Vinney Tolman was declared dead after lying undiscovered for nearly an hour in a restaurant bathroom. A rookie paramedic's last-minute check revived him, but Tolman says he had a near-death experience during those 107 minutes, traveling to "another world" filled with light that "felt like home." He brought back a lesson about authenticity.
Collapse and Clinical Death
Speaking on the Mighty Pursuit podcast, Tolman explained that he and a friend had consumed a now-banned bodybuilding supplement. After experiencing alarming side effects, they went to a restaurant. Feeling unwell, Tolman headed to the restroom. "I had this feeling that I just want to get out of me what I had just taken. And so I went over to the sink and right there as I started to step towards the sink, that's when it felt like the whole world spun on me," he recalled. He heard a loud crack as his head hit the ground.
Tolman found himself in a peculiar state—simultaneously unconscious and alert, as if watching events unfold like a movie. "I felt there was no pain. But I also felt that I was in a floating state where I felt weightless," he said. He sensed himself drifting upward, gazing down at his own body. He observed that his neck had swollen wider than his jaw, with yellow around the jowls and bright purple in the cheeks.
Paramedic Intervention
From his elevated position, Tolman saw his friend face-down in a puddle of vomit. Paramedics took the friend to a hospital, but Tolman's body remained undiscovered in the bathroom. He described seeing a supernatural "orb" of light approaching. Two veteran paramedics attempted resuscitation—CPR and oxygen—but declared him dead on the scene. They instructed their rookie colleague, about 22 years old, to "babysit" Tolman's body in the ambulance.
Tolman claims he could perceive the rookie's thoughts: the medic berated himself for not speaking up and demanding further checks. Despite the body being cold and initial checks yielding nothing, an inexplicable urge compelled the rookie to unzip the body bag and search for vital signs. He eventually found a weak pulse. "For him that was enough to completely break protocols," Tolman said. The rookie forced oxygen into the lungs, hooked up a defibrillator, and after three rounds, restored a steady heartbeat.
Journey to the Afterlife
Although revived, Tolman remained unconscious for three days. During that time, he claims he was enveloped in a radiance of love and acceptance beyond anything he'd encountered. "You could take all the love I ever felt my whole life, add it all together, and it's not even a little eyelash compared to the sum of this light," he said. He turned to see a figure in white with a long white beard and flowing clothing. "I could only think, 'This has to be God...' But as soon as I had that thought, I heard him respond using his thoughts. And he said, 'No, son. I'm not God.'" The figure identified himself as Tolman's guide.
The guide led Tolman to "another world," a planetary-like space saturated with love, where even the grass felt like a "long-lost friend." Tolman concluded that current understanding of religion and spirituality is flawed. "I woke up to the reality that God is this entire system. And bigger than that, God is the love energy in the system for all of us," he explained.
Profound Lesson
After his experience, Tolman wrote a book titled The Light After Death: My Journey to Heaven and Back. He revealed that during his visit to the otherworldly realm, he witnessed all his actions through the eyes of those around him. He determined: "Every moment that we are not being authentic, it's a moment wasted. And so it's very important for us to be as authentic as we can."
