What Happened to These People Seconds Before Their Death

By Andre Eksteen

There are many stories of people who claim to have had near-death experiences. These stories are widely shared, published, and even sold in books and films: people who speak of peace, a bright light, and even how Jesus welcomed them. I am not saying that all these stories are false, but not all of them are true either. What is striking is that only the pleasant side is ever told. The Bible clearly shows that there is another side as well – and that side is what happens to the vast majority of people. Not light and peace, but darkness, fear, and terror. That is why I did research into eyewitness accounts from doctors, paramedics, and hospice nurses – people who stand next to deathbeds every day. And what they tell is shocking.

A hospice nurse tells how she has seen countless people die. Some lie peacefully, and you experience a certain peace in them that you cannot describe. Their eyes are calm, their breathing becomes lighter, and then they go as if falling asleep. You feel the peace, and you just know deep inside that they were right with God. But others… you cannot calm them down. They thrash and struggle, they scream, they clutch the sheets like someone fighting an invisible force. She tells of one man who kept screaming: “They are here! Keep them away from me!” His eyes were wide, his voice hoarse with panic. He was looking at something she could not see. His arms flailed, his legs kicked, and then, right there, he was dead. His eyes stayed open, fixed on the emptiness. “I can never forget that face,” she sobbed.

The Bible says: “His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.” (Job 18:14). Everything he relied on in his life – his own strength, his own security – was torn from him in an instant. He was dragged from his “tent”, his last shelter, and delivered to the king of terrors. Without Christ, your last breath is nothing other than an encounter with the king of terrors.

A paramedic tells of an accident scene he could never forget. “The man was badly injured, his chest had already begun to collapse, blood was running down his neck. Yet he was still conscious. When he realised his time was up, he broke loose in panic: ‘Don’t let them take me! Don’t let them take me!’ He tried to sit up, even though his legs could no longer support him. He clung to the trolley, his fingers white with strain, as if trying to stop something from dragging him away. His face froze in terror as he breathed his last. ‘I myself went cold,’ says the paramedic. ‘You do not forget something like that.’”

The Bible says: “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12). He chose his own path, but in his dying seconds he saw where that path was really leading him.

A doctor tells how he cared for a woman with cancer. She had been quiet for days, and her family thought she would pass away peacefully. But then, unexpectedly, she sat upright in bed. Her eyes were wide open, her hands trembled, and she began to scream: “The devil is here! He is coming to fetch me!” The whole room froze with her panic. Then she cried out again: “He has me!” and fell back – stone dead. “I can still hear her voice,” says the doctor. “That scream cuts through your ears.”

The Bible says: “How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.” (Psalm 73:19). In that last second she saw the veil lift – and it was not light and peace, but terror.

Another hospice nurse tells of an atheist. All his life he boasted that he did not believe in God and mocked those who did. But when his end came, he woke up ice-cold with fear. He threw his hands over the headboard of the bed and clung to it as if he could hide. He screamed: “Don’t let them take me! Don’t let them take me!” His face twisted with pure fear. He died while screaming, his mouth still open, his eyes dull with panic. The nurse says she felt like giving up her job. “I cannot see this anymore,” she said.

The Bible says: “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” (Isaiah 57:21). All his life he said there is no God – but in his dying second he discovered that there is also no peace without Him.

Another nurse tells: “I have seen more than once how people see dark shadows in the room. They stare into the corners and beg: ‘Take them away! Don’t let them take me!’ But we see nothing. We can do nothing. For them, however, it is as real as you and I speaking now. You see their hands reaching into the air for nothing, you hear their breathing jerk, and you know – something is waiting for them.”

The Bible says: “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night.” (Revelation 14:11). What they saw was only the first flashes of an eternity without rest.

But there is also another side – a side of hope. A grandchild tells that she prayed to the Lord to give a sign to her grandmother, who did go to church but had never truly given her heart to Christ. Two weeks later she received a call. Her grandmother had begun screaming in her hospital bed: “Flames! Flames! Put it out! Help me!” The nurse panicked and called the family. When they arrived, they knelt next to her bed, opened the Bible, and began to read. They prayed, and at 95 years old she experienced true repentance and accepted Christ. Two months later she passed away peacefully – not in panic and darkness, but in peace.

The Bible says: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13). Even at the last moment there is hope – but only if you call on Jesus Christ.

But the hard truth remains: most people do not get that chance. Some, like this grandmother, are fortunate enough to be given time and opportunity to put things right. But as we see in these accounts, most come to that realisation too late. In that moment when what was hidden becomes revealed, it is too late. Your fate is sealed, and you go to eternal damnation.

Realise this: you can die at any moment – without any warning. A car accident. A heart attack. A stroke. You drive home thinking it is just another ordinary day, but within a few seconds you can open your eyes in an eternity without God. Those who do receive a warning, who know they have only a few days or months left, are actually the blessed ones. Because through that, God gives them one last chance to put things right.

I challenge you: if you think the stories I have shared here are just fiction, go and ask your doctor friend, or a nurse who works with deathbeds every day. Be prepared – you will hear the same stories I had to hear. And when you hear them, remember: you will no longer be able to explain them away or reason them off. Your time will also come. And then the question is not whether you will see the unseen, but which side you will see – the peace of Christ or the terror of hell.

Are you ready?

The Bible says: “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27).

My question to you is simple: what will happen to you seconds before your death?