Man who 'died 17 times in 13 minutes' reveals exactly what it's like in heaven
Topics: Health
Ben Williams
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Image
Topics: Health
Most people might say they’ve had a near-death experience after a close call or a health scare, but for one man, that phrase barely scratches the surface.
What happened to John Williams, a 39-year-old from the UK, (not to be confused with the famous composer behind the Star Wars soundtrack) was something even doctors could hardly believe.
Back in November 2004, John headed to the seaside town of Whitby with his partner to celebrate her 40th birthday.
John told Metro that the evening started off like any other, with a cozy pub meal, good company, and a chilly winter breeze outside.
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Halfway through dinner, though, he suddenly felt hot, sweaty, and lightheaded. Moments later, John collapsed, and before he knew it, blue lights were flashing and he was being rushed to hospital with a major heart attack.
Hours later, he woke up surrounded by machines and medics, his body still fighting to recover.
The consultant leaned over and told him bluntly: “You’ve been lucky.”
Drawing an imaginary line on his hand, the doctor explained: “With heart attacks, you either live or you die. There’s no in between.”
It turns out that he had experienced a myocardial infarction - a serious medical emergency where blood flow to the heart is blocked.
However, John’s story didn’t end there.
Almost a year later, he found himself preparing for a triple heart bypass at a private hospital in Leeds.
Despite knowing the surgery would involve temporarily stopping his heart, John felt strangely calm.
He told Metro: “You’d have thought I would have been anxious, considering doctors were about to slice me open, break my ribs, and stop my heart, but this calmness just washed over me like something I’d never felt before.”
That’s when John’s situation became peculiar. As he waited for the operation, he began to sense the presence of his late father and grandfather.
“I knew they weren’t physically there, but I could sense them with me. It was almost as if they had come to wish me luck,” the 39-year-old said.
Later, during the procedure, John says he saw them again, this time in what he described as 'heaven'.
“We were in the same room together, and I remember saying to them, ‘I’ll see you soon, I can’t wait to see you both, it’s been such a long time’,” he said.
The Brit recollected that his grandfather’s response was warm, saying: “You’ve grown up since I last saw you. We’ll see you very soon.”
By comparison, he said his father's message was firm: “You’ve got two young daughters at home... Not just yet.”
When John came round, he thought he’d merely woken up soon after surgery as planned, but he was actually emerging from an induced coma days later.
What he didn’t yet know was that during the operation, his heart had gone into arrhythmia: a condition where disrupted electrical signals from the heart cause it to generate an abnormal rhythm - either going too fast, too slow, or both at an unsteady pace, forcing doctors to defibrillate him repeatedly.
Altogether, John’s heart stopped 17 times in just 13 minutes.
Looking down, he saw two rectangular burn marks on his chest, proof of what had happened.
“I still can’t fully explain what happened or when it happened,” John said, before adding: “All I know is that it felt so real, but at the same time, otherworldly. I have never felt such calmness since.”