A woman who says she was pronounced dead for three minutes after battling with heatstroke has reflected on the experience, and the “strange anomalies” she has experienced since.
When Jade, 36, visited a friend during a summer afternoon in Green Bay, Wisconsin, she didn’t expect for her life to be hanging in the balance only hours later.
According to Jade, on the day in question, the temperature reached 89.6F, and with the high humidity, it made it feel “unbearable.”
Soon after, she started experiencing frequent bouts of nausea, dizziness, dry mouth and exhaustion, which caused her to collapse on the living room sofa.
As Jade was rushed to the hospital, medics pronounced her dead for three minutes and said the culprit was heatstroke.
Now, in a bid to raise awareness, she’s shared her story on TikTok, where she’s received more than 191,000 views and over 20,000 likes, and where she said the experience has made her “unafraid” of death.
“I had experienced an extreme fear of dying prior to this incident, but when it actually happened, I had zero fear,” the content creator, from Wisconsin, told NeedToKnow.co.uk. “I remember feeling consistently yucky and really gross. I was rundown, lethargic and sick to my stomach, with my mouth bone dry.
“I went out to smoke and the moment that I finished and stood up, I knew I was in trouble. My priority immediately became getting back inside and I don’t think I understood at this point that I was dying, but I did understand that I was going down.”
Jade recalls stumbling into the apartment and slumping onto the couch, before making a gurgling sound.
She said: “Everything must have happened in a matter of moments, but it felt like much longer and this profound feeling of utter sickness hit me like a tonne of bricks. My head felt like it was inflating, yet my entire body as if it was shrinking. I had never known anything like it before.
“It made me completely okay with dying because I wanted to sleep forever. Then, everything went black and that was the moment I knew I was about to pass away.”
Jade was rushed to St Vincent’s hospital via ambulance, where she was revived via a defibrillator.
As she arrived, she fell in and out of consciousness, but imaging tests of her head were carried out, along with blood tests and electrocardiograms, a test to check the heart’s rhythm.
Over the next four days, she received injections to prevent blood clots and soon, medics told her she had been pronounced “dead” for three minutes on arrival with heatstroke.
In the clip, she reflects on the experience and the “weird” occurrences which have happened to her since.
Users flocked to the comments to share their reactions, with many detailing their own similar experiences.
“I fainted TWICE that summer,” one person said, while another said: “I was pregnant that summer. The heat was HORRIBLE!!!”
“Your story was very interesting. Glad you’re safe,” another person added.
“Was it scary? What did you see? I really panic about the thought of death,” someone else asked.
Jade was born with Wolff Parkinsons’ White and postural tachycardia syndrome, which both cause abnormalities with increased heart rate.
Often, she feels like she’s going to “throw up” her heart and sometimes experiences extreme shakiness as well as fainting spells.
Due to this, she finds intense heat triggers these episodes and while her near death experience in July 2011 hasn’t made these worse, she believes they were a contributing factor.
“My symptoms are still mild, but I have been getting new ones, such as a low grade fever and muscle weakness,” she said “I’m not sure if these are related to the heatstroke.
“I’m still waiting for a final diagnosis, as this has only occurred after my incident, but I will always fight for myself and my life.”
Since then, Jade has also suffered with frequent seizures, which she had never had prior to the incident.
She said: “At first, I thought it was heatstroke again, but I just passed out and doctors believe it’s because I’m still so exhausted from all the anxiety of almost dying. But, I have been admitted a few times for these and I’ve had tests such as MRIs and more blood work done, as well as seeing a neurologist and I’ve been diagnosed with epilepsy.
“Now, I don’t have them so much, but I’ve been in touch with other near death experience survivors who said they had seizures for a while after, but then they suddenly stopped.”
Jade has also experienced other “strange anomalies” such as not being able to wear regular watches, as they would stop working once she put them on.
She said: “It wasn’t something that happened before and the only watches that are safe are expensive smart watches. I’ve given up on them entirely, but vape pens also shut down even with a full battery.
“I’ve also had a lot of spooky things happening, such as hearing voices and seeing things that aren’t there. Sometimes it’s been whispers or dark hazy figures and I began recording my home because I was petrified that I was losing it. I believe this is telling me that life continues after death.”
She continued: “I feel like I’m in a special club and it’s made me learn how to take better care of myself, as well as valuing life more. I don’t live in fear of death and I know that when my time comes, any fear will melt away like it did before.
“The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that it is absolutely true what they say - the fear itself is always worse than the thing we actually fear.”
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