Dr. Mary Neal is an accomplished spinal surgeon whose Near-Death Experience (NDE) has inspired millions. That story, told in Angel Studios’ new film “After Death” (premiering Oct. 27 in theaters) unfolded on a South American river when she became submerged while kayaking and says she visited heaven. “My husband and I are avid kayakers,” Neal told CBN Digital. “We’ve kayaked for decades all around the country [and] internationally.” But when they joined friends in Chile for a special trip for her husband’s birthday, their jovial time was shattered.
Neal ended up going over a waterfall and experienced something she could “never have dreamed up.” “The boat and I were immediately submerged under eight to 10 feet of water,” she said. “I didn’t panic. I set about trying to free me or free the boat … but the weight of the water and the force of the current was too great for me to do anything.” As she pondered her options, she came to the conclusion she would very likely die. Finding herself forced to face eternity, Neal said she asked God for His will to be done.
“The moment I asked that, I was immediately overcome with this very physical sensation of being held and comforted and reassured that everything would be fine,” she said. And this is where Neal’s story takes a wild turn: she said she found herself in heaven.
“I never felt alive and then dead, conscious and then unconscious,” Neal said. “I felt conscious and then more conscious, alive and then more alive.” She added, “I was being held by Christ.”
Watch Neal discuss what she saw in heaven, her incredible journey back, and her mission to share it with others.