In January 1983, I and a few friends went out for the evening to a German disco bar.

We were members of the British Army and went to this particular bar because the staff treated us very well and we had many German friends there.

Around midnight I was feeling hungry and went outside to buy a bratvurst and fries from a mobile stand. I was driving that night and so was not drinking. As I made my way back towards the bar doors I was attacked by two men who I did not know. They beat me to the ground and then started stamping on my body and kicking my head. I did not know what was happening and was in complete shock.

The men walked off and I stumbled inside. Just inside the doors two of my friends caught me and asked in horror what had happened. On hearing what happened they ran outside and I followed trying to stop them. Just outside the doors stood a group of 8 men. They attacked us with knives. My friend was killed and I was stabbed in the chest. I lost a lot of blood very quickly and could not breathe and fell to the floor. When on the floor once again my body was being kicked and stamped on.

I felt none of this. I was going down a tunnel with the most incredibly beautiful light pulling me up towards it. I reached out. I wanted to reach the light so badly. It was so so peaceful, it was joyous, and my heart was singing. I had the sense of unconditional love. I was just about to reach the light when there was the sensation of falling backwards.

Back to my body which I could see was being ’kissed’. I did not want to come back. I wanted to go home to the light. I was annoyed to come back. I was told after a spell in ICU at a local hospital that an off duty nurse (who was also a dear friend) had resuscitated me, as I had stopped breathing at the scene of the attack.

This event truly changed my life. I tried to talk to the Army Chaplain about it but was just told it was my imagination and that I had to stop being foolish and to buck my ideas up. This event changed my relationship with my wife and my father. My mother was the only one who believed me, and she told me that at exactly the same time that I was stabbed she had experienced an excruciating pain in her chest that was witnessed by her companion. This was amazing because she was in England over 1000 miles away.