Nathan

I was in 5th grade and was walking in a high school. We were on a school trip. We had to turn around the school building on a sidewalk that was alongside a road in town.

As we left the high school, we went outside in rows of two and holding our partner’s hand. We had walked about 10 meters. As the sidewalk was turning towards the right. I had a sudden urge to push my friend towards the road and to displace myself. A car came from behind and collided with us and hit the school wall. For a moment, I didn’t know what happened.

I saw my life scrolling by in a flash. I felt many emotions and a sense of well-being. All the facts that had been deeply hidden in me and mostly forgotten came rushing back to me while I was in a in whirl-like tunnel. The closer I got to the white light at the end of the tunnel, the more well-being I felt.

Then I heard a voice screaming, ‘My husband will kill me!’ Then I found myself above my body and looking at the scene below. I saw a woman crying beside her car, my friend stretched out on the ground, and myself stretched out on the road about 4 to 5 meters behind the car in the traffic circle. I remember that I had a rush of exasperation and in no time, I found myself back in my body. As I took a breath and my chest rose, I screamed ‘WHAT ABOUT US?!’ Then I lost consciousness again. I was slightly aware of waking up and seeing the fireman who tried to reanimate me.

The following day I woke up in the hospital. I had some bruises, but my friend had his hip broken. Since my parents were abroad on a vacation for 1 week, I was staying with friends so didn’t talk about this to anybody.