In Christ

Near death experience did not change what I believe concerning the Word of God, but it did validate it.

Psalms 91:1-16(NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation
¹ Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. ² This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.³ For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. ⁴ He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armour and protection. ⁵ Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. ⁶ Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. ⁷ Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you. ⁸ Just open your eyes, and see how the wicked are punished. ⁹ If you make the LORD your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, ¹⁰ no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. ¹¹ For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go.¹² They will hold you up with their hands so you won't even hurt your foot on a stone. ¹³ You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet! ¹⁴ The LORD says, "I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. ¹⁵ When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honour them. ¹⁶I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.”

What started out as a normal day ended in my near-death experience. I kissed my wife, Rena Mae goodbye and off she went to work. I was looking forward to a beautiful fall day of fishing. The weather was looking promising at about +13°C. I loaded my fishing gear and the canoe on top of my SUV, grabbed my coffee, and hit the road.

The lake I was going to today was about a one hour drive south of Whitehorse. I had never fished in this lake and was looking forward to a great day of fishing. When I arrived I unloaded my canoe and placed my fishing gear inside. Once I had parked my truck I got in my canoe and set out on a most unexpected journey.

What a beautiful day it was! Only a slight breeze with the smell of fall in the air. I paddled out a short distance on the lake, as I always do and attached my favourite hook. I believe it was about the fourth cast and wham, I got what I expected to be the big one. As I reeled it in, I could see that it needed to grow up a little, so I let it get away. It didn't matter, I thought, after all it was going to be a great day!

The fall colours of the leaves on the trees, painted the mountainsides a beautiful red and yellow. I took several pictures as I paddled along the lake's shoreline. I noticed I was being watched intently by a beautiful Golden Eagle as I silently glided by. This trip was no different than many previous fishing days on the water. At the time I did not realize, that eagle was not alone watching me. It had company. I believe my angels were also watching over me!

As I made my way around the lake, I praised the Lord for the beauty of his creation, as I often do. I commanded the enemy to take his hands off of me and the ministering angels to protect me. I did not feel this strange or out of place, as I often do this, as led of the Holy Spirit concerning situations I am facing.

I like to scout new lakes to find the deep spots and underwater ledges. I was now about two thirds around the lake and at the far end. There was no one around, other than God and I. My fishing preference is to stay fairly close to the shore especially when I am fishing for Pike. I paddled into a little cove as I noticed it was still very deep. I was about 50 feet from one shore and about 30 from the other. This is a great spot for a big Pike, I thought it's also a great spot to take a picture. I reached down to get my camera, as I have done many times before.

Ahhh... there it is, I thought, as I grasped it from among my fishing gear! The next image I saw was the complete bottom outline of my canoe from about 4 feet under the surface of the water. I still do not remember what actually happened to throw me out of the canoe. I do remember the first thought I had in my mind was, that's strange, that's the bottom of my canoe. The next thought was, this can't be happening! But it was! One second I was in the canoe and the next second I found myself at least 4 feet under the surface of the water.

I knew I had to act fast as I swam to the surface. I started swimming for the shore because the canoe had moved away from me when I flipped out of it. I remember being thankful that it hadn't capsized. After all, I had a lot of fishing gear in it. Anger was one of my first thought was, how could this happen to me?

Then I realized I was swimming for the far shore. I was only mad for short time, as the reality of the situation unfolded before me. I adjusted my direction of swimming to the close shore. I thought, only about 10 feet to go, I can do this! That's when I realized, I can't do this alone, and this camera I'm holding is weighing me down! As I let it go I remember thinking, that was a nice camera! I had still not felt the cold of the water. I had not felt fear nor did I realize the seriousness of the situation. It was like I was in a dream... I now realize how much I was being protected.

This was not a dream. I needed help!

The water was about +10°C (or 50F I checked it the next day in a local lake). As I swam toward shore I realized my brain was still paddling my legs, but they had stopped. The weight of my wet shoes and clothing was pulling my body into a more upright position. I always wear a life jacket when boating and was thankful it was helping to hold me up in the water.

I still did not feel the coldness of the water, but my muscles in my legs had stopped working. I was about 5 feet from shore and still could not touch the bottom. This was a great place for a fish to live, but I was realizing not a place for me to be. I don't recommend anyone checking out the deep spots or under water ledges in this manner. "Do not try this at home,” as they say on television!

When I first reached the surface, after falling in and making those first few strokes for shore, I thought I can do this. All I have to do is get to the shore! Wrong! I soon found out I could not do it. I called out for Jesus to help me, although I now realize He already was. It is a short prayer, "Jesus! I need your help!” I'm so thankful that I did not have to explain the situation to him... "So you see Jesus... Here I was fishing and I was all nice and dry... Then something happened... Uhmmnn the water is cold... My body is shutting down... So you see I need supernatural strength... Faith to get me to the shore... Protection from hypothermia... A way back to my vehicle... And divine health to protect me from pneumonia...”

Jesus understood the situation so much more than I did.

So where was I? Oh right, about 5 feet from shore. I did some research and found that this is where a high percentage of people perish. For some reason this is where I stopped, as well. For what seemed like several minutes I did nothing. I was exhausted.

I'm starting to grasp how much of a miracle it is- I am alive to tell of His saving Grace! This is a small portion of what I found in my research.

"What Happens In Cold Water?

http://www.ussartf.org/cold_water_survival.htm

Many of the fatal boating accidents occur in the "out-of-season" months when the water is cold. What happens to the body when suddenly plunged into cold water?

The first hazards to contend with are panic and shock. The initial shock can place severe strain on the body, producing instant cardiac arrest, as happened to a 15 year old scout in the month of March in Pennsylvania several years ago.

Survivors of cold water accidents have reported the breath driven from them on first impact with the water. Should your face be in the water during that first involuntary gasp for breath, it may well be water rather than air. Total disorientation may occur after cold water immersion. Persons have reported "thrashing helplessly in the water" for thirty seconds or more until they were able to get their bearings.

Immersion in cold water can quickly numb the extremities to the point of uselessness. Cold hands cannot fasten the straps of a life jacket, grasp a thrown rescue line, or hold onto an over-turned boat. Within minutes, severe pain clouds rational thought. And, finally, hypothermia (exposure) sets in, and without rescue and proper first aid treatment, unconsciousness and death.

Expected Survival Time in Cold Water - On average, when water is at the temperature of 4-10 Celsius total exhaustion or unconsciousness can set in within 30-60 minutes, with expected survival time being 1-3 hours. This depends on body mass and clothing, etc.

I remember looking around and realizing how quiet it was. Until that point my breathing had been loud and laborious. It had taken every bit of strength I had to get to that point. It was divine intervention as I still was not feeling the cold of the water. I was not shivering or in pain. I was not in fear. I had not and did not suffer a heart attack. When I reached shore I had laid on my back for an unknown amount of time. I found out in my research that if you stand up too quickly the blood rushes to your extremities and you could potentially suffer a heart attack. I'm so glad Jesus had me rest to keep me alive. He also protected me from going into hypothermia when I crossed the lake on the way back to my truck.

Anyway, back to my story. Just before I stopped swimming I had been taking huge gasps for air as I slowly made my way through the water. Then everything went calm. I remember wondering, why is it so quiet? That is when I realized I had stopped breathing. I thought, that's not a good thing! Yet, it was so peaceful. It was not like I was holding my breath, but rather I did not feel the need to breathe. I am not sure how long I simply enjoyed the moment. Still not feeling cold or in fear of death. My body had shut down due to the 10 C water but my brain just did not register it.

I believe it was decision time, do I chose to go home to heaven or go for the shore?

I don't believe my brain made the decision because I don't remember making the decision. I believe it was from my spirit; my life was not over here on earth. I remember trying my limbs and my arms still worked, but there was no movement from below in my legs. As I paddled forward my breath came back to me not in the rapid uncontrolled breathing I had experienced before, but rather calm and normal rhythmic breathing. That is when I realized something or someone was lifting up on my life jacket. I could feel the tension from above as I paddled forward.

I realized that my toes had touched the ground. It was like the sensation of when your legs have fallen asleep and you have no feeling in them. It is the sensation of paralysis or they are like rubber. I could not lift them to walk, so I needed to take a few more paddles with my arms. Then I felt my body tilt forward as my knees hit the bottom. I could finally reach out and grab the grass along the shore.

My brain said, stand up and walk out. No! Again Jesus was protecting me from possibly experiencing a heart attack from standing up too quickly.

My legs didn't work and it was all I could do to crawl onto dry ground. I let one arm collapse so that I would roll over on my back. I laid on the shore in total exhaustion. I am not sure how much time had passed, when I suddenly thought, I can't just lay here or I will die! I was able to get to my feet and I walked back and forth to get the blood moving. This is when I realized, I am at the far end of the lake from my SUV and my canoe is floating away!

I can see my canoe out about 60 feet from shore. My paddle about 10 feet away from it. OK! Now I am aware of my situation and I knew I was not safe yet. I was starting to get angry that this had happened, but instead of giving up I applied my faith to cause my situation to change. That is when I said the second prayer out loud, "Jesus I need my canoe. Canoe come to me, in Jesus name!”

Up until that point there was no breeze in the little cove that I was in. I could see waves out in the bigger part of the lake, but the water was like glass where I was. Normally a floating boat would be drawn to the direction of the wind and most likely just float in a great circle in the cove or go with the wind down the lake. Another miracle? I believe so. It was only about 5 minutes or less when I noticed the wind had changed and that it was now blowing towards me. I thought, all I needed was to be patient.... there it comes... only about 10 ft out now, so I started back out into the water.

When you are cold you don't think straight.

I started out into the water again.

Not a good idea!

Thank God, Jesus was still in control and I was directed back out of the water. The same water I had only a short time before barely made it out of alive. In the natural, I knew I didn't have a lot of time before hypothermia set in. I went looking for a long pole which I believe was the Lord's way to keep me warm and busy, so I would not make any more stupid decisions.

I looked up again. My canoe and paddle were only about 5 feet out. The fact that both came in at the same time was another miracle. I went back over to the shore and waited about 3 minutes and my canoe and paddle came right to the grass. I was able to pull the canoe onto the shore even though it took all the strength I had, due to my body reacting to the cold. I will state it again I still did not "feel” cold. I was being protected from feeling the affects of hypothermia.

I realized that I was not safe yet and that the cold was having an affect on my body. I stripped off two upper layers of wet clothing. I put on a dry jacket that was still in the canoe leaving my thermal undershirt on under it. I knew it was wet, but it seemed to be still insulating and helping to hold what was left of my body heat in. This was when I shivered for the first time, but only once.

So, once again it was decision time, do I get in the canoe and go around the edge of the lake, which would take more time? Or get in the canoe and cut straight across being the shortest way to my SUV? I knew I needed to get warm, and soon. I took the shortest way back to the truck.

Once back at the truck I started it and realized that my feet and ankles still were not functioning properly. Since it was a steep decline down to the lake I decided to only back the truck up to the approach to the boat launch, but not take the chance to back it down to the lake. I did not want to risk having the truck roll into the lake, due to not being able to operate the clutch with my cold feet. In what seems to be a bit of a blur I loaded the canoe and all the gear, I was exhausted as I headed for home. I turned the heat on as high as it would go and onto my feet. It stayed that way until I got home.

"Oh, the warm bath, how good it feels?”

I have no doubt in my mind that I have experienced yet another miracle to keep me alive. This is not the first time I've called on the name of Jesus and have lived to give testimony. Just like many years ago, as my vehicle was hit from behind and I called on the name of Jesus. That day, just like this day the enemy tried to take me out! That story is to be told another day.

This is the protection we can expect and must learn to operate in when we are In Christ! I am not alive because of my great physical condition or body size. In my research I found out that small people perish quicker in cold water due to smaller mass to retain heat. It was not because I am a minister of His Word or because of my experience in cold water survival.

No, I was not making the right choices for myself after falling into the ice cold water. I thank God, He was making them for me. When I fell into the water was not the time to get my bible and look up the promises of God. I needed to already have found them, believed them and acted on them. Going to church or being a nice person did not save me! It was believing God's Word and calling on the name of Jesus, a Loving Father that saved me! Acting in faith when I called out to my canoe and believing it would come to me in the name of Jesus – saved me!

I still do not know how I went from reaching down for my camera and the next second finding myself under my canoe. I still have no memory of how I actually fell out of the canoe or why the canoe did not tip over resulting in losing all my fishing gear.

This was not the first time being on the water alone and I do practise safe boating techniques. I respect the water and know the risk increases as the temperature drops. Having this knowledge helps me to understand even more how many miracles it took to protect me and save my life. I serve a real and awesome God who is active in my life, not just someone I have heard about in bible days. I did not plan on fighting for my life that day. I planned on a great day of fishing and it was up to that point. It started out as a great day and I believe ended as a great day, In Christ!

NLT "For He will order His angels to protect you wherever you go.
They will hold you up with their hands so you won't even hurt your foot on a stone.
The LORD says, "I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name.
When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honour them.
I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.”

Submission by Dale McDonald