12.169 --> 00:11:15.769
put me on the operating table and during the
00:11:15.769 --> 00:11:21.370
surgery I can remember my soul leaving my body
00:11:21.370 --> 00:11:25.929
leaving the hospital not so much floating away
00:11:25.929 --> 00:11:28.549
but it was like just walking from one room into
00:11:28.549 --> 00:11:32.169
another just as simple as walking from one room
00:11:32.169 --> 00:11:36.720
into another and I can remember as it were, being
00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:43.019
in a heavenly realm. And I can remember an angelic
00:11:43.019 --> 00:11:50.039
figure at a gate, at a large gate. And he had,
00:11:50.139 --> 00:11:53.080
as it were, like a clipboard -type thing. As
00:11:53.080 --> 00:11:57.679
I went into that heavenly realm, I said, okay,
00:11:57.879 --> 00:12:01.960
well, we're going to need to go. And somebody
00:12:01.960 --> 00:12:06.019
directed me toward that angelic figure. And I
00:12:06.019 --> 00:12:08.600
went toward that angelic figure. I said, well,
00:12:08.600 --> 00:12:13.659
I said, I guess here I am. He said, well, he
00:12:13.659 --> 00:12:17.200
says, you're not supposed to be here yet. You
00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:22.720
have more things to do. I said, why can't I go
00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:27.679
over there? He says, you have more purpose on
00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:30.919
staying where you're at. And I can remember as
00:12:30.919 --> 00:12:36.940
it were, souls crossing the gate. I wanted to
00:12:36.940 --> 00:12:38.940
go where they're at. I said, why can't I go where
00:12:38.940 --> 00:12:43.679
they're going? And the angelic figure said, you
00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:48.080
have to stay. I said to the angelic figure, what
00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:53.120
are they doing? And the angelic figure kind of
00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:57.519
directed his hand behind me. And I turned around
00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:01.940
and I said, can I see? It looked like there was
00:13:01.940 --> 00:13:07.629
clouds as He wiped away the clouds. I could look
00:13:07.629 --> 00:13:13.250
down and I could see the doctors working on me,
00:13:13.570 --> 00:13:19.789
working on my head as I had fallen and was in
00:13:19.789 --> 00:13:23.850
surgery. When I was looking down, I can remember
00:13:23.850 --> 00:13:30.549
the presence of a person beside me. The person
00:13:30.549 --> 00:13:33.950
beside me, I could almost... I have the comfort
00:13:33.950 --> 00:13:37.970
of saying that it probably was Jesus. And I have
00:13:37.970 --> 00:13:42.250
his arm around my shoulder. Say that he was there
00:13:42.250 --> 00:13:46.289
with me. He said, you have to go now. And as
00:13:46.289 --> 00:13:50.730
I went down back into my body, it was just like
00:13:50.730 --> 00:13:55.009
crossing, just like walking back from one room
00:13:55.009 --> 00:14:00.870
into another. And when I entered back into my
00:14:00.870 --> 00:14:06.570
body, I could feel the confines, the weight,
00:14:07.269 --> 00:14:10.370
the confinement, I guess you could say, of my
00:14:10.370 --> 00:14:14.830
body. My hands, my feet, the pain, the pain I
00:14:14.830 --> 00:14:18.330
was in. And when I entered my body, I could hear
00:14:18.330 --> 00:14:22.590
a doctor say, we got him back. Because I think
00:14:22.590 --> 00:14:26.330
when I had left, I think I was probably flat
00:14:26.330 --> 00:14:29.450
-lined. They were afraid that they were going
00:14:29.450 --> 00:14:33.100
to lose me. When I entered back in the doctor
00:14:33.100 --> 00:14:38.879
said we got him back and I think that each of
00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:43.759
my outer body experiences each of my NDE was
00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:49.279
God's way of Progressively saying I got you David.
00:14:49.320 --> 00:14:54.679
I got you you're taken care of you are in my
00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:58.779
hands I have you under my control and the amazing
00:14:58.779 --> 00:15:02.289
thing is is that the doctors said when I entered
00:15:02.289 --> 00:15:04.970
the hospital that there would be a 10 % chance
00:15:04.970 --> 00:15:09.129
of life, that I'm more than likely that if I
00:15:09.129 --> 00:15:14.330
was able to survive, that my quality of life
00:15:14.330 --> 00:15:18.330
would be nothing, that I would just be a vegetable
00:15:18.330 --> 00:15:21.730
and that I would never be able to walk or talk
00:15:21.730 --> 00:15:27.309
again. Dr. Glover, the neurosurgeon that worked
00:15:27.309 --> 00:15:31.870
on me, 10 years later, I was in a restaurant
00:15:31.870 --> 00:15:37.129
in Albuquerque with my dad. My dad said, do you
00:15:37.129 --> 00:15:39.610
recognize that man over there? I said, no, I
00:15:39.610 --> 00:15:42.710
don't. And he says, let's go over there and talk
00:15:42.710 --> 00:15:45.629
to him. And he says, Dr. Glover, he says, I want
00:15:45.629 --> 00:15:48.450
to introduce you to somebody. This is my son,
00:15:48.490 --> 00:15:53.190
David. You worked on him 10 years ago. And Dr.
00:15:53.690 --> 00:15:59.309
Glover, his mouth dropped open when he saw me.
00:15:59.529 --> 00:16:04.470
because Dr. Glover said that he never expected
00:16:04.470 --> 00:16:08.830
to see that I would be able to survive like that.
00:16:09.769 --> 00:16:14.769
That is just so beautiful, David. I really appreciate
00:16:14.769 --> 00:16:17.330
you sharing. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?
00:16:18.169 --> 00:16:21.389
Absolutely. Okay. Just help fill in some of the
00:16:21.389 --> 00:16:24.929
blanks for me. First of all, it's not uncommon.
00:16:25.500 --> 00:16:28.440
for people to have these out -of -body experiences
00:16:28.440 --> 00:16:31.259
when they're in a coma. Sort of like you said
00:16:31.259 --> 00:16:36.100
earlier, whether it's O -B -E -N -D -E, the terminology
00:16:36.100 --> 00:16:39.360
really doesn't matter very much, okay? You were
00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:43.940
having these experiences where, I guess we'll
00:16:43.940 --> 00:16:46.740
just call it what it is, out -of -body experience,
00:16:46.779 --> 00:16:49.379
because you were up looking down on your body,
00:16:49.399 --> 00:16:52.320
which could only happen from a third -person
00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:57.110
kind of standpoint. But then I imagine if you
00:16:57.110 --> 00:17:00.129
were 20 years older than just being seven years
00:17:00.129 --> 00:17:03.149
old, you might've asked specifically the doctors
00:17:03.149 --> 00:17:05.910
later, hey, when I was in surgery, did my heart
00:17:05.910 --> 00:17:10.609
stop? But at the age of seven, of course, you
00:17:10.609 --> 00:17:12.769
wouldn't think to ask those kinds of things.
00:17:13.990 --> 00:17:18.230
Or say, hey, at this point in surgery, I felt
00:17:18.230 --> 00:17:21.029
like I was gone, you know, tell me what was going
00:17:21.029 --> 00:17:23.250
on. That would have been fascinating to hear
00:17:23.250 --> 00:17:26.990
that side of it, which we don't have. But I want
00:17:26.990 --> 00:17:31.630
to hear some more about during the surgery, when
00:17:31.630 --> 00:17:34.329
you were out of body and went to what you described
00:17:34.329 --> 00:17:37.910
as a heavenly realm, were there any other things
00:17:37.910 --> 00:17:41.289
that you felt or that you saw or that you even
00:17:41.289 --> 00:17:46.380
thought about? I was just thinking that that
00:17:46.380 --> 00:17:52.539
I didn't want to go back. I knew that I had to
00:17:52.539 --> 00:17:56.539
go back because that's what they told me to do.
00:17:57.460 --> 00:18:01.299
I wanted to go where the other souls were going.
00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:06.119
I wanted to cross that gate, and I didn't want
00:18:06.119 --> 00:18:10.339
to go back to the pain, to the earthly confines,
00:18:10.380 --> 00:18:14.500
so to speak. I wanted to be at peace, but I knew
00:18:14.500 --> 00:18:17.230
that I had to. because that's what they said
00:18:17.230 --> 00:18:20.369
I needed to do. Were you feeling peace there
00:18:20.369 --> 00:18:23.650
or were you feeling just longing for something?
00:18:24.470 --> 00:18:28.789
Well, both. I was feeling peace and I was feeling
00:18:28.789 --> 00:18:35.269
that I was at rest. I was at my final destination,
00:18:35.430 --> 00:18:41.430
so to speak. Obviously I didn't cross the gate,
00:18:41.509 --> 00:18:47.859
so to speak. was wanting to be. Because some
00:18:47.859 --> 00:18:50.940
would say our human instinct is to stay alive.
00:18:51.160 --> 00:18:55.339
It's to be here in our body. So what was it about
00:18:55.339 --> 00:18:58.259
that place that made you want to stay? Oh, no,
00:18:58.259 --> 00:19:03.140
no, no. When we're here in our physical bodies,
00:19:03.339 --> 00:19:08.119
this is a temporal. This is temporary. When we're
00:19:08.119 --> 00:19:12.920
there, it's much more. It's 50 times greater.
00:19:13.369 --> 00:19:18.089
It's 500 times greater. It's more alive. This
00:19:18.089 --> 00:19:21.069
is just a dream. There, it's real life. Here,
00:19:21.990 --> 00:19:27.289
it's just a vapor, as scripture says. Okay. I
00:19:27.289 --> 00:19:30.029
want to ask you about the angelic figure at the
00:19:30.029 --> 00:19:33.569
gate, because it sounded like the description,
00:19:34.269 --> 00:19:38.430
the typical Saint Peter with the clipboard at
00:19:38.430 --> 00:19:41.309
the pearly gate kind of thing. It almost sounded
00:19:41.309 --> 00:19:44.730
too cliche, but is that what you felt was going
00:19:44.730 --> 00:19:48.150
on? Was he just checking, hey, you can go and
00:19:48.150 --> 00:19:50.289
you can't go? What's the deal with a clipboard?
00:19:51.150 --> 00:19:54.390
Well, I think it was also in the minds of a seven
00:19:54.390 --> 00:19:58.930
-year -old. I think that if, like you were saying,
00:19:59.369 --> 00:20:05.430
if it was 20 years later, the whole experience
00:20:05.430 --> 00:20:09.720
may have been different. A seven -year -old The
00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:14.039
mindset may have been a clipboard. A 20 -year
00:20:14.039 --> 00:20:18.380
-old or 27 -year -old may have been something
00:20:18.380 --> 00:20:21.720
different. Someone checking you in, you know,
00:20:22.359 --> 00:20:26.099
like a teacher doing bro -call or something like
00:20:26.099 --> 00:20:28.539
that. You know, that's an experience of a seven
00:20:28.539 --> 00:20:33.259
-year -old in elementary school. The angelic
00:20:33.259 --> 00:20:38.529
figure was... A person was, I don't even say
00:20:38.529 --> 00:20:42.369
it was a person, but it may have been St. Peter,
00:20:42.450 --> 00:20:48.430
may have been, who knows? But it was somebody
00:20:48.430 --> 00:20:53.829
or an angel, angelic figure up there who was
00:20:53.829 --> 00:20:59.970
just saying, you need to go back. You still have
00:20:59.970 --> 00:21:04.369
purpose on earth. And obviously I do have purpose
00:21:04.369 --> 00:21:07.799
because If I didn't come back, I wouldn't have
00:21:07.799 --> 00:21:11.460
two daughters of my own. All right, let me call
00:21:11.460 --> 00:21:13.480
for what may be a little bit of speculation.
00:21:14.119 --> 00:21:16.700
What do you feel was beyond that gate versus
00:21:16.700 --> 00:21:22.140
where you were? Well, OK, I think that where
00:21:22.140 --> 00:21:28.059
I was at was the entrance to the heavenly realm.
00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:32.819
And beyond the gate, I think I believe was was
00:21:32.819 --> 00:21:37.759
heaven. was the throne of God, the purling gates,
00:21:38.099 --> 00:21:41.359
whatever you may, the streets of gold, however
00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:44.880
you may want to illustrate that, the crystal
00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:47.500
sea. Or if you want to just call it heaven, call
00:21:47.500 --> 00:21:51.259
it heaven. That's okay. Exactly. And I've had
00:21:51.259 --> 00:21:53.880
a lot of other people tell me about something
00:21:53.880 --> 00:21:57.940
kind of similar, whether it was a gate or a hill
00:21:57.940 --> 00:22:01.339
or a passageway or something else. Many people
00:22:01.339 --> 00:22:05.710
feel like I'm headed somewhere and I really want
00:22:05.710 --> 00:22:08.309
to go there, but I also know if I go I'm not
00:22:08.309 --> 00:22:11.390
coming back to my body and It sounds like that's
00:22:11.390 --> 00:22:16.289
how you felt Yes, I believe that if I had crossed
00:22:16.289 --> 00:22:20.470
that gate Well, the time will come when I will
00:22:20.470 --> 00:22:24.630
when I cross that gate then there's no There's
00:22:24.630 --> 00:22:28.750
no return to the earthly realms now if you can
00:22:28.750 --> 00:22:32.309
think of any other detail that you can remember
00:22:32.309 --> 00:22:35.710
about looking down, seeing that person beside
00:22:35.710 --> 00:22:38.950
you that you felt was Jesus. Was there anything
00:22:38.950 --> 00:22:42.369
else you remember about that? I just felt like
00:22:42.369 --> 00:22:47.450
he had a loving presence that had his arm around
00:22:47.450 --> 00:22:51.130
me. I just felt his presence beside me. I didn't
00:22:51.130 --> 00:22:55.710
look to see who it was. I was looking down to
00:22:55.710 --> 00:22:58.529
see what the doctors were doing. I felt love.
00:22:59.210 --> 00:23:03.759
I felt belonging, I felt like I will be there
00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:07.220
again someday. You also mentioned that you had
00:23:07.220 --> 00:23:10.059
been going to church since you were a young boy
00:23:10.059 --> 00:23:13.920
years before this. And I forget your exact words,
00:23:13.980 --> 00:23:16.220
but it sounded like you really believed what
00:23:16.220 --> 00:23:19.279
you were learning in church. And then at seven,
00:23:19.380 --> 00:23:23.200
you have this extraordinary experience that most
00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:26.329
seven -year -olds don't have. In what way did
00:23:26.329 --> 00:23:29.609
that, do you think, changed you? So that, I mean,
00:23:29.690 --> 00:23:32.029
you were growing up a different kind of person
00:23:32.029 --> 00:23:34.910
than the other seven and eight and nine and ten
00:23:34.910 --> 00:23:37.950
and fifteen year olds were. How were you different
00:23:37.950 --> 00:23:41.490
than everybody else? How am I different? Well,
00:23:41.650 --> 00:23:44.269
I think everybody's different in their own way.
00:23:44.809 --> 00:23:50.089
I grew up in a, as a missionary kid in a Native
00:23:50.089 --> 00:23:54.230
American culture, standing out like a sore thumb.
00:23:54.799 --> 00:24:00.500
really had us surrounded by spiritual training
00:24:00.500 --> 00:24:05.980
and really knew, really had us in scripture.
00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:09.619
But how did your NDE make you a little bit different
00:24:09.619 --> 00:24:13.660
than everybody else? Or did it? Well, I'm not
00:24:13.660 --> 00:24:16.700
going to say my NDE made me any different. When
00:24:16.700 --> 00:24:22.059
it all comes down to it, when I had an NDE, I...
00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:26.099
had an NDE just like anybody else, just like
00:24:26.099 --> 00:24:31.579
if it was a kid who never even went to church,
00:24:32.539 --> 00:24:37.839
never had any kind of knowledge of God or anything
00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:43.700
like that. And if God so sees fit to allow that
00:24:43.700 --> 00:24:48.400
child to have an NDE like that, to experience
00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:53.910
God like that, then God will do that. I'm not
00:24:53.910 --> 00:24:56.529
saying that my NDA would be any different than
00:24:56.529 --> 00:25:00.069
anybody else's. Most people in this life have
00:25:00.069 --> 00:25:03.910
some degree of fear of death, healthy fear of
00:25:03.910 --> 00:25:07.609
death, we'll call it. Even people of faith have
00:25:07.609 --> 00:25:10.329
some degree of fear of death. How about you?
00:25:10.809 --> 00:25:15.549
Having had this experience of death, I have no
00:25:15.549 --> 00:25:18.529
fear. I don't fear death. No, I'm not going to
00:25:18.529 --> 00:25:23.589
go walk out and Jump out in front of a semi or
00:25:23.589 --> 00:25:25.829
nothing like that. I'm not gonna speed it up
00:25:25.829 --> 00:25:31.490
but I don't fear it because The way that I see
00:25:31.490 --> 00:25:34.390
it is that I've already experienced it. I know
00:25:34.390 --> 00:25:38.130
what it's like It's walking one from one room
00:25:38.130 --> 00:25:41.150
into another as far as I'm concerned as far as
00:25:41.150 --> 00:25:44.670
what I've experienced and may I suggest that
00:25:44.670 --> 00:25:48.289
that is You're not having a fear of death because
00:25:48.289 --> 00:25:52.250
the experience is something that did make you
00:25:52.250 --> 00:25:55.910
a little bit different than most of us in a good
00:25:55.910 --> 00:26:00.490
way. I would, over the next few days, I'm going
00:26:00.490 --> 00:26:02.549
to give you a little assignment. Just think on
00:26:02.549 --> 00:26:06.369
that topic right there. How did having that fear
00:26:06.369 --> 00:26:09.690
of death removed affect your life since then?
00:26:10.329 --> 00:26:12.549
Did it make things easier? Did it make them more
00:26:12.549 --> 00:26:15.869
difficult? And then you and I'll talk again sometime
00:26:15.869 --> 00:26:20.509
in the future. Sure. Well, I can tell you, kids
00:26:20.509 --> 00:26:23.130
and stuff like that, they might watch some sort
00:26:23.130 --> 00:26:27.430
of scary movie or something like that, and it's
00:26:27.430 --> 00:26:30.789
like nothing to me. It's a movie. That's the
00:26:30.789 --> 00:26:35.369
way I see things. It just doesn't bother me as
00:26:35.369 --> 00:26:41.150
much. I know that my life, my real life is to
00:26:41.150 --> 00:26:44.950
come is not on this earth, and I don't fear that.
00:26:46.009 --> 00:26:49.250
There were somebody out there today that is really
00:26:49.250 --> 00:26:52.430
struggling with faith in the future. They're
00:26:52.430 --> 00:26:55.730
really totally afraid of death or they're mourning
00:26:55.730 --> 00:26:58.369
the passing of a loved one. What kind of message
00:26:58.369 --> 00:27:01.369
of hope do you have for them? My message of hope
00:27:01.369 --> 00:27:06.210
is that death does not have to be fear. When
00:27:06.210 --> 00:27:10.910
you have a faith in God and a faith in His Son,
00:27:10.910 --> 00:27:14.750
Jesus Christ, that this life is just temporary.
00:27:15.019 --> 00:27:20.900
This life is just a vapor, and our eternal home
00:27:20.900 --> 00:27:23.940
has nothing to do with this earth. Our eternal
00:27:23.940 --> 00:27:28.220
home is in heaven, and our eternal hope is in
00:27:28.220 --> 00:27:32.759
heaven. And that salvation is through the shed
00:27:32.759 --> 00:27:35.799
blood of Jesus Christ and for what He did for
00:27:35.799 --> 00:27:40.200
us. That is our hope. That is our home. That
00:27:40.200 --> 00:27:44.650
is our eternal life. That is my message. David,
00:27:44.990 --> 00:27:47.109
I really appreciate your time today. I really
00:27:47.109 --> 00:27:50.609
appreciate you having the courage to share all
00:27:50.609 --> 00:28:04.079
of this. Thank you very much. Thank you. If you
00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:06.619
want to share your near -death experience, or
00:28:06.619 --> 00:28:08.579
if you have questions or comments about the show,
00:28:09.079 --> 00:28:12.119
send an email to eric at roundtripdeath .com.
00:28:12.519 --> 00:28:14.680
Until then, I wish you everything good that you're
00:28:14.680 --> 00:28:17.099
looking for in this life and the next.
00:00:03.790 --> 00:00:06.669
From the time that they pronounced me that was
00:00:06.669 --> 00:00:10.250
a good 45 minutes They cut my clothes and then
00:00:10.250 --> 00:00:13.609
they paddled my heart my heart stopped and I
00:00:13.609 --> 00:00:17.129
could see people screaming and crying But I didn't
00:00:17.129 --> 00:00:19.510
realize that was actually my physical body because
00:00:19.510 --> 00:00:22.890
I was somewhere else The only thing that I could
00:00:22.890 --> 00:00:26.809
feel if you can imagine Absolute love and peace
00:00:26.809 --> 00:00:29.829
there wasn't anything else to be felt. I was
00:00:29.829 --> 00:00:33.070
greeted by people I'd known in the past I'm back
00:00:33.070 --> 00:00:36.689
home again. Incredibly safe and felt at home.
00:00:38.929 --> 00:00:42.189
I'd like to welcome to the show today, David
00:00:42.189 --> 00:00:44.530
Cooke. Thank you so much for being here all the
00:00:44.530 --> 00:00:48.149
way from Kentucky, right? Yes, yes. I live in
00:00:48.149 --> 00:00:51.490
Kentucky. It is a beautiful place, although the
00:00:51.490 --> 00:00:54.090
last time I was there was snowing, but I hear
00:00:54.090 --> 00:00:58.679
it's beautiful in the summer. Yeah. It gets to
00:00:58.679 --> 00:01:01.299
be, it's pretty nice here. It gets to be hot
00:01:01.299 --> 00:01:04.159
and humid sometimes, but you'll find that probably
00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:07.859
anywhere, anywhere in the Midwest, I guess. Well,
00:01:07.859 --> 00:01:10.079
I know you're a listener of the show and I appreciate
00:01:10.079 --> 00:01:12.719
you reaching out. And I hope I don't surprise
00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:15.579
you too badly. I just feel like doing something
00:01:15.579 --> 00:01:19.819
backwards today. And that is before we've learned
00:01:19.819 --> 00:01:22.019
a little bit about you and get into your whole
00:01:22.019 --> 00:01:25.760
experience. I want to ask you one question about
00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:30.579
your NDE. Okay. And that is, what does it feel
00:01:30.579 --> 00:01:36.780
like when you leave this body and enter a heavenly
00:01:36.780 --> 00:01:42.760
place? Well, it feels, you know, that's a very
00:01:42.760 --> 00:01:47.379
good question, and it feels weightless. It feels
00:01:47.379 --> 00:01:51.280
like, you know, you feel the presence of your
00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:54.680
hands, you feel the presence of your body, presence
00:01:54.680 --> 00:01:58.129
of your feet. I can feel my feet on my legs right
00:01:58.129 --> 00:02:05.390
now. But when you go into an ulterior place,
00:02:05.810 --> 00:02:09.250
a heavenly place, a place other than your earthly
00:02:09.250 --> 00:02:13.210
bounds, you don't feel the weight of your body.
00:02:14.069 --> 00:02:18.389
It's like you're walking or you're floating.
00:02:19.069 --> 00:02:25.439
You just feel light. You move about. Just moving
00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:28.539
you want to go from here to there you go from
00:02:28.539 --> 00:02:33.699
here to there Maybe like no gravity Like no gravity
00:02:33.699 --> 00:02:37.479
exactly. Okay. Well, there's a little tease of
00:02:37.479 --> 00:02:40.599
much more to come But before we jump into your
00:02:40.599 --> 00:02:42.819
whole story David tell us just a little bit about
00:02:42.819 --> 00:02:45.280
you so our listeners can get to know who David
00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:53.379
cook is Okay. Well, I am 58 years old I had a
00:02:53.340 --> 00:02:56.240
Tragic, well, not so tragic, I guess you could
00:02:56.240 --> 00:02:59.659
say, but a life -changing experience back when
00:02:59.659 --> 00:03:04.199
I was 51 years ago, back when I was seven years
00:03:04.199 --> 00:03:09.199
old. I am the youngest of four. My oldest sibling,
00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:14.240
my sister, and my oldest brother had a part in
00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:21.120
my story. They were an intricate part in the
00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:25.060
bringing about my My hospital stay, I guess you
00:03:25.060 --> 00:03:30.580
could say. I have been a believer in Christ for
00:03:30.580 --> 00:03:33.659
probably since I was five years old. And my parents
00:03:33.659 --> 00:03:37.580
were missionaries to the Native Americans in
00:03:37.580 --> 00:03:41.340
Northwestern New Mexico, the Zuni Indians. And
00:03:41.340 --> 00:03:45.680
that's where my story takes place is in Northwestern
00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:52.039
New Mexico. I was the youngest of four. I have
00:03:52.039 --> 00:03:55.520
a middle brother also, and he was, he really
00:03:55.520 --> 00:04:01.199
didn't have a part of my story. I am husband
00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:05.819
of my wife. I'm a father of two daughters. I
00:04:05.819 --> 00:04:09.900
stepfather of three daughters and a son. I have
00:04:09.900 --> 00:04:13.280
a granddaughter and a step -granddaughter also.
00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:17.939
That is awesome. Aren't those daughters and grandkids
00:04:17.939 --> 00:04:22.079
the very best? Yes. And I say that with joy in
00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:25.259
my heart and half laughing because I didn't mention
00:04:25.259 --> 00:04:28.040
sons and Will, my son, is doing some editing
00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:30.180
on this and hopefully he's getting a little chuckle
00:04:30.180 --> 00:04:33.019
from it right now too because he thinks he's
00:04:33.019 --> 00:04:36.899
the favorite. So anyway, let's move on from all
00:04:36.899 --> 00:04:40.860
that before I dig myself a deeper hole here and
00:04:40.860 --> 00:04:43.920
get myself more in trouble with my family. Let's
00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:46.720
go back to when you were seven years old. I know
00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:49.240
what happened, but Please tell our listeners
00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:53.939
what led up to your big fall that day. Well,
00:04:54.120 --> 00:05:01.220
OK. I was like I said, I'm the youngest of four.
00:05:01.800 --> 00:05:05.920
And this particular day, in fact, it's right
00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:11.600
at 51 years. It was March 19th, 1975. So it was
00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:18.540
almost to the day I was home. And my mom was
00:05:18.540 --> 00:05:23.139
at work. My dad was away on a speaking trip to
00:05:23.139 --> 00:05:27.560
raise support for the ministry. And my oldest
00:05:27.560 --> 00:05:30.420
brother and a friend of his, my oldest brother's
00:05:30.420 --> 00:05:33.319
name is Greg and a friend of his name is Jamie,
00:05:34.019 --> 00:05:38.199
they were going to explore a canyon around our
00:05:38.199 --> 00:05:44.180
house. And so I followed my oldest brother and
00:05:44.180 --> 00:05:47.339
they came upon this canyon and there was this
00:05:47.339 --> 00:05:49.759
crevice that led down to the bottom of this cliff
00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:55.120
and they went down into this crevice and I stayed
00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:59.079
up on top and I was kicking these rusty cans
00:05:59.079 --> 00:06:02.199
over the edge of this cliff. This cliff was 75
00:06:02.199 --> 00:06:06.319
feet but down to the bottom and before long I
00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:09.180
got closer and closer to the edge of that cliff
00:06:09.180 --> 00:06:14.759
and I fell. I ended up falling head first. head
00:06:14.759 --> 00:06:19.639
first on the rock bottom and Jamie and my brother
00:06:19.639 --> 00:06:23.800
Greg heard me fall and they came running out
00:06:23.800 --> 00:06:28.279
Jamie screamed and he went and ran to get his
00:06:28.279 --> 00:06:31.459
father as he went and ran into his father his
00:06:31.459 --> 00:06:34.560
father King came down in their car to pick me
00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:38.560
up my brother came out and my brother did what
00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:41.839
he remembered that our parents taught us to do
00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:45.220
he got down on his hands and knees and he began
00:06:45.220 --> 00:06:48.759
to pray. He prayed that God would not let me
00:06:48.759 --> 00:06:52.620
die. Jamie's father came and picked me up and
00:06:52.620 --> 00:06:56.379
took me to the hospital there and on the way
00:06:56.379 --> 00:07:00.120
to the hospital he ran across my sister Christy
00:07:00.120 --> 00:07:03.899
and he says Christy you need to get in the car.
00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:07.680
David has been hurt. We need to go pick him up.
00:07:07.860 --> 00:07:11.970
She jumped in the car with Jamie's father. They
00:07:11.970 --> 00:07:14.509
got down to the bottom of the cliff and they
00:07:14.509 --> 00:07:17.649
walked up a small slope to where I was laying
00:07:17.649 --> 00:07:22.189
at my lifeless body. They picked up my lifeless
00:07:22.189 --> 00:07:26.050
body, laid it in the back of their car, took
00:07:26.050 --> 00:07:30.170
me to the Zuni hospital for whatever repairs,
00:07:30.750 --> 00:07:33.589
whatever the Zuni hospital could do. The Zuni
00:07:33.589 --> 00:07:37.310
hospital did not have the adequate equipment
00:07:37.310 --> 00:07:43.129
to prepare to do any kind of major surgery on
00:07:43.129 --> 00:07:47.769
my head that wasn't needing to be done. So a
00:07:47.769 --> 00:07:51.870
airplane had to be called in to fly me from Zuni
00:07:51.870 --> 00:07:56.569
to Albuquerque, New Mexico. And when I landed
00:07:56.569 --> 00:08:00.149
at Albuquerque, I went in and was checked into
00:08:00.149 --> 00:08:04.069
Loveless Batan Medical Center in Albuquerque.
00:08:04.370 --> 00:08:08.509
When I was checked into the hospital, this is
00:08:08.509 --> 00:08:14.449
where I can first remember an OBE or an NDE,
00:08:14.709 --> 00:08:19.790
however it might be described. But I remember
00:08:19.790 --> 00:08:23.350
being rushed into the hospital screaming my head
00:08:23.350 --> 00:08:26.470
off because I was not only scared to death, but
00:08:26.470 --> 00:08:30.610
I was in pain. Not only that, but I could also
00:08:30.610 --> 00:08:34.850
remember myself seeing the whole thing taking
00:08:34.850 --> 00:08:40.049
place. I was watching it. take place like I was
00:08:40.049 --> 00:08:45.350
overhead watching the nurses running in, rushing
00:08:45.350 --> 00:08:50.129
in. And I remember a female paramedic say, it's
00:08:50.129 --> 00:08:53.350
okay, buddy. You're going to be okay. I was rushed
00:08:53.350 --> 00:08:57.590
into the hospital and I entered the hospital
00:08:57.590 --> 00:09:03.490
and I had eight days in a coma in the hospital.
00:09:04.350 --> 00:09:08.230
My mom and dad showed up at the hospital. My
00:09:08.230 --> 00:09:12.049
dad thought he would never hear me ever again.
00:09:12.610 --> 00:09:17.889
Eight days in the middle of the night, my dad
00:09:17.889 --> 00:09:22.710
heard me pray. And my dad would always kneel
00:09:22.710 --> 00:09:25.870
down and pray with us at night before we would
00:09:25.870 --> 00:09:28.929
go to bed. And I always would pray the same thing,
00:09:28.990 --> 00:09:32.750
Dear Jesus, help us to obey our parents. And
00:09:32.750 --> 00:09:35.990
in the middle of the night, the silence was broken.
00:09:36.970 --> 00:09:41.809
with me praying dear Jesus help us to obey our
00:09:41.809 --> 00:09:46.929
parents and That's the first words that came
00:09:46.929 --> 00:09:49.450
out of my mouth when I came out of that coma
00:09:49.450 --> 00:09:54.909
During that coma I can remember times where I
00:09:54.909 --> 00:09:58.950
would be laying down there in the in bed and
00:09:58.950 --> 00:10:05.769
my Spirit my soul would leave my body and would
00:10:05.769 --> 00:10:09.639
float Above my body and up float and I would
00:10:09.639 --> 00:10:12.840
see myself laying in that bed I would not leave
00:10:12.840 --> 00:10:16.159
the room. My soul would not leave the room per
00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:21.100
se But I would float back down into my body during
00:10:21.100 --> 00:10:23.860
the time in the hospital though. There were times
00:10:23.860 --> 00:10:30.220
that I can remember my soul leaving my body and
00:10:30.220 --> 00:10:33.899
floating up above the hospital and Just kind
00:10:33.899 --> 00:10:37.360
of floating around above the hospital and then
00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:40.679
floating back down into my body. And there was
00:10:40.679 --> 00:10:46.600
one time in surgery where I was going into surgery.
00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:51.340
I had cerebral surgeries on my skull. I can remember
00:10:51.340 --> 00:10:55.620
the nurse giving me the shot. I can remember
00:10:55.620 --> 00:11:01.720
crying and saying, ow, ow, and crying. And as
00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:04.600
I went into the surgery, the doctor said, okay,
00:11:04.700 --> 00:11:09.070
come on, buddy. lifted me up off off of the the
00:11:09.070 --> 00:11:12.169
crib of sorts and it was like a metal crib and
00:11:12.169 --> 00:11:15.769
put me on the operating table and during the
00:11:15.769 --> 00:11:21.370
surgery I can remember my soul leaving my body
00:11:21.370 --> 00:11:25.929
leaving the hospital not so much floating away
00:11:25.929 --> 00:11:28.549
but it was like just walking from one room into
00:11:28.549 --> 00:11:32.169
another just as simple as walking from one room
00:11:32.169 --> 00:11:36.720
into another and I can remember as it were, being
00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:43.019
in a heavenly realm. And I can remember an angelic
00:11:43.019 --> 00:11:50.039
figure at a gate, at a large gate. And he had,
00:11:50.139 --> 00:11:53.080
as it were, like a clipboard -type thing. As
00:11:53.080 --> 00:11:57.679
I went into that heavenly realm, I said, okay,
00:11:57.879 --> 00:12:01.960
well, we're going to need to go. And somebody
00:12:01.960 --> 00:12:06.019
directed me toward that angelic figure. And I
00:12:06.019 --> 00:12:08.600
went toward that angelic figure. I said, well,
00:12:08.600 --> 00:12:13.659
I said, I guess here I am. He said, well, he
00:12:13.659 --> 00:12:17.200
says, you're not supposed to be here yet. You
00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:22.720
have more things to do. I said, why can't I go
00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:27.679
over there? He says, you have more purpose on
00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:30.919
staying where you're at. And I can remember as
00:12:30.919 --> 00:12:36.940
it were, souls crossing the gate. I wanted to
00:12:36.940 --> 00:12:38.940
go where they're at. I said, why can't I go where
00:12:38.940 --> 00:12:43.679
they're going? And the angelic figure said, you
00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:48.080
have to stay. I said to the angelic figure, what
00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:53.120
are they doing? And the angelic figure kind of
00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:57.519
directed his hand behind me. And I turned around
00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:01.940
and I said, can I see? It looked like there was
00:13:01.940 --> 00:13:07.629
clouds as He wiped away the clouds. I could look
00:13:07.629 --> 00:13:13.250
down and I could see the doctors working on me,
00:13:13.570 --> 00:13:19.789
working on my head as I had fallen and was in
00:13:19.789 --> 00:13:23.850
surgery. When I was looking down, I can remember
00:13:23.850 --> 00:13:30.549
the presence of a person beside me. The person
00:13:30.549 --> 00:13:33.950
beside me, I could almost... I have the comfort
00:13:33.950 --> 00:13:37.970
of saying that it probably was Jesus. And I have
00:13:37.970 --> 00:13:42.250
his arm around my shoulder. Say that he was there
00:13:42.250 --> 00:13:46.289
with me. He said, you have to go now. And as
00:13:46.289 --> 00:13:50.730
I went down back into my body, it was just like
00:13:50.730 --> 00:13:55.009
crossing, just like walking back from one room
00:13:55.009 --> 00:14:00.870
into another. And when I entered back into my
00:14:00.870 --> 00:14:06.570
body, I could feel the confines, the weight,
00:14:07.269 --> 00:14:10.370
the confinement, I guess you could say, of my
00:14:10.370 --> 00:14:14.830
body. My hands, my feet, the pain, the pain I
00:14:14.830 --> 00:14:18.330
was in. And when I entered my body, I could hear
00:14:18.330 --> 00:14:22.590
a doctor say, we got him back. Because I think
00:14:22.590 --> 00:14:26.330
when I had left, I think I was probably flat
00:14:26.330 --> 00:14:29.450
-lined. They were afraid that they were going
00:14:29.450 --> 00:14:33.100
to lose me. When I entered back in the doctor
00:14:33.100 --> 00:14:38.879
said we got him back and I think that each of
00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:43.759
my outer body experiences each of my NDE was
00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:49.279
God's way of Progressively saying I got you David.
00:14:49.320 --> 00:14:54.679
I got you you're taken care of you are in my
00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:58.779
hands I have you under my control and the amazing
00:14:58.779 --> 00:15:02.289
thing is is that the doctors said when I entered
00:15:02.289 --> 00:15:04.970
the hospital that there would be a 10 % chance
00:15:04.970 --> 00:15:09.129
of life, that I'm more than likely that if I
00:15:09.129 --> 00:15:14.330
was able to survive, that my quality of life
00:15:14.330 --> 00:15:18.330
would be nothing, that I would just be a vegetable
00:15:18.330 --> 00:15:21.730
and that I would never be able to walk or talk
00:15:21.730 --> 00:15:27.309
again. Dr. Glover, the neurosurgeon that worked
00:15:27.309 --> 00:15:31.870
on me, 10 years later, I was in a restaurant
00:15:31.870 --> 00:15:37.129
in Albuquerque with my dad. My dad said, do you
00:15:37.129 --> 00:15:39.610
recognize that man over there? I said, no, I
00:15:39.610 --> 00:15:42.710
don't. And he says, let's go over there and talk
00:15:42.710 --> 00:15:45.629
to him. And he says, Dr. Glover, he says, I want
00:15:45.629 --> 00:15:48.450
to introduce you to somebody. This is my son,
00:15:48.490 --> 00:15:53.190
David. You worked on him 10 years ago. And Dr.
00:15:53.690 --> 00:15:59.309
Glover, his mouth dropped open when he saw me.
00:15:59.529 --> 00:16:04.470
because Dr. Glover said that he never expected
00:16:04.470 --> 00:16:08.830
to see that I would be able to survive like that.
00:16:09.769 --> 00:16:14.769
That is just so beautiful, David. I really appreciate
00:16:14.769 --> 00:16:17.330
you sharing. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?
00:16:18.169 --> 00:16:21.389
Absolutely. Okay. Just help fill in some of the
00:16:21.389 --> 00:16:24.929
blanks for me. First of all, it's not uncommon.
00:16:25.500 --> 00:16:28.440
for people to have these out -of -body experiences
00:16:28.440 --> 00:16:31.259
when they're in a coma. Sort of like you said
00:16:31.259 --> 00:16:36.100
earlier, whether it's O -B -E -N -D -E, the terminology
00:16:36.100 --> 00:16:39.360
really doesn't matter very much, okay? You were
00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:43.940
having these experiences where, I guess we'll
00:16:43.940 --> 00:16:46.740
just call it what it is, out -of -body experience,
00:16:46.779 --> 00:16:49.379
because you were up looking down on your body,
00:16:49.399 --> 00:16:52.320
which could only happen from a third -person
00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:57.110
kind of standpoint. But then I imagine if you
00:16:57.110 --> 00:17:00.129
were 20 years older than just being seven years
00:17:00.129 --> 00:17:03.149
old, you might've asked specifically the doctors
00:17:03.149 --> 00:17:05.910
later, hey, when I was in surgery, did my heart
00:17:05.910 --> 00:17:10.609
stop? But at the age of seven, of course, you
00:17:10.609 --> 00:17:12.769
wouldn't think to ask those kinds of things.
00:17:13.990 --> 00:17:18.230
Or say, hey, at this point in surgery, I felt
00:17:18.230 --> 00:17:21.029
like I was gone, you know, tell me what was going
00:17:21.029 --> 00:17:23.250
on. That would have been fascinating to hear
00:17:23.250 --> 00:17:26.990
that side of it, which we don't have. But I want
00:17:26.990 --> 00:17:31.630
to hear some more about during the surgery, when
00:17:31.630 --> 00:17:34.329
you were out of body and went to what you described
00:17:34.329 --> 00:17:37.910
as a heavenly realm, were there any other things
00:17:37.910 --> 00:17:41.289
that you felt or that you saw or that you even
00:17:41.289 --> 00:17:46.380
thought about? I was just thinking that that
00:17:46.380 --> 00:17:52.539
I didn't want to go back. I knew that I had to
00:17:52.539 --> 00:17:56.539
go back because that's what they told me to do.
00:17:57.460 --> 00:18:01.299
I wanted to go where the other souls were going.
00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:06.119
I wanted to cross that gate, and I didn't want
00:18:06.119 --> 00:18:10.339
to go back to the pain, to the earthly confines,
00:18:10.380 --> 00:18:14.500
so to speak. I wanted to be at peace, but I knew
00:18:14.500 --> 00:18:17.230
that I had to. because that's what they said
00:18:17.230 --> 00:18:20.369
I needed to do. Were you feeling peace there
00:18:20.369 --> 00:18:23.650
or were you feeling just longing for something?
00:18:24.470 --> 00:18:28.789
Well, both. I was feeling peace and I was feeling
00:18:28.789 --> 00:18:35.269
that I was at rest. I was at my final destination,
00:18:35.430 --> 00:18:41.430
so to speak. Obviously I didn't cross the gate,
00:18:41.509 --> 00:18:47.859
so to speak. was wanting to be. Because some
00:18:47.859 --> 00:18:50.940
would say our human instinct is to stay alive.
00:18:51.160 --> 00:18:55.339
It's to be here in our body. So what was it about
00:18:55.339 --> 00:18:58.259
that place that made you want to stay? Oh, no,
00:18:58.259 --> 00:19:03.140
no, no. When we're here in our physical bodies,
00:19:03.339 --> 00:19:08.119
this is a temporal. This is temporary. When we're
00:19:08.119 --> 00:19:12.920
there, it's much more. It's 50 times greater.
00:19:13.369 --> 00:19:18.089
It's 500 times greater. It's more alive. This
00:19:18.089 --> 00:19:21.069
is just a dream. There, it's real life. Here,
00:19:21.990 --> 00:19:27.289
it's just a vapor, as scripture says. Okay. I
00:19:27.289 --> 00:19:30.029
want to ask you about the angelic figure at the
00:19:30.029 --> 00:19:33.569
gate, because it sounded like the description,
00:19:34.269 --> 00:19:38.430
the typical Saint Peter with the clipboard at
00:19:38.430 --> 00:19:41.309
the pearly gate kind of thing. It almost sounded
00:19:41.309 --> 00:19:44.730
too cliche, but is that what you felt was going
00:19:44.730 --> 00:19:48.150
on? Was he just checking, hey, you can go and
00:19:48.150 --> 00:19:50.289
you can't go? What's the deal with a clipboard?
00:19:51.150 --> 00:19:54.390
Well, I think it was also in the minds of a seven
00:19:54.390 --> 00:19:58.930
-year -old. I think that if, like you were saying,
00:19:59.369 --> 00:20:05.430
if it was 20 years later, the whole experience
00:20:05.430 --> 00:20:09.720
may have been different. A seven -year -old The
00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:14.039
mindset may have been a clipboard. A 20 -year
00:20:14.039 --> 00:20:18.380
-old or 27 -year -old may have been something
00:20:18.380 --> 00:20:21.720
different. Someone checking you in, you know,
00:20:22.359 --> 00:20:26.099
like a teacher doing bro -call or something like
00:20:26.099 --> 00:20:28.539
that. You know, that's an experience of a seven
00:20:28.539 --> 00:20:33.259
-year -old in elementary school. The angelic
00:20:33.259 --> 00:20:38.529
figure was... A person was, I don't even say
00:20:38.529 --> 00:20:42.369
it was a person, but it may have been St. Peter,
00:20:42.450 --> 00:20:48.430
may have been, who knows? But it was somebody
00:20:48.430 --> 00:20:53.829
or an angel, angelic figure up there who was
00:20:53.829 --> 00:20:59.970
just saying, you need to go back. You still have
00:20:59.970 --> 00:21:04.369
purpose on earth. And obviously I do have purpose
00:21:04.369 --> 00:21:07.799
because If I didn't come back, I wouldn't have
00:21:07.799 --> 00:21:11.460
two daughters of my own. All right, let me call
00:21:11.460 --> 00:21:13.480
for what may be a little bit of speculation.
00:21:14.119 --> 00:21:16.700
What do you feel was beyond that gate versus
00:21:16.700 --> 00:21:22.140
where you were? Well, OK, I think that where
00:21:22.140 --> 00:21:28.059
I was at was the entrance to the heavenly realm.
00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:32.819
And beyond the gate, I think I believe was was
00:21:32.819 --> 00:21:37.759
heaven. was the throne of God, the purling gates,
00:21:38.099 --> 00:21:41.359
whatever you may, the streets of gold, however
00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:44.880
you may want to illustrate that, the crystal
00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:47.500
sea. Or if you want to just call it heaven, call
00:21:47.500 --> 00:21:51.259
it heaven. That's okay. Exactly. And I've had
00:21:51.259 --> 00:21:53.880
a lot of other people tell me about something
00:21:53.880 --> 00:21:57.940
kind of similar, whether it was a gate or a hill
00:21:57.940 --> 00:22:01.339
or a passageway or something else. Many people
00:22:01.339 --> 00:22:05.710
feel like I'm headed somewhere and I really want
00:22:05.710 --> 00:22:08.309
to go there, but I also know if I go I'm not
00:22:08.309 --> 00:22:11.390
coming back to my body and It sounds like that's
00:22:11.390 --> 00:22:16.289
how you felt Yes, I believe that if I had crossed
00:22:16.289 --> 00:22:20.470
that gate Well, the time will come when I will
00:22:20.470 --> 00:22:24.630
when I cross that gate then there's no There's
00:22:24.630 --> 00:22:28.750
no return to the earthly realms now if you can
00:22:28.750 --> 00:22:32.309
think of any other detail that you can remember
00:22:32.309 --> 00:22:35.710
about looking down, seeing that person beside
00:22:35.710 --> 00:22:38.950
you that you felt was Jesus. Was there anything
00:22:38.950 --> 00:22:42.369
else you remember about that? I just felt like
00:22:42.369 --> 00:22:47.450
he had a loving presence that had his arm around
00:22:47.450 --> 00:22:51.130
me. I just felt his presence beside me. I didn't
00:22:51.130 --> 00:22:55.710
look to see who it was. I was looking down to
00:22:55.710 --> 00:22:58.529
see what the doctors were doing. I felt love.
00:22:59.210 --> 00:23:03.759
I felt belonging, I felt like I will be there
00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:07.220
again someday. You also mentioned that you had
00:23:07.220 --> 00:23:10.059
been going to church since you were a young boy
00:23:10.059 --> 00:23:13.920
years before this. And I forget your exact words,
00:23:13.980 --> 00:23:16.220
but it sounded like you really believed what
00:23:16.220 --> 00:23:19.279
you were learning in church. And then at seven,
00:23:19.380 --> 00:23:23.200
you have this extraordinary experience that most
00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:26.329
seven -year -olds don't have. In what way did
00:23:26.329 --> 00:23:29.609
that, do you think, changed you? So that, I mean,
00:23:29.690 --> 00:23:32.029
you were growing up a different kind of person
00:23:32.029 --> 00:23:34.910
than the other seven and eight and nine and ten
00:23:34.910 --> 00:23:37.950
and fifteen year olds were. How were you different
00:23:37.950 --> 00:23:41.490
than everybody else? How am I different? Well,
00:23:41.650 --> 00:23:44.269
I think everybody's different in their own way.
00:23:44.809 --> 00:23:50.089
I grew up in a, as a missionary kid in a Native
00:23:50.089 --> 00:23:54.230
American culture, standing out like a sore thumb.
00:23:54.799 --> 00:24:00.500
really had us surrounded by spiritual training
00:24:00.500 --> 00:24:05.980
and really knew, really had us in scripture.
00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:09.619
But how did your NDE make you a little bit different
00:24:09.619 --> 00:24:13.660
than everybody else? Or did it? Well, I'm not
00:24:13.660 --> 00:24:16.700
going to say my NDE made me any different. When
00:24:16.700 --> 00:24:22.059
it all comes down to it, when I had an NDE, I...
00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:26.099
had an NDE just like anybody else, just like
00:24:26.099 --> 00:24:31.579
if it was a kid who never even went to church,
00:24:32.539 --> 00:24:37.839
never had any kind of knowledge of God or anything
00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:43.700
like that. And if God so sees fit to allow that
00:24:43.700 --> 00:24:48.400
child to have an NDE like that, to experience
00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:53.910
God like that, then God will do that. I'm not
00:24:53.910 --> 00:24:56.529
saying that my NDA would be any different than
00:24:56.529 --> 00:25:00.069
anybody else's. Most people in this life have
00:25:00.069 --> 00:25:03.910
some degree of fear of death, healthy fear of
00:25:03.910 --> 00:25:07.609
death, we'll call it. Even people of faith have
00:25:07.609 --> 00:25:10.329
some degree of fear of death. How about you?
00:25:10.809 --> 00:25:15.549
Having had this experience of death, I have no
00:25:15.549 --> 00:25:18.529
fear. I don't fear death. No, I'm not going to
00:25:18.529 --> 00:25:23.589
go walk out and Jump out in front of a semi or
00:25:23.589 --> 00:25:25.829
nothing like that. I'm not gonna speed it up
00:25:25.829 --> 00:25:31.490
but I don't fear it because The way that I see
00:25:31.490 --> 00:25:34.390
it is that I've already experienced it. I know
00:25:34.390 --> 00:25:38.130
what it's like It's walking one from one room
00:25:38.130 --> 00:25:41.150
into another as far as I'm concerned as far as
00:25:41.150 --> 00:25:44.670
what I've experienced and may I suggest that
00:25:44.670 --> 00:25:48.289
that is You're not having a fear of death because
00:25:48.289 --> 00:25:52.250
the experience is something that did make you
00:25:52.250 --> 00:25:55.910
a little bit different than most of us in a good
00:25:55.910 --> 00:26:00.490
way. I would, over the next few days, I'm going
00:26:00.490 --> 00:26:02.549
to give you a little assignment. Just think on
00:26:02.549 --> 00:26:06.369
that topic right there. How did having that fear
00:26:06.369 --> 00:26:09.690
of death removed affect your life since then?
00:26:10.329 --> 00:26:12.549
Did it make things easier? Did it make them more
00:26:12.549 --> 00:26:15.869
difficult? And then you and I'll talk again sometime
00:26:15.869 --> 00:26:20.509
in the future. Sure. Well, I can tell you, kids
00:26:20.509 --> 00:26:23.130
and stuff like that, they might watch some sort
00:26:23.130 --> 00:26:27.430
of scary movie or something like that, and it's
00:26:27.430 --> 00:26:30.789
like nothing to me. It's a movie. That's the
00:26:30.789 --> 00:26:35.369
way I see things. It just doesn't bother me as
00:26:35.369 --> 00:26:41.150
much. I know that my life, my real life is to
00:26:41.150 --> 00:26:44.950
come is not on this earth, and I don't fear that.
00:26:46.009 --> 00:26:49.250
There were somebody out there today that is really
00:26:49.250 --> 00:26:52.430
struggling with faith in the future. They're
00:26:52.430 --> 00:26:55.730
really totally afraid of death or they're mourning
00:26:55.730 --> 00:26:58.369
the passing of a loved one. What kind of message
00:26:58.369 --> 00:27:01.369
of hope do you have for them? My message of hope
00:27:01.369 --> 00:27:06.210
is that death does not have to be fear. When
00:27:06.210 --> 00:27:10.910
you have a faith in God and a faith in His Son,
00:27:10.910 --> 00:27:14.750
Jesus Christ, that this life is just temporary.
00:27:15.019 --> 00:27:20.900
This life is just a vapor, and our eternal home
00:27:20.900 --> 00:27:23.940
has nothing to do with this earth. Our eternal
00:27:23.940 --> 00:27:28.220
home is in heaven, and our eternal hope is in
00:27:28.220 --> 00:27:32.759
heaven. And that salvation is through the shed
00:27:32.759 --> 00:27:35.799
blood of Jesus Christ and for what He did for
00:27:35.799 --> 00:27:40.200
us. That is our hope. That is our home. That
00:27:40.200 --> 00:27:44.650
is our eternal life. That is my message. David,
00:27:44.990 --> 00:27:47.109
I really appreciate your time today. I really
00:27:47.109 --> 00:27:50.609
appreciate you having the courage to share all
00:27:50.609 --> 00:28:04.079
of this. Thank you very much. Thank you. If you
00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:06.619
want to share your near -death experience, or
00:28:06.619 --> 00:28:08.579
if you have questions or comments about the show,
00:28:09.079 --> 00:28:12.119
send an email to eric at roundtripdeath .com.
00:28:12.519 --> 00:28:14.680
Until then, I wish you everything good that you're
00:28:14.680 --> 00:28:17.099
looking for in this life and the next.
