This woman died and came back to life when she was 8, here's how it changed the course of her life

Dying is something that we all think about, because it remains a mystery for most of us until we die for good. There have been studies that show people who suffer a cardiac arrest share eerily similar experiences, but others who have died in different ways before coming back to the land of the living always have fascinating stories to tell.

Kara had a near-death experience when she was eight years old, but her story is less about the afterlife and more about the lasting ‘connection’ she felt between the other side and the here and now.

Ultimately, this connection ended up saving her life after she was miraculously saved from breast cancer. Here’s the story of how she died and how, a decade later, she was at the centre of a medical miracle.

This is how Kara died when she was 8

Kara grew up on a small ranch in Kansas, as the seventh of eight children. She describes the day she died as the day that ‘changed her life forever’. Kara and her little sister, the youngest of the bunch at 5 years old, were cycling around the county roads on a beautiful day.

Kara remembers her bike: white, with flashes of purple and pink. She had recently witnessed BMX bikers with friends so, when another of her siblings called her pair in to eat, she decided to rebel and pull a stunt. There was a water lip in their garage, a drain that prevented water from running into her father’s construction tools. The V-shaped part of this seemed to young Kara like the perfect ramp.

In an act of defiance, she sped towards her target, feeling the breeze on her face. Her bike got trapped and stopped suddenly. Kara flew over the handlebars and she heard a ‘sickening thud’; she knew her body had ‘crumbled in itself’. She had a certain understanding of where she was, but she felt like her body ‘weighed a thousand pounds’ and she didn’t feel it was hers anymore; she was simply inside it.

Creepily, she could see a figure and assumed it was one of her siblings - she begged for help while the figure remained still. Then it dawned on her: the light and dark she could see was not daylight and shadow; it was life and death itself. She was dead, and in limbo. She asked the figure:

Oh my gosh. I’m not here anymore, am I? Am I dead? Is this dying?

Without even receiving an answer, she felt a sense of ‘pure love, joy and peace’. At that point, she instinctively reached out a thought to the figure. Without speaking, she connected with the being. It asked her if she was ready, and she said yes. She explains how she then fell into a ‘void’ in which fear did not exist.

Her near-death experience changed her life

Kara explains how the love and peace she felt during her near-death experience stayed with her through her teens and into adulthood. It impacted how she lived her life: she felt ‘unconditional’ love for all humans and animals and wanted to help and connect with them all.

Yet, this was not well-received. Kara understood that it was easier to ‘reconnect with that oneness’ by herself, or in nature with animals. As she grew older, she kept having what she calls ‘magical experiences’. She explains that these were coincidences were so powerful she couldn’t deny them:

And it crescendoed the day that I was instantaneously and miraculously healed from third generation breast cancer.

Kara's medical miracle

It was a week before her thirty third birthday. The year before, both Kara’s mother and father had been diagnosed with generational cancer. Their parents had already died from the same disease, and Kara went to get tested for the gene mutation as well as cancer itself. She tested positive for the gene mutation. This meant she had a 75% chance of getting ‘all of the killer cancers, breast, ovarian, things like that’:

In the exam room, they found bilateral breast lumps.

Kara said one felt about the size of her pinky finger, and she could feel it. She was diagnosed, and had a lumpectomy scheduled to remove both lumps in three days’ time. In the days leading up to her surgery, friends offered to lay their hands on her and pray. Kara explained that this was ‘beautiful’ as an experience, but ‘nothing happened’.

Kara reached out to her network to ask for help, which she explains is not something she would normally do:

Literally, the only word is terror.

She found herself alone in her room, like when she was a child. She ‘found this stillness’ and connected with ‘the divine’. Kara explains that she pleaded for help:

I know you’re good. I need you to be here like you have before. I need you to show up, I need you to tell me what to do.

She explains that she was ‘guided through bible verses’ and found herself heading to a church that had previously rejected her because of conflicting beliefs. She explained her story, and the church hesitantly accepted. The people of the church laid their hands on her and prayed as songs played and Kara cried. She felt nothing, and the group peeled away until only two sets of hands remained on her.

Kara went back to that place she had known as a child, and decided that whatever the will of this divine power was, she would accept it. As soon as she did, everything changed. A ‘beam’ of power blasted through her chest cavity, and hovered over her one lump and then the next. This power ‘felt like the essence of love itself’ that she had first known when she was eight and had her near-death experience.

The next day, Kara had her mammogram. Several medical officials were left flummoxed when Kara’s lumps didn’t show up on their scans. They asked her in an almost accusatory tone where her lumps had gone, and Kara didn’t know how to answer them. The ultrasound was carried out, and then a doctor came in to speak to Kara. He patted her knee and said:

Thank you for coming in, Miss Kara, we’ll see you when you’re 40.

Kara stopped him, shook him and demanded answers. The doctor told her that all the scans came back clear; there was nothing more for them to do. She was healthy. He left the room, and Kara felt her body. All that remained was a pinky-shaped crater in her chest and a bruised sensation. From that point on, Kara knew that she had a ‘purpose’: to inspire others to recognise how much they are loved, and to encourage them to find that love and live from it.

Read more:

⋙ Woman who died and came back to life reveals our purpose on Earth

⋙ What happens when God cries? This radio host died for 8 minutes, met God, and found out

⋙ Dying starts 2 weeks before your heart stops, expert reveals the telltale signs to look out for

Sources used:

The Other Side NDE Podcast

Insider: I've studied more than 5,000 near death experiences. My research has convinced me without a doubt that there's life after death.