‘I died for seven minutes before being brought back to life. Here’s what I saw’

A British stage actor who died before being miraculously revived 10 years ago is speaking out about his brief visit to the afterlife.

A British stage actor who died before being miraculously revived 10 years ago is speaking out about his brief visit to the afterlife.

Shiv Grewal went into cardiac arrest on February 9, 2013, after having lunch with wife Alison near their home in southeast London, The Sun reports.

Alison quickly dialled an ambulance for help, but it was too late – the now-60-year-old’s heart had already ground to a halt.

“I knew, somehow, that I was dead,” Mr Grewal told PA Real Life of the seven-minute experience.

“I felt things completely separate from my body. It was like I was in a void but could feel emotions and sensations.

“I had no body as such. I suppose it was a bit like swimming through water, you feel weightless and disconnected from the physical world. At one point, I was travelling over the moon, and I could see meteorites and all of space.”

Shiv Grewal with his artwork. Picture: Collect/PA Real Life

Doctors decided to put him in an induced coma for a month because of cerebral hypoxia. Picture: Collect/PA Real Life

Mr Grewal added that he felt like “there was a whole set of possibilities, various lives and reincarnations that were being offered to me”.

“I didn’t want them,” he declared. “I made it very clear that I wanted to return to my body, to my time, to my wife and to go on living.”

An ambulance later arrived on the scene and paramedics were able to restart Mr Grewal’s heart.

‘I didn’t want them. I made it very clear that I wanted to return to my body, to my time, to my wife and to go on living.’ Picture: Collect/PA Real Life

He was subsequently rushed into surgery for an operation to put a stent into his main artery, which was fully clogged.

Doctors decided to put him in an induced coma for a month because of cerebral hypoxia – oxygen starvation in the brain – which has left him with epilepsy.

Shiv and Alison in hospital. Picture: Collect/PA Real Life

Grewal has found art a therapeutic way to explore the experience. Picture: Collect/PA Real Life

While Mr Grewal hasn’t fully recovered from the traumatic event, he said that by encountering death, his perception of life has been transformed.

He has found art a therapeutic way to explore the experience, and is now holding an exhibition of works documenting his unique experience.

“I remembered everything that happened when my heart stopped and have tried to translate it into art,” he explained of his exhibition, titled Reboot.

Describing himself as “scientifically minded” and a “natural cynic”, Mr Grewal said his experience cemented his beliefs in an afterlife.

“I’m less fearful of death because of it, but at the same time, I’m also more fearful, because I’ve realised how precious everything I have in life is,” he said.

“I’m grateful just to be here. My drive for life has been boosted. I’ve always thought that kindness is essential for humans to evolve and become better, but after this experience, I now feel this very deep inside me – like a fundamental truth.”

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission