A MAN who returned from the dead has revealed what is waiting for us on the “other side” after his life support plug was pulled.
Before Gene Long died, he questioned whether God was real, but his “extremely rare” luck has ignited his belief.
Gene’s family had prepped funeral plans for him, but he came back to lifeCredit: Jam Press/AJ Parr
His long battle with drugs left him a two-month comaCredit: Jam Press/AJ Parr
The 33-year-old had been battling a severe diagnosis of, coupled with addiction and being.
His lifestyle quickly saw him plummet into a two-month-long coma, where medics only gave him a one percent chance of survival.
With no hope in sight, his parents pulled the plug on his life support, offering up his , and began making plans for their son’s funeral.
But, just over an hour later, he suddenly woke up – and had no signs of being ill at all.
“There were 30 people in my room ready to say goodbye to me,” the construction worker from said.
He added: “All my best friends, my mum, my dad and all my close family were there.
“As I couldn’t talk when I first woke up, I just sat there and smiled. They were in total shock.
“My parents had literally just signed the papers to let me go.”
Gene’s ordeal began in 2020 when he had become heavily addicted to meth and fentanyl – and he was sadly left homeless.
Gen was stuck in a vicious cycle with drugs and neglecting his healthCredit: Jam Press/AJ Parr
His parents tried to help, but it was no use; Gene was “stuck” in the vicious cycle.
After being in the situation for over a year, he felt like his life had already ended.
He said: “Life was really tough. I wanted to die.
“I was questioning God and if he was good.
“All I did was cry to my mum about it.”
Gene kept neglecting to take care of his body and it eventually took a toll; his blood sugar spiked to 1,900 without him knowing.
It should sit around 100 – anything over 900 usually results in death.
The last thing Gene remembers is walking past a set of steps before he had a seizure.
He fell, hit the back of his head on the last step, and suffered a bleed on the brain. Suddenly, everything went black, he says.
Gene said: “I opened my eyes and found myself walking on a sea of energy.
“The first thing I thought was that I was finally home. It was like I had just woken up from a nap.
“The ocean had every colour imaginable going through it, like they were alive, with lights pelting across.
“And it wasn’t made of water; it was just energy.”
Gene didn’t believe in God before his coma, but now his faith has been ignitedCredit: Jam Press/AJ Parr
He added: “I didn’t remember ever being on Earth; I thought I had always been in this place.”
He recalls mist and vines swirling around him, before his whole being encompassed the space.
He said: “I was in a balloon waiting on the ocean. Then it broke and I became one with it. I felt like God.”
Gene then spotted a figure who resembled his late grandfather, but it wasn’t him at all.
He said: “The man felt so familiar that I wanted to run to him.
“As soon as I thought that, I blinked and we were standing face-to-face.
“He didn’t walk or swim; he was just there, but it wasn’t my grandpa at all. It was the Holy Spirit.”
The being had no face – it was all light – and he radiated a force of love.
Gene said: “When I saw him, I was struck by the most powerful love I have ever felt in my entire life.
“It was beyond human language. There are no words to describe it.
“It felt as though I was the only thing he had ever created.”
Despite the pair never speaking, Gene knew the answer – to everything.
Suddenly, they kneeled and started vibrating, which emerged a crystal footstool.
His life on Earth fell away beneath him; all of the bad things that had happened were gone for good, and only the positives remained.
He blinked and was “zapped” back into reality on the aforementioned hospital bed.
Gene said: “The doctors had already said that if I were to wake up, I wouldn’t ever be able to walk or talk again.
“When my kidneys and liver started to fail, along with my brain, there was no chance.
“I was full of infection and death.”
With no hope in sight, his parents pulled the plug on his life support, offering up his organs for donationCredit: Jam Press/AJ Parr
When he woke up, doctors were baffled and quickly worked to get together a plan for his care since he wasn’t meant to be alive.
While it was a long road to recovery, Gene hopes to share his story to inspire those who feel they have hit “rock bottom” that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
For him, this light has been the sudden end to his once tight addiction.
He added: “Since my return, I have never felt the need to use drugs.
“I knew God had given me a second chance and I wasn’t going to ruin it.
“Because I was in a coma for so long, I didn’t have to go through the typical withdrawal symptoms either.
“I was so frail afterwards that I couldn’t even hold a cup.
“I’m missing a piece of my ear from a bedsore – which I call my ‘ticket to Heaven’.
“My vocal chords were damaged after the life support tube was ripped out of my throat.
“But as soon as I could talk, I started with telling my story.”
His organs miraculously recovered without dialysis and my diabetes – which used to require insulin five times a day – went into remission.
“It’s extremely rare for this to happen,” Gene explained.
Gene is now doing better than ever and on a mission to help others by sharing his storyCredit: Jam Press/AJ Parr
The brave man says he even tells strangers his story as he believes that one person hearing it could change how they face death.
He has rebuilt his connection with his , and his life once filled with drugs is now filled with love.
Gene said: “It’s reshaped how I see life – and what comes after we’re gone.
“Death isn’t the end.
“And what feels like home is closer than people think.”
More on Near Death Experiences
An astounding five to 10 percent of the general population is estimated to have memories of an NDE, including somewhere between 10 and 23 percent of cardiac arrest survivors, Scientific American reports.
Charlotte Martial, a neuroscientist at the University of Liège in Belgium said: “Now, clearly, we don’t question anymore the reality of Near Death Experiences. People who report an experience really did experience something.”
Neuroscientist Christof Koch of the Allen Institute in Seattle explained those who undergo an NDE also return with “this noetic quality from the experience, which very often changes their life” and “they know what they’ve seen”.
According to the University of Virginia , the most common NDE include features such as:
- Sensation of leaving the body
- Mind functioning more clearly and rapidly than usual
- Sensation of being drawn into a tunnel or darkness
- Bright light, sometimes at the end of the tunnel
- Sense of peace, well-being, and/or unconditional love
- Sense of having access to unlimited knowledge
- “Life review” or recall of important events in the past
- Preview of future events yet to come
- Encounters with deceased loved ones, or other beings generally identified as religious figures
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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