Two things we are fascinated by are and will probably always remain: death and the afterlife. Many who have had the unusual experience of dying and coming back to life have explained what they experienced. There has even been a study of 5000 cardiac arrest patients which shows some amazing similarities between accounts, even from children who are too young to be following the script we see in movies.
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However, very few people fall off a cliff and live to tell their tale. Yet, this is what happened to Jim ‘Bubba’ Bay. He tells his story to The Other Side NDE podcast, and it is truly astonishing. Here’s how he died, and who he saw on the other side.
How Jim ‘Bubba’ Bay died
Jim had lived a difficult life before his near death experience. He and his ex-wife had lost two children, one who was born prematurely and died after 10 days, and another who was a twin. This son had kidney disease and died at the age of 18. Jim explains that he and his wife, who discovered the older child’s body, still loved each other but have faced too many challenges with the grief and medical bills that they decided to separate.
Jim moved out, so that the couple’s remaining kids could stay in their bedrooms in the house they lived in with their mum. Having always struggled with his weight, Jim took up metal detecting and walking, and often went off for long strolls around where he lived. One day, on 15 November 2019, his parents came to visit him. After eating, he didn’t feel great, so he set out for a walk.
As there were no streetlights, Jim would always walk towards traffic. On this occasion, he saw car lights and stepped aside to let the cars past:
And that’s when my life turned upside down.
Jim took a step back, and was suddenly in free-fall. He plummeted down the cliff and landed on his head.
How Jim reacted to his fall
Jim explains that he was in ‘through-the-roof kind of pain’. He reached to feel the damage to his head, and knew he was in massive trouble when his fingers touched his skull. He only had a flip phone, which had no signal or light. After calling out for help, all Jim could think about was his ex-wife and three living children having to deal with his loss after already going through so much tragedy.
Jim crawled his way to a log, which he clung on to as tears and blood gushed down his face and wound. He started thinking about his two deceased children, and whether they were in heaven.
Jim saw God and two unexpected guests
Jim suddenly saw a light in front of him:
It was the most gorgeous, gorgeous scene. The whole valley was lit up.
A figure was coming towards Jim, getting clearer and clearer as it drew nearer. Jim describes it as a ‘grandfather’ figure. He believes this was how God appeared to him, and explains that at the time his spirituality was pretty tokenistic. Yet, next to this figure, Jim saw his two deceased kids. Heartbreakingly, he describes seeing them without speaking:
I never said anything to them. They never said anything to me.
However, Jim says they were there to help him believe in heaven: if he saw them, that’s where they must have been. Jim explains that he tells his story as it happened; he says he is ‘no expert’ but he knows what he saw.
Jim thought he was going to die, and started communicating with God. He explains that you don’t have to talk in heaven; the thoughts flow back and forth seamlessly.
How Jim was saved
Jim says his hope and energy was gone when he arrived at the log, but speaking to God filled him back up. God told him he had things to do on Earth, to keep his ears open and get back to the world of the living.
That’s all I needed.
Jim thought he ‘didn’t belong to this near-death stuff’ as a simple man, but this experience turned his whole life upside down. He explains that just as suddenly, the light went out, as if someone had blown out a candle. God hadn’t told him what he was supposed to do next, but Jim knew he needed to fight to survive.
He turned his head, and saw a house with one window lit up. Miraculously, he made his way to the house, trailing blood. When you hear the injuries he had suffered, this becomes a truly amazing feat: he had 26 fractures, bleeding in the brain, a broken back, and 11 broken ribs. He explains that he got through by thinking of his kids, telling himself that he had to ‘put in a little effort’ if he ever wanted to see them again.
He made it to the house, which ended up being his neighbour’s. Feeling exhausted and ‘woozy’, he somehow managed to ring the doorbell. His neighbour later described opening the door to him by comparing his appearance to Freddy Krueger. She called the emergency services, and when she came back Jim had passed out on her lawn. Amazingly, after blood transfusions and an induced coma, Jim was saved. However, when his cousin came to see him he couldn’t even recognise him - that’s how much damage the fall had done.
He later discovered that his neighbour had just got home from a 4-hour drive, so the difference of a small stop would have meant she wouldn’t have been at home. Jim would have died.
Jim sees this alignment of timings as God’s work. He has since written a book about his experience called Miracle On Hammertown Road. He happily talks to people who want to hear about his experience, and explains how things have changed.
He is now in chronic pain, but his confidence has shifted dramatically. He was shy before the accident, and now he will chat to anyone:
I got the gift of sociability. That was the trade-off.
Read more:
⋙ This woman died and discovered how the antichrist corrupts people on Earth
⋙ 'I was tied to a world on fire': This man suffered a nightmare coma
⋙ This woman died and ended up ‘miraculously healed’ from breast cancer, here's what happened
Sources used:
The Other Side NDE: Man Falls From Cliff; Sees His Passed Away Children And Meets God (NDE)
Insider: I've studied more than 5,000 near death experiences. My research has convinced me without a doubt that there's life after death.
