None of us can be sure what happens after we pass away, though many of us hope to be reunited with our loved ones in an afterlife of some sorts.
And while no one can know for certain what awaits us in the great beyond, some people have had a tantalising glimpse of the afterlife.
In fact, one woman documented her experience of heaven in incredible detail after lying dead for 27 minutes.
After she slipped into the Great Beyond, Tina Hines revealed what she saw on the other side.
It happened when the Phoenix resident had a heart attack in early 2018, going into cardiac arrest as she and her husband, Brian, got ready to go on a hike.
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On that fateful February day, she suddenly collapsed with her spouse desperately performing CPR as he waited for paramedics to arrive.
In fact, her husband was able to resuscitate her twice before they were rushed off in an ambulance.
Accordioning to AZfamily.com, on the way to the hospital she was revived a further six times by medics, effectively dying for 27 minutes in total.
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In the end, though, Tina miraculously pulled through and she had a vital message to share with her loved ones as soon as she awoke.
In scrawling handwriting, she frantically wrote 'it's real'. When she was asked what she was referring to, she nodded upwards.
"It was so real, the colours were so vibrant," Tina told AZfamily.com.
She remembers vividly seeing a figure that she believes was Jesus standing at bright yellow, glowing gates.
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Surprisingly, near-death experiences like Tina's aren't all that rare.
According to a study conducted at the University of Michigan in 2013, a surge of activity in the brain just before death is higher than during the most waking, conscious state.
The study, which was conducted on rats, found that when the creatures were dying, a sharp increase in high-frequency brainwaves was measured in the 30 seconds after their heart stopped beating.
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The leader of the study, Dr Jimo Borjigin, said: "A lot of people thought that the brain after clinical death was inactive or hypoactive, with less activity than the waking state, and we show that is definitely not the case.
"If anything, it is much more active during the dying process than even the waking state."
Others have reported similar incidents, with intensive care doctor Dr Sam Parnia recounting numerous tales of patients passing – only to come back.
Whilst we can’t know for sure, it’s pretty comforting to think our loved ones live on.
Topics: Real Life, US News, Sex and Relationships, Health
Katherine Sidnell