Death is a mysterious thing. Though it is something that will happen to all of us, it is usually the last thing that happens to us - so we don’t get the chance to tell others about the experience. There are stories from people who have died from drug overdoses and studies have been carried out on others who have experienced a cardiac arrest and lived to tell tales of the afterlife. However, this woman’s story is different.
Discover our latest podcast
Sara Goode, 44, explains how she dealt with severe drug addiction, health issues and then a near-death experience. The three, strangely, are not necessarily connected in the way you might imagine. Here’s her story.
Sara’s drug addiction
Sara had, as she describes it, ‘quite a difficult upbringing’. She met her partner at the time when she was 15, and moved out at the same age:
But the relationship was very toxic from the beginning.
She started working in finance in London and ended up using cocaine as a coping mechanism. She explains that in that world, the drug ‘wasn’t taboo’ and it helped her escape from her problems.
Sara now has a daughter called Olivia, 14, and lives with her partner Matthew, 44, in Wales. She says:
I was so unbalanced that I quickly went to crack cocaine - which is much more addictive and much stronger. It was a very dark time for me.
Sara reckons that, at age 23, she spent £35,000 on crack cocaine over the course of a year.
Sara’s health issues
Sara also suffers from Crohn’s disease, which the NHS describes as ‘a lifelong condition where parts of the digestive system become inflamed’. This made it possible for her to take time off work without anyone suspecting that she was doing so to take drugs.
Explains that she knew herself that she was out of control:
I just came to realise that none of the problems that I was facing were being made any better by taking drugs.
But it took her then partner and father staging an intervention to get her out of it. She moved to Wales and bought a farm, turning it into a livery.
This is the point in the story where she is turning things around for herself. Yet, fate had other ideas: Sara ended up fracturing her spine - teamed with her Crohn’s, this became a massive problem.
Sara’s near-death experience
Sara ended up on medication that impacted her immune system and in 2015 she was in intensive care, fighting with pneumonia and sepsis. She explains:
I was on full life support for close to a month. The full time I was on life support I was hovering between life and death.
Sara explains that at one point, she crossed over. Her mum, who had died several years earlier, appeared before her. The pair were sitting on sun loungers by a pool, and Sara says she could feel the sun on her face. She didn’t want to leave this ‘complete bliss’. Then her mum turned to her:
But you still have things to do.
Sara explains that an image of her daughter popped into her head:
the next thing I knew it felt like someone had tipped me into the water - and I woke up
She reflects on the experience, explaining:
It was a situation where to each question and challenge you know exactly the answer - with no anxiety or worries. There’s nothing to think about or worry about.
It’s the weirdest feeling. But there’s no attachment - just blissfulness. And that’s all there is, forever and ever.
However, Sara learnt from her near-death experience, and now helps other women connect with their emotions and spirituality as a women’s mentor. She says that the ‘love and connection’ that you experience on Earth is something that you lose in the other realm, and something she wants to make the most of while she is here. As she says on her website saragoode.com, ‘you always have a choice’, and it is down to you to make the right one.
Read more:
⋙ What happens when God cries? This radio host died for 8 minutes, met God, and found out
⋙ This woman died and ended up ‘miraculously healed’ from breast cancer, here's what happened
⋙ This woman died and discovered how the antichrist corrupts people on Earth
Sources used:
Express: 'I died and came back to life - this is what it's like on the other side'