For eons, people have wondered what actually happens after you die. While some people believe in the afterlife, others think death is the ultimate end. For Dave Singleton, 85, it was a real experience. According to The Mirror, the man from Nottingham had a near-death experience, which changed his outlook towards life forever.
In the last few decades, there has been more scientific research in the area of what actually happens to our consciousness after we take our last breath. While the studies are yet to deliver a conclusive answer, many believe that we might be closer than ever to getting a glimpse into what happens to our brain at the moment of death itself.
Over the years, many people who experienced being on the brink of death claimed to have extensive visions, some of which are eerie, while others are comforting. Dave experienced something similar almost 20 years ago and explained that it was actually a moment of comfort for him.
Just ahead of his 65th birthday, he suffered a heart attack. It is a condition where an individual’s heart starts beating more slowly or with an abnormal rhythm, and it could turn into a serious medical emergency.
Speaking with the Mirror, Singleton explained that not long before his near-death experience, he began struggling to walk. While taking a stroll through the scenic hills in Derbyshire, he felt like his heartbeat was not normal.
Soon after, one day, when he was at home, he felt like blacking out and called in his neighbur, who is a retired doctor, for help. His neighbor checked his pulse and discovered that it was very low, prompting him to immediately call an ambulance for Dave.
“My heart had almost stopped beating, so, like in medical dramas, I was wired up to several machines on a trolley and, surrounded by medical staff, raced through the hospital to the coronary care ward,” he told the tabloid.
Long after death has supposedly claimed an organism, a strange cellular afterlife may begin—scientists have discovered that some cells not only continue functioning but can acquire entirely new abilities, hinting at a mysterious “third state” between life and death that could… pic.twitter.com/DmM1puP9g0
— Thomas Frey CSP (@ThomasFrey) June 23, 2025
The now 85-year-old man elaborated, “I was transferred to the bed and immediately the sirens sounded as my heart stopped. For me, it appeared that the lights drew dimmer like a curtain was closing but, almost immediately, I was resuscitated using the paddles.”
Unfortunately for him, the issues with his heart didn’t really stop there. Dave was resuscitated a few more times. Recalling the incidents, he said that it felt like he was being “pummeled by a weight boxer.”
When the doctors were deciding if he should be fitted with a pacemaker, Singleton, who is an artist by profession, had his first brief near-death experience. “The alarms went off. I turned to the next patient and exclaimed, ‘Someone is copping it’. He replied, ‘Yes, it’s you’. Then the curtains came down and the lights went out,” he recalled.
He says that it felt like being transported to a wonderful place.” “I was sitting in a beautiful garden in the warm sunshine. There was a high hedge behind me, and I could hear voices and laughter from the other side of the hedge. I knew that it was family and friends gathered there, so it must have been a special event.”
“I stayed where I was because I was so comfortable and the view across the fields to the rolling hills in the distance was magnificent. I was so calm and peaceful and in a wonderful place. I was happy and contented.”
Needless to say, the moment didn’t last long for him, as the medical team back in the hospital got busy trying to resuscitate him. He told the Mirror that he was in cardiac arrest for “about eight minutes” before he was brought back. Since then, he has been relying on a pacemaker to keep his heartbeat normal.
However, as he told the tabloid after he was resuscitated, he felt like, “I didn’t want to come back as it was most uncomfortable and noisy.”
