A man who was clinically dead for an astonishing 105 minutes has said his experience in heaven gave him a mission: sharing what he learned about the afterlife with the world.
Dean Braxton, 68, told the Daily Mail how a simple hospital procedure to remove kidney stones in 2006 went horribly wrong, causing a massive infection that stopped his heart.
Doctors failed to resuscitate the Christian minister from Washington state, and had already begun filling out the paperwork before sending his body to the morgue, when he miraculously woke up.
Braxton said hospital staff dubbed him the ‘Miracle Man’ after doctors reported he suffered no brain damage and returned to perfect health, despite his body being clinically dead for one hour and 45 minutes.
Normally, the human brain begins to experience irreversible damage within five to 10 minutes of being without oxygen, highlighting the extraordinary nature of his survival.
Braxton said he was not afraid during his near-death experience (NDE), rather he felt overwhelming joy, peace and comfort – a revelation that transformed his outlook on life and gave him an ‘eternal perspective.’
The Washingtonian said he was taken into another realm he called heaven, where he was met by dead relatives, angels, Jesus and God.
‘It’s not your time, go back,’ Braxton recounted about what Jesus told him before sending him back to Earth. That moment, as he remembers it, has inspired his mission to help others encounter God themselves.
Dean Braxton (pictured) was clinically dead for 105 minutes and claims he journeyed into the afterlife
Braxton, a Christian minister, has been talking about his experience with audiences around the world for 20 years
Once in this realm, the minister said that everything he encountered, which he referred to as ‘creations,’ made him feel welcomed – even the trees and animals.
‘I felt like everything was alive, nothing was dead – and I don’t mean just alive in a sense of like grass that I have in my front yard. I mean, they were alive where they were intelligent,’ Braxton told the Daily Mail.
‘It seemed like everything had an attitude – a good attitude, not a bad one – and they were glad I showed up.’
The pastor went on to say he was greeted by his family members who had already passed away, led by his grandmother, Mary.
This welcome eventually extended to generations of Braxton’s ancestors, including those he had never met during his lifetime.
Braxton said that this encounter was life-changing and revealed how important family is to God. He said it showed him that individual families matter just as deeply as the broader ‘family of God.’
‘I didn’t know that until I got there, how important it was. So that really changed my outlook upon my own family,’ Braxton said.
He added that his wife, Marilyn Braxton, had to adjust to an entirely new husband after his NDE.
Braxton said his wife, Marilyn Braxton (right), had to adjust to an entirely new husband after his near-death experience changed his perspective on life
Braxton said all of his family members who had previously passed away greeted him in heaven (Stock Image)
While the people Braxton said he encountered in heaven could speak verbally, he claimed the primary way those in the afterlife communicated was thought-to-thought.
Most often, he said this took the form of instant pictures rather than words. Braxton told the Daily Mail that if someone wanted to talk about a table, for example, they would directly transmit the complete picture of that table into his mind.
He said this concept was ideal because it gave the fullness of the thought instantly. There were no misunderstandings and no need for lengthy explanations, making every conversation deeply intimate, even if the meeting was brief.
Eventually, Braxton said he approached what he called ‘the edge of heaven,’ a place he couldn’t physically describe but believed would mean leaving the realm of Earthly reality if he crossed that barrier.
Braxton (pictured) has been called the ‘Miracle Man’ after suffering no brain injuries despite being dead for one hour and 45 minutes
After reaching that point, Braxton detailed how Jesus communicated with him and said, ‘It’s not your time. Go back.’
As many near-death experiencers have expressed in the past, Braxton said he didn’t want to leave heaven, but was told by Jesus three separate times that it was time to return to Earth.
The pastor said he still remembers viewing his lifeless body and the family and nurses gathered around him in the hospital before reentering the living world.
‘I just remember that my heart started beating again, and the doctors ran over, and they started doing all their stuff,’ Braxton told the Daily Mail. ‘They didn’t expect me to live even after I came back.’
Braxton explained that his NDE did not change his physical body, but did transform his entire outlook on the world and the message he spreads through his ministry.
‘I came back a different person, and my wife had to adjust because she had a whole different husband,’ he said.
Before he experienced near-death, Braxton said he made decisions based on what felt good or practical in the moment. After, however, he asks: ‘How does this impact eternity?’
He realized that almost everything on Earth – possessions, achievements, even many problems – will eventually deteriorate or fall apart, so he has invested his time and energy in things that last forever, especially relationships with people and helping them connect with God.
‘I want people to meet Jesus really badly because of my encounter with him,’ Braxton said. ‘Sometimes I’ll go to a place, and people come, and I say, “It’s not about me, it’s about your encounter with God. You’re here, he’s here, that’s all that matters.”
‘My words don’t get you in, Jesus does.’
