Imagine a day that begins like any other, only to spiral into an unimaginable fight for survival, a moment where the veil between life and what lies beyond is drawn back, revealing a truth that defies medical explanation. This is the extraordinary saga of Tina Hines, a woman whose heart stopped beating for an astonishing 27 minutes, only for her to return with a message that has since touched countless lives.
It all unfolded in a terrifying instant. Tina collapsed, her body giving out without warning, a victim of a sudden and severe heart attack. Her husband, Brian Hines, was plunged into every spouse’s deepest fear – his beloved wife was unresponsive, no longer breathing, her eyes rolled back. A chilling purple began to spread across her skin, a stark visual of the life draining away. Brian’s immediate call to 911 was a desperate plea against the encroaching darkness.
As panic threatened to consume him, their neighbor, Jeff Logas, rushed to their aid. Jeff frantically searched for a pulse, but there was none. Without a moment’s hesitation, he began the arduous, life-saving rhythm of CPR. But even with his determined efforts, Tina remained unresponsive. The precious seconds stretched into an eternity, each breath of life Jeff attempted to force into her lungs seemingly absorbed by the void.
Brian, witnessing his wife fading before his eyes, felt an overwhelming surge of helplessness. He recalled the moment with raw emotion, “Jeff said, ‘Brian, I can’t do this. I’m not doing it right.’ And so, I put the phone down on the rocks, and I just start pushing on Tina, pushing on her chest in the middle of her chest, I was panicked.” It was a visceral, primal struggle against death, a husband pouring every ounce of his being into willing his wife back to life. Jeff, watching Brian’s desperate fight, eloquently described the scene: “It was–it was like a man giving every last breath that he had to try to get his wife back.”
The paramedics finally arrived, a beacon of professional hope in the chaotic scene. They administered two rounds of epinephrine, attempting to coax Tina’s heart back into action. They shocked her heart, the powerful electrical jolt a last-ditch effort to restart the most vital organ. Brian, his voice choked with emotion, watched, pleaded, and prayed as they continued their relentless work. “They did it a third time, and I’m looking at them going, ‘Guys, is-is her heart beating? Can you get her heart to beat? Please God, please make her heart beat,’” he recounted, the memory still fresh with the agony of that moment.
Tina’s body bore the physical scars of the ordeal: a deep cut on her forehead from the fall, a cracked sternum, and fractured ribs – all consequences of the forceful, life-saving CPR. Yet, despite the heroic efforts, the clock kept ticking. Twenty agonizing minutes passed, and still, there was no pulse. Her heart refused to beat. The paramedics, undeterred, transported her to Deer Valley Medical Center, a desperate race against time. Jeff, reflecting on that period, expressed the grim reality they faced: “In my mind, I knew she was dead. There was nothing.”
While the medical team continued their fierce battle, Brian found himself in an equally profound spiritual struggle. He dropped to his knees, pleading with God, a prayer born of the deepest desperation. “I said, ‘God, take everything from my life if you’ll give me back Tina,’” he revealed. Friends and family, hearing of the tragedy, gathered to offer their presence and their prayers, creating a circle of hope and support around the worried husband.
At the hospital, the doctor delivered news that was both a miracle and a terrifying prophecy. They had defibrillated Tina’s heart in the ER, and she had finally come back. A heartbeat! But the gravity of her condition was immense. She had been without limited or no oxygen for an astonishing 27 to 28 minutes. To give her body a chance to recover, they would induce her into a coma, running tests to understand the full extent of what had happened. The doctor’s words hung heavy in the air: most people don’t survive five to ten minutes without oxygen to the brain, and those who do often suffer major brain handicaps. Tina’s prolonged lack of oxygen meant the odds were stacked against her.
Brian described the harrowing sight of Tina in the ICU. “I mean, she’s vented, the thing’s breathing for her. She’s got all these tubes on her. And your eyes just immediately go to that monitor, watching the heart rate thing, the chart and hearing the beeping and seeing the numbers. It was crazy.” Yet, amidst the fear and the tubes, a fragile hope flickered. “But I had to be happy too that at least she is alive,” he added. The ICU room became a sanctuary of silent prayers, filled with friends and family, including Tina’s sister Tammi and her husband, Dave, all united in their vigil.
The following day brought a glimmer of true progress. Tina’s vitals had normalized, a small victory in the ongoing war. The medical team decided it was time to test her ability to breathe on her own and planned to take her off the ventilator. Brian, ever the loving husband, leaned close and whispered words of encouragement into her ear. “The doctor needs to know that you can breathe on your own. And I told them that you are [a] superwoman. Can you show him that you can breathe on your own?” Miraculously, as if responding to his loving plea, “Her chest went…” Brian mimicked the deep, voluntary breath she took. He looked back at the doctor, who simply nodded, a quiet affirmation: “That’ll work.”
Tina continued to defy expectations, making remarkable progress. Now conscious, though still unable to speak, her brother-in-law, Dave, offered her a pen and held a notebook. With eyes still closed and fully vented, she began to scrawl letters onto the paper. The family watched, captivated, trying to decipher the disjointed characters. Brian recounted the painstaking process: “We figured out that she wrote I-T-S-R-E-A-L. ‘What’s it’s real?’ And I go, ‘The pain? The hospital?’ She’s slowly nodding her head. Eyes are closed. She’s fully vented. She’s moving all this. No, and then my daughter goes, ‘Heaven?’ And she goes–she nods YES.” The revelation brought a wave of understanding and a profound sense of peace. Dave noted that as soon as someone uttered the word ‘Jesus,’ a palpable sense of calm settled over her. Witnessing this, Brian’s heart was filled with certainty, and he knew, “She’s going to be just fine.”
Her doctor had initially predicted that she wouldn’t be able to speak right away, a common consequence of such a severe lack of oxygen. But Tina, a woman who had already defied death multiple times, was not one to follow conventional medical timelines. She beat the odds yet again, her voice returning, filled with an urgent need to share her experience. She began to recount, with clarity and conviction, the events of her unconscious journey.
What she described was nothing short of miraculous, a vision of profound beauty and peace. “I just wanted to share that I saw Jesus face to face and the unbelievable rest and peacefulness of what I was experiencing was Jesus standing there with His arms open wide, and right behind Jesus standing there was this incredible glow it was the most vibrant and beautiful yellow,” she shared, her words painting a vivid picture of the divine encounter. It was a scene of such tranquility and brilliance that it forever etched itself into her memory, transforming her understanding of life and death.
Tina’s testimony wasn’t just a fleeting recollection; it was a deeply ingrained conviction that radiated from her. “God is real in my life. Jesus is real. Heaven is real. I know that God can use every situation to make us who we are in Christ,” she declared, her voice resonating with an undeniable certainty. Her near-death experience had not just brought her back to life; it had fundamentally reshaped her faith and her purpose, anchoring her in an unwavering belief in the divine.
Perhaps the most astonishing aspect of Tina’s recovery was the speed with which she was discharged from the hospital. After everything she had endured – the cardiac arrest, the multiple flatlines, the 27 minutes without oxygen, the fractured sternum and ribs – she was released after only four days. Beyond the lingering physical injuries from the CPR, her body was healing at an incredible rate, and her mind, miraculously, was intact. There was no brain injury, no major handicap, a fact that astounded her doctors and family alike. It was, truly, the greatest miracle of all. Today, Tina Hines is not just surviving; she is thriving, training for a half marathon, a testament to a life lived to the fullest after glimpsing eternity. Her story stands as a powerful reminder that sometimes, when things seem to spiral down, it’s only the divine who can lift us out of any pit we are in, fulfilling the ancient promise: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
Her experience became a beacon, a living testament to the possibility of a reality beyond our earthly comprehension. The ‘chilling note’ that simply read ‘It’s real’ wasn’t chilling at all, but rather, a heartwarming confirmation of hope for so many. Her husband, Brian, (also referred to as Dave in parts of the context) recounted the moments leading to the deciphering of the note. “She just started making marks, and I couldn’t tell what it was, and I was almost shaking. I was fixed. I just held the book steady because I didn’t want it to drop.” The determination in his voice reflected the profound significance of her silent communication. He described the slow, almost agonizing process of understanding her message. “We figured out she wrote I-T-S-R-E-A-L. ‘What’s it’s real?’ And I go, ‘The pain? The hospital?’ She’s slowly nodding your head. Eyes are closed. She’s fully vented. No, and then my daughter goes, ‘Heaven?’ And she goes – she nods yes.” This moment, of a woman barely clinging to life yet communicating such a profound truth, resonated deeply with everyone present, solidifying the conviction that something extraordinary had transpired.
Tina herself, reflecting on the 2018 experience, reiterated the vividness and tranquility of her encounter. “I just wanted to share I saw Jesus face to face and the unbelievable rest and peacefulness of what I was experiencing was Jesus standing there with his arms open wide, and right behind Jesus standing there was this incredible glow it was the most vibrant and beautiful yellow.” This visual, described with such clarity, offers a glimpse into a realm of beauty and serenity that transcends earthly understanding. Her ability to recall such intricate details, especially after a period of brain oxygen deprivation that doctors predicted would lead to severe impairment, adds another layer of wonder to her account. The very fact that she recovered without any brain impairments, as confirmed by her doctors, solidifies the miraculous nature of her experience. Tina’s journey from the brink of death to a full recovery, actively training for a half marathon, stands as a vibrant testament to the incredible power she encountered. It’s a story that encapsulates not just survival, but an inspiring transformation, offering a powerful narrative of hope and the reality of a life beyond our immediate perception.
Tina Hines’ incredible journey back from the brink of death, bearing a message of profound significance, serves as a powerful testament to the enduring mystery and hope surrounding near-death experiences. Her succinct yet startling message – “It’s real” – scribbled with such determination in the immediate aftermath of her resurrection, transcends mere words; it is a beacon, confirming for many the reality of a spiritual realm beyond our physical comprehension. This singular utterance, followed by her affirmative nod to “Heaven” and her calm at the mention of “Jesus,” immediately transformed a harrowing medical emergency into an inspiring revelation.
Her vivid recounting of standing face-to-face with Jesus, His arms open wide, enveloped by an “unbelievable rest and peacefulness,” and witnessing an “incredible glow,” described as the “most vibrant and beautiful yellow,” paints a picture of divine beauty and serenity. This vision was not a fleeting dream but a deeply ingrained conviction, so real and impactful that it anchors her faith and permeates her understanding of life. Tina’s experience, emerging from a state where medical science predicted severe impairment, to a full recovery and a life of vibrant purpose, solidifies the miraculous nature of her encounter.
While Tina’s story stands as a beacon of individual experience, it resonates deeply within a larger tapestry of human encounters with the beyond: the phenomenon of near-death experiences (NDEs). For centuries, these profound moments, where individuals report conscious experiences during clinical death, have captivated humanity. They offer glimpses, often startlingly consistent across cultures and beliefs, into what might lie beyond the veil of life.
Indeed, Tina is not alone in her extraordinary claims. Dr. Lynda Cramer, a woman who was clinically dead for over fourteen minutes, also shared an astonishing account of her journey into the afterlife. Dr. Cramer described floating above paramedics working on her body before exploring a heavenly realm where she could take any form she chose. Her descriptions are breathtakingly grand, speaking of a “field of flowers” and observing a “mountain range 30,000 times huger than Mount Everest.” She saw “buildings with skyscrapers,” dwarfing even Dubai’s modern marvels into “little miniature huts,” alongside vast lakes, all viewed in a panoramic splendor. Her experience, though lasting only minutes in earthly time, felt to her like five years, underscoring the subjective and timeless nature of these reported journeys.
Another poignant testimony comes from Janelle Wooford, whose own heart attack led to a brief but profound encounter with heaven. For Janelle, the experience was marked by an overwhelming sense of “peace and joy and happiness.” She found herself in a “bright, bright place,” completely free of pain and fear, enveloped in comfort. It was a “familiar place,” she recalled, where she knew loved ones were present. When her name was called, signaling her return to her body, her initial response was a heartfelt “No thank you, I’m happy here. I’m staying here. I’m enjoying this. I’m not leaving this.” Yet, the call persisted, and the moment she answered, she was back with the EMTs, her heavenly vision gone, but its impact forever etched upon her soul. Her two to two and a half minutes of clinical death left her with a powerful message: “There is nothing on this earth that can even give you a comprehension of how amazing and glorious the peace and the joy is up there.”
These personal anecdotes, while deeply spiritual for many, have also spurred scientific inquiry. Scientists are tirelessly working to understand the intricate workings of the brain during these critical events. A noteworthy 2013 study from the University of Michigan, led by Dr. Jimo Borjigin, offered intriguing insights. Researchers discovered that the brain might become significantly more active, rather than less, during the dying process. Dr. Borjigin commented, “A lot of people thought the brain after clinical death was inactive or hypoactive. But we show that’s definitely not the case. If anything, it’s much more active during the dying process than even the waking state.” This research opens new avenues for understanding, suggesting a complex neurochemical surge could be at play, or perhaps, it merely underscores the profound mystery that science is yet to fully unravel, leaving ample space for both physiological and transcendent explanations.
The common threads woven through Tina’s, Dr. Cramer’s, and Janelle’s experiences are striking and deeply moving. Each account emphasizes an overwhelming sense of peace, the complete absence of pain and fear, and intensely vivid perceptions that transcend ordinary sensory experience. Whether it’s Tina’s face-to-face encounter with Jesus, Dr. Cramer’s panoramic views of a grand heavenly landscape, or Janelle’s profound joy and recognition of loved ones, these narratives consistently paint a picture of a welcoming and beautiful afterlife. These shared elements contribute to the collective reassurance that for many, death is not an ending, but a transition to a realm of unparalleled peace and wonder.
The enduring hope derived from these near-death experiences is immense. For those who hear these stories, they offer profound comfort and a powerful counter-narrative to the fear often associated with mortality. Tina herself declared with unwavering certainty: “God is real in my life. Jesus is real. Heaven is real.” This conviction, echoed in the testimonies of others, provides a powerful affirmation of faith and the existence of a spiritual dimension that underpins our earthly lives. It is a message that resonates with the deepest human longing for meaning and reassurance beyond our temporary existence.
The transformative power of these encounters is undeniable. Individuals who have experienced NDEs often return with a profoundly altered perspective on life, a deepened sense of purpose, and an unshakeable faith. Tina Hines, for instance, not only survived against all odds but actively thrives, training for a half marathon, embodying a life lived to its fullest after glimpsing eternity. This remarkable resilience and newfound zest for life are not uncommon among NDE experiencers. They often emerge with a renewed appreciation for life, a reduced fear of death, and a stronger connection to their spiritual beliefs, demonstrating how a brief journey beyond can profoundly reshape the journey of life itself.
Ultimately, the resonating message from these extraordinary experiences is one of enduring hope and the incredible reality of a greater existence. Whether interpreted through a lens of faith, neuroscience, or simply as a profound human mystery, these testimonies offer a glimpse into the possibility that death is not the final chapter. They remind us that there may be a profound and peaceful reality awaiting us, a truth that, for those like Tina, Dr. Cramer, and Janelle, is unequivocally “real.” In a world often grappling with uncertainty, these stories shine brightly, illuminating the pathway to hope and inviting us all to ponder the vast, beautiful mysteries that lie just beyond our perception.
