'I saw a bright light and a beautiful garden... and my baby who'd died'
A new book by Colm Keane examines the experiences of Irish men and women who have had brushes with the afterlife
In Colm Keane's new book, The Distant Shore, he speaks to 70 Irish men and women about their near-death journeys, visions and premonitions.
In October 2009 I received hundreds of phone calls, emails and letters from people who had encounters at the edge of death. Many came from Irish Independent readers who were responding to an article I had written about near-death experiences. The article was based on a No 1 bestselling book I had at the time called Going Home.
At least 50 of those who contacted me had briefly died following heart attacks, car crashes or other accidents. They spoke of tunnel travel, bright lights, meetings with deceased family and friends, life reviews and encounters with a "superior being".
More described visions where deceased relatives returned to reassure those left behind that they were at peace, to offer help in times of need or to warn of pending tragedies, primarily deaths.
Others had premonitions that something bad -- such as an accident, disaster or a death -- was about to occur.
The stories they told me provide rare insights to the last and greatest frontier where our 'consciousness', 'mind', 'soul' or 'spirit' is said to survive after we physically die.
It is the afterlife, the otherworld, the ultimate destination we travel to on death -- so often referred to by the phrase I used as the title of my new book, The Distant Shore.
The Distant Shore -- More Irish Stories from the Edge of Death, by Colm Keane, is published by Capel Island Press and retails for €14.99.
Irish Independent
