On August 30th 2017 at 2 a.m. I coded under a tree in my front yard.

I was having a severe hypoglycemic episode and had become extremely aggressive with my wife who called the paramedics to our home. When they arrived, I became even more aggressive and the police were called to assist.

When the police arrived, the fighting increased dramatically. They used an Ativan nasal spray to try and calm me down. I continued fighting and we came out the front door where they used the nasal spray again to no effect. I was hit in the head with a baton and fell off our porch collapsing in the yard. They then held me down and cuffed me using the spray again.

I then had what's called an Instant Cardiac Arrest, were my heart stopped beating and I stopped breathing. When they realized what had happened, they started CPR and used the shock pads 3 separate times. The ambulatory record showed that it took 8 minutes before my heart began beating, but it couldn't beat on its own. Eighteen minutes later my heart was beating on its own again. This is the story of what happened when I was clinically dead.

The last thing I remembered that night was going to sleep before the low blood sugar event occurred. The next thing I knew I was standing at my foyer doorway looking towards my front door. I then noticed that the walls in my foyer appeared to be made of wooden gold. I'm a carpenter by trade and as I looked at the wall I thought, "When in the hell did we do this?" As I looked at the wall, the golden wood spoke to me. Literally it spoke inside of me saying, “Look at me! I am the greatest wood that has ever been made.” I did not realize what was happening. I may have been walking towards the front door but I honestly believe that I was floating across the floor.

I looked at the door and the light shining through the window was unbelievably bright and the door opened up by itself. As I came out onto the porch, I saw the sky and the blue was incredible and I could taste it in my mouth. The light shining down, which I thought was the sun, was unlike any light I ever have seen. I then looked at the tree which was about 20 feet away and I felt it smiling at me and it was moving its branches slowly. It appeared to be dancing, I thought. On the branches were the most amazing red and golden leaves twisting slowly. I could hear (inside my spirit) the leaves laughing and playing like kids on a playground.

I then looked to my left at the end of my porch and saw my father, mom and brother looking up towards the light (everyone I saw is still alive). I then looked down and saw my 15-year-old stepson and 12-year-old step-daughter sitting on the porch step. They were also looking upwards toward the light. Then I looked down and saw my wife on her knees crying into my waist with her arms wrapped around me. Then I looked in front of me and saw my 8-year-old stepson standing arm’s length away to my right and my 6-year-old son to my left. They were looking at me.

Then a voice spoke and said, "Hey there, JohnBoy." When I looked up in the direction of the tree, I saw a man floating 15 feet up, encircled by a cloud. The amazing sunlight that I had been seeing was actually the light coming from him. The light felt indescribable. I saw that it was shining completely through the tree yet the tree still looked solid like normal.

Words can't express how it made me feel. As soon as I saw him, I realized that I was dead and I fell to my knees face down to the porch floor. At that point my life started flashing through my mind. It sounded like flipping pages through a book. When it finished (seemed like a second), I looked up crying. Weeping actually and said, "Everything that I've done and everything that I didn't do." The man who I know was Jesus spoke and said, "What are you talking about? That doesn't exist here." When he said that the tears on my face disappeared like they had never been there to begin with. I felt His mercy take away my burdens and the guilt and shame of all I had done in my life. I stood back up and He said, "You're free to come if you want to."

My 8-year-old stepson Chris then spoke to me and said, "You're supposed to show us how to build a tree house." Then Jesus said, "and leave your responsibilities behind." My 6-year-old son Riley then said, "Daddy, you promised," and held out his hand. At that point I forgot about all else happening. I just thought of my responsibilities and grabbed his hand.

The next thing I remember was coming off of life support 10 days later unable to talk, walk or move my limbs. The doctor told my family that it may be permanent due to the amount of time I went without oxygen. Two days later I was talking and learning to walk again using a walker. Three days later I was home after being discharged from ICU. I now have slight damage to my ability to recall experience and memory, but overall I am doing well.

I have shared this with others but have found that few believe what happened and many of them think I'm crazy. I have stopped sharing it unless there's an overwhelming push inside my spirit to share it with a specific person. There are several pieces that have been left out due to my inability to put into words or describe it without making this story much, much longer. It is getting harder to see it in my mind, the older I get. I haven't forgotten what happened or how it happened but am finding it hard to picture the scenes in my mind.