Tunnel? What Tunnel?

Tunnel? What Tunnel?
By Donald C. Brown

In the late fall of 1997, I had to be taken to the emergency room of the nearest hospital. I was experiencing tachycardia (extremely rapid heartbeat) and occasional lost synchronism between the right atricle and right ventricle. I had experienced tachycardia before but had never lost the synchronized heartbeat. Also, my previous episodes of tachycardia had never lasted more than a few seconds. This episode had already lasted several hours and appeared to be getting worse.

The ambulance attendants gave me an injection intended to shock the heart to cause it to return to a normal and synchronized rhythm. In previous episodes, this injection had been the only treatment necessary. However, this time it had no effect whatsoever. At the emergency room, the doctors were clearly concerned but there was nothing to do but repeat the injection. Again, it had no effect whatsoever. Now, we had to wait 30 minutes before the injection could be tried again.

By this time, I was very weak and had difficulty even lifting my head from the bed. The tachycardia showed signs of turning into fibrillation. My blood pressure had dropped to 63 over 47. My doctor decided to try a triple-strength injection, which was certain to stop the heartbeat. My heart should then start up again on its own but in a normal rhythm. The injection did stop my heart but it did not restart by itself. Everyone in the emergency was room was stunned to see me still conscious but without any heartbeat whatsoever. I could see the flat line on the monitor myself, because I was still conscious with my eyes open. I was looking into my wife’s eyes and I could see the fear she was feeling. Mentally, I was struggling to draw breath and stay alive. I had never before that time and never since that time experienced that much pain. I began to feel that I just wanted it to be over, even if it meant my death.

I want to emphasize that I never left my body, but I was willing to die to stop the pain. Suddenly, I was aware in a way that I cannot explain that Jesus was communicating with me. He told me that if I wanted to die, all I had to do was quit fighting and I would go to be with my loved ones who were already dead. Then He told me that this was not what had been planned. If I died now, my wife and family were not prepared and would suffer severe mental and spiritual loss. He wanted me to stay. I was still looking into my wife’s eyes and could see that what she feared most in the world was that I was about to die.

I decided that I could not leave my wife and family to face that fear alone. I told Jesus that I would stay, but please stop the pain. Instantly, my heart restarted and the pain was gone. I had been without a heartbeat for more than 10 seconds, but had never lost consciousness. I was held in the hospital for another four days to be certain that my heart was stable. My doctor discovered that Propulsid, a medication to control intestinal spasms and pain, and Verapamil, a medication to control heartbeat rate and angina, would interact and cause extremely low blood pressure and permanent heart damage. The drug manufacturer had kept this fact secret and only in the previous month had reports of experiences similar to mine been reported. This explained the physical aspects of my experience, but I did not tell anyone about my conversation with Jesus for several years. He has never released me from my promise to stay and help my family, so I can only assume that my presence is still critical to them. I am grateful for His reassurance and I do look forward to going to be in His presence again, but only when it is time. Until then, I can only encourage my loved ones to trust in His care. I know He is there when I need Him.