Shiv Grewal, a 50-year-old actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company, has created artworks depicting what he claims to have seen during a seven-minute cardiac arrest in 2013. The experience, which he describes as a 'cosmic journey', has led him to believe in an afterlife.
Grewal collapsed at his home in Peckham, south London, after dining with his wife Alison. Paramedics revived him using CPR, but he was clinically dead for seven minutes. He recalls being aware of his brain dying while feeling separate from his body, floating in a void. He says he was offered reincarnation but demanded to return to his wife and material life.
During the episode, Grewal felt weightless and travelled over the moon, seeing meteorites and space. He has since translated these sensations into paintings, which he has exhibited. The actor, who spent a month in an induced coma due to oxygen starvation, now has epilepsy and struggles with speech and mobility. He has been unable to return to acting.
Describing himself as a 'natural cynic', Grewal says the experience has made him less fearful of death but more appreciative of life. He believes kindness is a fundamental truth and hopes his art helps others understand what happens when we die.
