I had a near-death experience in the car crash that killed my family

A father who had a near-death experience in a car accident that killed his wife and baby has revealed in vivid detail what he felt and saw ‘on the other side’, 28 years later. 

In 1997, Jeffery Olsen was driving his wife and two sons, Griffin, 1, and Spencer, 7, when he nodded off and lost control of the car, causing the collision.

In a YouTube video shared by NDE Journey, he said: ‘I blacked out for the actual crashing but when it came to a stop I was completely conscious. 

‘The first thing I became aware of was my seven-year-old son, Spencer, in the back seat behind me crying hysterically. As a father I knew I had to get to him. 

‘And that’s when I realised I could not move.’ 

Mr Olsen suffered extensive injuries resulting in him having to have his left leg amputated above the knee. At this point, it was only the adrenaline coursing through his veins keeping him conscious.   

‘But I was unaware of my injuries,’ he recalled. ‘My lungs were collapsing, my legs were shattered, my right arm had almost been completely torn off, I was in and out of consciousness. 

‘But emotionally, all I could think is that I had to get to my boy. 

 ‘Then I realised no one else was crying. That’s when I knew my wife and my youngest son had been killed in the accident.’ 

Recalling his out of body experience, Mr Olsen said: ‘I blacked out, but then I felt light come and surround me… it felt comfortable like it was holding me in this, horrible terrible situation. 

‘It felt like I was rising above the accident scene. I could breathe. There was no pain. I was very much alive. 

‘And then my wife––who I knew was deceased at the scene––suddenly she was there  in the light with me. She was very much alive and beautiful with none of the injuries that took her life. 

‘She was emphatic that I couldn’t stay and that I had to go back. 

‘Because if I stayed with her our surviving son would be orphaned. And for whatever reason she couldn’t go back, but I could. We made a choice and I chose to come back.’ 

Thankfully, medics arrived at the scene of the crash and were able to cut Mr Olsen and his eldest son from the mangled wreck of the car. The next thing Mr Olsen remembers is waking up at the hospital. 

‘We have no idea how powerful our thoughts are,’ he said. 

‘As soon as I made the choice to come back I was whisked away and I was back, in a trauma centre at the ER.’ 

Whilst Mr Olsen did not know anyone at the hospital and he had suffered extensive injuries, he recalls feeling like he knew everyone he encountered during his stay.  

‘Everyone I encountered there I knew personally. I knew their thoughts, I knew their love. I knew their hopes, their motivations, even their anger. 

‘I felt everything but there was no judgement of it. There was just this profound sense of love,’ he added. 

While he miraculously survived the devastating ordeal, Mr Olsen was hospitalised for six months, most of which he spent in intensive care, undergoing 18 surgeries before he was able to start the long road to recovery. 

His story comes as doctors work to determine what happens during a near-death experience and when we die. 

Some research suggests people may still experience sparks of brain activity an hour after they stop breathing.

Other small studies have found the long-term impact of a near-death experience to be insignificant.

A 2023 report published in the journal Critical Care found of 19 patients who were considered dead, none showed personality changes or improved quality of life following a near-death experience.

But, experts say more research is needed to better understand the physical, emotional and psychological impact of near-death experiences.