Dr. Anna Stone, a former research technician for the Department of Defense, has shared her account of a near-death experience that she says shattered her atheism and revealed evidence of an afterlife. Stone, 38 at the time of the incident in 2016, experienced a ruptured ectopic pregnancy that led to her clinically dying for six minutes.
Stone told the Daily Mail that the experience convinced her that consciousness persists after death and that all humans are interconnected within a singular consciousness, which she referred to as "God, or source, or whatever you want to call it." She described this as an ocean, with individuals being droplets destined to rejoin the sea without losing their distinct identities. This perspective, she argues, renders the divisions of religion, politics, and culture ultimately "fake."
Prior to this event, Stone, who specialized in histology for university and government contracts, including defense projects, held a materialistic view of existence, believing that consciousness was merely a product of biological processes that ceased with bodily death. Her near-death experience occurred after multiple episodes of heavy bleeding, initially misdiagnosed by doctors as an ulcer, but later identified as a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. During the emergency, her heart stopped, necessitating a massive blood transfusion.
Stone recounted observing her own body in the hospital and hearing doctors declare her dead, with one referring to her as a "junkie." When she later recovered, she confirmed with the doctor that he had spoken those words and that she had indeed heard him, despite being clinically deceased. This sensory perception during her declared death period, she stated, was a critical factor in her altered beliefs.
During her six minutes of clinical death, Stone reported experiencing a non-linear perception of time and encountering multiple versions of herself from different ages—two, six, twelve, and sixteen years old. She also perceived the presence of strangers she had encountered throughout her life, gaining insight into how her actions had affected them. This introspection led her to recognize instances of selfishness in her past interactions.
Stone stated that she felt a presence guiding her, indicating she would not remain in the afterlife. Her return to her body was described as an intensely painful physical process.
Following her return to life, Stone experienced recurring auditory phenomena, described as voices offering warnings moments before dangerous events. These included a premonition that prevented her from hitting a pedestrian with her car and another instance where a stranger retracted a question about the time after she answered it. These episodes led to a psychiatric evaluation, but doctors at the University of Southern California ruled out conditions like schizophrenia. She was diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) stemming from a difficult childhood, including her father's arrest for murder when she was two and being forced out of her home at age 12.
Stone believes her soul orchestrated the near-death experience to redirect her life. She later pursued a PhD in spiritual psychology. Before the incident, she had struggled with alcohol abuse and underwent medical detox for opioid addiction in 2011. Notably, shortly after returning from the hospital, she found that consuming alcohol resulted in it foaming in her mouth, leading her to cease drinking entirely.
Stone described the near-death experience as a "karmic b**** slap" intended to prompt a life correction. The experience fundamentally changed her, and she began teaching at a continuation school for students with similar backgrounds of trauma and disruption. Since 2016, she has focused her work on understanding the connections between trauma, consciousness, and heightened sensitivity. Stone expressed hope that existence extends beyond mundane struggles, suggesting a conscious, collective organism of the universe where individuals are part of something greater.