"My spirit told my body goodbye, for my spirit saw the light and wanted to go into it" Jazmyne's near death experience

iands.org

An example of the out-of-body component of the near-death experience is the case of Jazmyne Cidavia-DeRepentigny of Hull Georgia.  She died on the operating table during surgery in late 1979 (pages 10-11, paperback version, “BEYOND THE LIGHT”):
“I must say that this experience was quite unsettling to say the least.  I was floating over my body.  I could see and hear everything that was being said and done.  I left the room for a short while and then returned to where my body lay.  I knew why I died.  It was because I couldn’t breathe.  There was a tube down my throat and the medical staff did not have an oxygen mask on my nose.  I had also been given too much anesthetic.

“In my out-of-body state, I’m using my mind to try and make my right arm and hand move – my arms are extended parallel to my physical body.  I want my right hand to move, any thing to move.  I was trying to pull the tube out of my mouth.  I looked down at my face and tears were streaming.  One of the nurses blotted the tears from my face but she didn’t notice my breathing had stopped, nor did she see me next to her.  At this point, I’m trying really hard to make my physical arm move, but it’s like my whole body is made of lead.”

Cidavia-DeRepentigny’s determination in her out-of-body state to make an arm move finally paid off; and, with great clamor and commotion, the tube was pulled out, an oxygen mask attached, and her breathing restored.  She had a similar near-death episode when she was hospitalized at thirteen, and again in 1991 when she faced death a third time.  The more recent occurrence resulted from a nearly fatal bout with pneumonia, only this time she witnessed her own soul as a spirit residing outside of her body:

“I could see my spirit standing before me.  My spirit was so beautifully perfect, dressed in a white gown that was loose, free-flowing, and below the knee.  From my spirit there emanated a bright, soft-white halo.  My spirit was standing six to eight feet from my body.  It was so strange, for I could see my spirit and my spirit could see my pathetic body.  I had not an ounce of color and I looked all withered and cold and lifeless.  My spirit felt warm and so, so celestial.  As my spirit slowly moved away, my spirit told my body goodbye, for my spirit saw the light and wanted to go into it.

The light was like a circular opening that was warm and bright.”
Cidavia-DeRepentigny spoke of feeling torn between two worlds – wanting to remain on earth while at the same time feeling a strong pull to unite with her spirit self and pass into the light.  After another round of hospitalization, she was left confused and disoriented, ready to change her life yet hesitant to begin.  She lamented about the lack of people she could discuss her situation with, although her church bishop did express some degree of understanding.  Her lament is commonly shared by most experiencers.