A Mother’s Journey to the Afterlife and Back

In 2021, a 43-year-old woman from Vancouver, Canada, named Amber Cavanagh suffered two strokes and was airlifted to the hospital.

On the way, she began losing consciousness and overheard the nurses telling her children that they might never see their mother alive again. She recalls opening her eyes to look at the sun one last time, then closing them and immediately being “transported to another dimension” or “the other side.”

At first, she found herself floating above her own body, witnessing her husband crying over her, and at the same time, seeing her children and parents coming to visit her in the hospital.

There was no bright light or tunnel—she simply “hung” in place, observing what was happening below, still tethered to her body. But then she was “pulled to a point of contact” and found herself in another world, where fear was absent and only love remained.

She saw herself in this realm as the “best version” of herself, surrounded by loved ones who had already passed away. Her late pets, including childhood dogs, were there too.

“There were no more questions—no ‘What,’ ‘Why,’ ‘When,’ or ‘Where.’ I just knew everything,” she said.

She found herself in a beautiful garden where she could feel the grass beneath her feet. Amber communicated mentally with her deceased relatives, including her grandmother and great-grandmother, and felt “absolute comfort” in their presence.

“Then I saw all my loved ones on the right, every version of me, past, present and future on the left, and my guides standing right in front of me.

“I spoke telepathically to everyone, including my grandmother and grandmother… there was such a visceral feeling of pure comfort.”

But then, they told her she faced a difficult decision: she could stay in this peaceful place only if she was willing to leave her children behind.

Amber knew that staying would mean death in the real world, and her family would suffer. But returning meant reentering her sick body and enduring a grueling recovery.

Eventually, she realized that her family would be okay, even if she passed away, but she wasn’t ready to die just yet. With that, she closed her eyes, and when she opened them, she was back in her body.

Amber spent the next two weeks in the hospital, her condition critical. Doctors warned her family that she might remain in a vegetative state for the rest of her life. But then, unexpectedly, she began to move and speak.

“The doctors still don’t understand it,” she said. “My doctor calls me his miracle patient because I didn’t even need the surgery they had planned. There was a lot of damage to my body and brain, but I was alive, and that was the main thing.”

Amber had to relearn how to walk and even how to eat, and her family endured the pain of watching her struggle. Her recovery took about 10 weeks. “But now, I’m not afraid of death or crossing to the other side. My only fear is not being able to return to that place again.”

Although Amber still has some lingering issues on her right side, her life has mostly returned to normal.

“This experience helped me see the beauty of life in a new way. I’m just a regular person, so I’m still afraid of having another stroke, but I’m no longer afraid of death. My only concern is leaving my children too soon—I want to see them grow up. But I don’t regret what I went through. It allowed me to mourn the person I used to be and embrace this new chapter of my life.”

“On tough days, I close my eyes and remember how the grass felt under my feet. I’ve wondered if I made the right decision, but I know I was given the chance to share the message that we all have a purpose here.”