Man Who Was 'Clinically Dead For More Than 11 Hours' Describes What He Says He Saw In Heaven

Jim Woodford says he was clinically dead for more than 11 hours, and his account of what happened during that time has drawn attention because of how detailed and strange it is.

Woodford, a Canadian pilot and businessman who has described himself as someone who was not religious before the experience, told 100 Huntley Street that everything began after he accidentally took too much prescription medication while sitting alone in a field and watching the sunset.

He says his lungs seized, he blacked out, and nobody found his body until the next morning. By then, according to his account, rigor mortis had already begun to set in.

After he was found, Woodford was taken to a hospital in Fredericton, New Brunswick, where he was pronounced clinically dead.

Doctors warned his wife, Lorraine, that even if he survived, he would likely be left in a vegetative state. Woodford says he was gone for 11 hours, but when he finally woke up, he did not describe darkness or confusion. Instead, he had a full story to tell.

The details he later shared have become part of a wider real-life account about survival, faith, and what some people believe may happen after death.

Jim shared his experiences of what he saw on the other side on the 100 Huntley Street show 100 Huntley Street/Youtube

Woodford claims the first thing he noticed after dying was that the chronic pain he had been living with was suddenly gone.

He says he stepped out of his truck feeling like he was 20 years old again. Then he turned around and saw a man slumped over the steering wheel. That man, he says, was his own body, bleeding from hemorrhaged lungs.

From there, Woodford says he began rising into the air. As a pilot, he found the feeling deeply unsettling. He believes he reached about 1,200 feet before being pulled through what he described as a 60-foot golden ring in the sky, then into a tunnel of light while traveling at what he estimated was "Mach 1 or 2".

What did Jim Woodford say he saw in heaven?

Woodford says he passed through a mist-covered portal and found himself standing on grass unlike anything he had seen before. In his account, every blade of grass seemed to have its own inner light, while flowers appeared in colors that he believes have no names in any human language.

He also described the place as somewhere where the senses seemed to overlap. Sound had color, color had sound, and the whole scene felt alive in a way he says he could not fully explain.

When he looked farther ahead, Woodford says he saw what he believed was the holy city. He described streets of gold, wide green spaces, and hundreds of thousands of people with no visible pain. Newly arrived souls, he claimed, were being guided by relatives, almost like visitors being shown around a capital city.

Woodford says three angels came to meet him there. The shortest, according to him, stood around 10 feet tall, while the tallest was about 15 feet.

He claimed all three had violet eyes and never blinked. He also said one of them was his own guardian angel, who had been assigned to him since birth. Woodford remembered the angel’s expression as one of deep relief.

But the scene did not stay peaceful for long. As he looked to the left, he says the bright green grass changed color, turning brown, then scorched, then black, before dropping away into a canyon.

Woodford says he first noticed something deep inside the canyon that looked like a distant campfire. Then, as he watched more closely, he realized it was not a fire at all, but a huge door slowly opening with a harsh, ancient sound.

What emerged from it, he claimed, was enormous. He described it as shaped like a man, but covered completely in fire. "This thing came so rapidly up," he said. "It was surrounded by cloud and darkness and a smell of decay."

Woodford also claimed he heard screaming, but not from the creature itself. He said the sound seemed to come from inside its body, as if, in his words, it had "swallowed souls."

Why near-death stories can divide people

Accounts like Woodford’s often get strong reactions because they sit between personal testimony, faith, and medical mystery. Some readers see stories like this as powerful evidence of an afterlife, while others view them as experiences shaped by the brain during extreme trauma.

Doctors and researchers have studied near-death experiences for years, and common themes often include leaving the body, moving through light, meeting beings, or feeling intense peace. Still, personal accounts can vary widely, and Woodford’s version includes both comforting and frightening details.

That is why his story is usually best understood as his own account of what he believes happened. It is not something outsiders can fully prove, but it has clearly shaped the way he talks about life, death, and faith.

The darker part of Woodford's account

The most unsettling part of Woodford’s story is not the tunnel of light or the city he says he saw. It is the moment when the peaceful scene appeared to shift into something much darker.

He described that part of the experience almost like a warning. The bright grass gave way to burned ground, the canyon opened below, and the fiery figure seemed to move toward him with a message that felt personal.

For Woodford, that moment appears to be just as important as the heavenly images. His account is not only about comfort or beauty, but also about fear, danger, and the idea that he was not meant to stay there yet.

Jim claims he travelled upwards about 1,200 feet at Mach 1 or 2 100 Huntley Street/Youtube

"Jim come to us. We have been waiting for you. This is your time with us."

Woodford says the figure then called him by name and told him: "Jim come to us. We have been waiting for you. This is your time with us."

He says he turned his back on it, lifted his hands, and cried out, "God, help me." At that moment, three points of light came together as the angels, who sent a bolt of light over his shoulder. Woodford claims the creature screamed and fled back into the pit "like a rat running for cover."

After that, Woodford says he eventually saw a figure he believed was Jesus, sitting on a hillside and reading from a book. He described golden light flowing from him and moving through the flowers, making them bloom even more as it passed.

When the figure turned toward him, Woodford says he fell to his knees.

He claims Jesus raised his hand to stop him from coming closer, then told him: "James, my son, this is not yet your time. Go back and tell your brothers and sisters of the wonders we have shown you."

Woodford says he begged not to leave. He even told Jesus that he "won't be any trouble" if he was allowed to stay, a comment he now says he regrets. According to Woodford, Jesus only smiled, and the angels carried him away anyway.

Woodford says he woke up in the ICU with a yell that sent nurses rushing into the room. He also claims his organs began working normally again within minutes.

His first words to his wife Lorraine were: "Lorraine, I saw Jesus and Jesus has horses and I'm back."

Since then, he says he has filled seven journals with everything he remembers from the experience. He later gave a fuller version of the account in his book, Heaven: An Unexpected Journey.