Charles Hancock is an Australian who claims to have died and visited “the other side.”

He relays the following story:  “I was riding my cycle alone on a winding road.  It was twilight and I hadn’t had much sleep the night before.

“Without realizing it, I started to doze and although I lost consciousness for only a second or two, it was enough to cause me to leave the road and crash head over heel into a nearby ditch.

“What seemed to be total blackness started to turn into a small distant light.  And my body seemed to be numb.  I felt nothing, nothing at all.  I was surprisingly calm even though I felt something bad had occurred.

“Then I felt my body being lifted – except when I looked down, my body was still on the ground.

“I moved slowly and peacefully toward the glow of the light.  And the closer I came, the lighter I felt.  It was as if I were a feather in a light wind.  Something good was happening, something very, very good.

“Then I was inside the light and I could see spirits moving by.  And I thought I saw my mother and my brother.  It confused me because my mother had passed away several years before, and my brother was still alive.

“It was silent and it was different.  So different I still cannot explain my emotions.  As I moved further inside the light, the glow seemed to surround me, then engulf me.  It was as if I were a speck of energy, floating in a quiet, marvelous universe.

“Then I seemed to be thrust backwards and suddenly I was hovering over my body again.  And I saw a man reaching down and thumping on my chest.  I wondered why he was doing that and wished he would stop.

“Then I opened my eyes and was looking up from the man who suddenly broke into a wide grin.  Right before I passed out, I heard him say, ‘Welcome back.’”