Nine Days in a Coma: The Experience That Changed My Understanding of Life

Thirty years ago, my body lay in a hospital bed for nine days in a coma but my awareness was quietly witnessing something far deeper than anyone around me could see.

What began as a medical emergency turned into a life-threatening crisis. My body had entered a coma caused by severe Diabetic Ketoacidosis, the first time doctors discovered my autoimmune diabetes. My kidneys failed, I was placed on a ventilator, and my family waited outside the hospital room not knowing whether I would survive. For nine days my body remained silent. Yet within that silence, something unusual happened.
I remember experiencing what many people describe as an Out-of-body experience. I saw my own body lying on the hospital bed and a window, on the other side of the window there was a beautiful lake with swans and there was no fear, no paniconly a strange and profound peace. At that moment I did not feel the suffering my body was going through. I simply observed. When I finally regained consciousness, the first few days were confusing. My mind was trying to understand what had happened to my body, while my heart was still holding the quiet peace of that unusual experience.

When I woke up and slowly began to understand what had happened, I expected confusion about the illness. What I did not expect was the story that had already been written about me. Some believed I had tried to harm myself because I was unhappy with my life.  Others believed I had brought shame to the family.
As I listened quietly, something inside me fell silent. I was physically abd emotionally exhausted.  I had just survived a life-threatening medical crisis, yet instead of compassion I was met with suspicion. In that moment I realized that sometimes the deepest wounds are not caused by illness, but by the misunderstandings that surround it. Months later, the accusations stopped being spoken about. Life moved on. But no one ever truly acknowledged that what had happened to me was a medical crisis. The silence remained and after 8 years when someone in the family ended their own life then the same accusations was told me that we all women are the same bringing shame to the family.

But something inside me had changed by then. Though I was not that strong emotionally but  When you come so close to the fragile edge between life and death, your relationship with life itself shifts. The things that once seemed urgent begin to lose their importance. A deeper awareness quietly enters your heart. You begin to notice the suffering behind people’s words.
You begin to feel compassion where once there might have been judgment. You begin to see life not just as a routine, but as something profoundly precious.
Many years later, I came to understand that experiences like mine are often described as a Near-death experience. Science may explain parts of it through the brain’s response to extreme conditions, while spiritual traditions interpret it differently. But regardless of the explanation, the impact on my life was undeniable. That moment changed the way I saw life, suffering, and purpose.

Recently, life quietly brought that memory back. Last month I developed Pneumonia. Because of my autoimmune medications, the infection initially went undiagnosed and my body again slipped into ketosis.
For a brief moment, memories from thirty years ago resurfaced. But this time the story unfolded very differently.
Within thirty-six hours doctors identified the problem was an infection so they treated the infection with the right antibiotics, and my body recovered quickly. Modern medicine and timely care changed what once had become a life-threatening crisis. That moment reminded me of something important.Thirty years ago my illness was misunderstood too by some family members. My nervous system was triggered by those memories. Our brain often stores such intense experiences deeply. When something similar happens again, those old feelings can resurface unexpectedly, even decades later.


Looking back now, I realize that the experience gave me more than survival. It gave me a deeper understanding of life itself.
I learned that:
• Life is far more fragile than we often realize.
• Illness can reveal both the strength of the body and the vulnerability of the human heart.
• Sometimes people judge what they do not understand.
• And sometimes our most painful experiences awaken our deepest compassion.
That moment in the hospital room did not only change my health journey. It quietly changed how I see people, suffering, and the purpose of life.

There are moments in life when everything we thought we knew about ourselves suddenly dissolves. Illness, crisis, and unexpected suffering can shake our identity and our relationships. But sometimes those very moments also reveal something profound: that beneath the body, beneath the judgments of others, there is a deeper awareness quietly watching, learning, and growing.
Perhaps surviving such moments is life’s way of reminding us that we are here not only to live but also to understand, to heal, and to help others find meaning in their own storms.
Sometimes we survive not because life is finished with us, but because our purpose has only just begun.