By Laura BennettTuesday 14 May 2024Hope AfternoonsMoviesReading Time: 3 minutes
How often do you think about death?
Key points
- After a kayaking accident, Dr. Mary experienced death and was remarkably resuscitated unharmed.
- Dr. Mary’s “whole passion” is to provoke people to think about it now, before they’re “facing [their] own mortality”.
- Listen to Dr. Mary Neal’s full interview in the player above.
Are you mindful of eternity and the afterlife, or is it something you’d rather not consider?
Even though we all know we’re going to die – and have no doubt farewelled others who’ve passed – the reality of death and what’s on the other side is something we’d rather ignore or deny.
From the production studio behind The Chosen, documentary After Death explores the afterlife hearing from survivors of near-dear experiences, medical experts and scientists all curious to understand the phenomena.
Orthopaedic spine surgeon Dr. Mary Neal was an avid kayaker when in 1999, a drop down a waterfall saw her pinned beneath the rapids with her craft wedged in the rocks. Without oxygen for 24 minutes, Dr. Mary experienced death and was remarkably resuscitated unharmed.
“Even in that situation I, and every person, has the choice to turn toward God or away,” Dr. Mary told Hope 103.2.
“I turned toward, and asked that God’s will be done.
“I was immediately overcome with a very physical sensation of being held and comforted, and reassured that everything was fine whether I lived or died.”
“We are so deeply and purely loved by the God of the universe,” Dr. Mary said.
Despite growing up in church and raising her kids the same way, Dr. Mary’s faith was more of a tradition than a personal spiritual practice, but that changed when she saw Jesus anew.
“We are so deeply and purely loved by the God of the universe,” Dr. Mary said.
“If we could only open our hearts and accept that, the world would be a radically different place.”
Having experienced death, Dr. Mary’s “whole passion” is to provoke people to think about it now, before they’re “facing [their] own mortality”.
“Most of us when we’re young, don’t think about death because it seems very abstract,” Dr. Mary said.
“[But] I think it’s really, really important because how you perceive death, and what you think happens after death, directly and radically impacts how you live life.”
Dr. Mary’s “whole passion” is to provoke people to think about it now, before they’re “facing [their] own mortality”.
Since her accident, Dr. Mary has viewed her life as an adventure that precedes the one to come, keeping an ever-present awareness of God’s presence in the day-to-day.
“A little part of my brain is continually asking, ‘Am I doing in this moment what you, God, would have me be doing?’
“And I find that if I’m continually trying to stay on the best path, life is good.”
‘After Death’ is in select cinemas May 15.
Listen to Dr. Mary Neal’s full interview in the player above.
Looking for more
Former Buddhist turned Pastor Steve Kang Shares How He Found Faith After a Drug-Induced Near-Death Experience:
Feature image: Photo by CanvaPro