A mother who once viewed the world in stark, unimaginative terms experienced a radical transformation after being struck by lightning, an event that transported her to what she describes as heaven and fundamentally altered her perception of death.
A Fateful Day in Houston
In 1988, Elizabeth Krohn was a 28-year-old mother of two living in Houston, Texas. Her life changed irrevocably one day as she walked to a synagogue service, holding an umbrella in one hand and the hand of her two-year-old son in the other.
She recalled a sudden chill in the air and a feeling of static electricity. The moment she thought to herself, “let go, just let go of the umbrella,” a massive bolt of lightning struck the metal rod. The impact was instantaneous and catastrophic.
A Journey to a Perfect Garden
In the moments following the strike, Elizabeth found herself looking down at her own body lying on the ground. Realising she was dead, she was then drawn towards a brilliant, conscious light.
“The light was wholesome. It was alive. The light was conscious. And it wanted me to follow it,” she recounted. This light guided her to a place she calls “the garden,” a realm of indescribable perfection that she identifies as heaven.
There, she sat on a bench and communicated with a divine presence, which spoke through the voice of her grandfather who had died a year earlier. During this conversation, she gained a profound understanding of the relationship between space and time.
The Choice to Return
Elizabeth was then presented with a choice: she could remain in the blissful garden or return to her life on Earth. The divine voice informed her that she had more planned for her life, including the birth of a third child, a daughter who had already chosen Elizabeth and her husband as parents.
Faced with the option of starting her life over or finishing the one she had begun, the decision became clear. “I need to go back and just finish the job,” she concluded.
She then opened her eyes to find herself back in the rain, with people rushing from the synagogue to aid her. She suffered significant burns from the lightning strike and was bedbound for three months due to painful injuries to her feet.
Life After the Experience
Initially, Elizabeth kept her experience to herself, fearing ridicule. When she did confide in others, rabbis dismissed her story. Her mother believed her, but her husband “pretty much laughed” and told her she was “losing it.”
Despite this scepticism, the prophecy from her near-death experience came true. She and her husband, who remained married for another nine years, welcomed a third child—a girl.
Summing up the impact of the event, Elizabeth stated, “My near-death experience totally shifted how I think about life and death and religion… how I think about everything.” She explained that her previous rigid and structured worldview was replaced with the certainty that consciousness survives bodily death, a revelation that has brought her peace and erased her fear of dying.
