In 1979, a 19-year-old woman's life was irrevocably changed during a seemingly ordinary horse ride in Virginia. Lura Ketchledge, now 66 and living a quiet life in Arkansas, endured a catastrophic fall that led to one of the most detailed and transformative near-death experiences ever reported.
A Fatal Fall and a Journey Begins
Lura, who describes herself as a "regular person," was an experienced rider. However, on a beautiful April day in 1979, she chose a horse "above her abilities," a decision fuelled by the invincibility of youth. After a day of riding, a race back to the barn turned tragic when her horse stumbled at full gallop.
"I knew I was going to get clobbered - I just knew it," Lura recalls. As she fell, something extraordinary happened before she hit the ground. "I left my body to my own shock and dismay... The accident wasn't terrifying - the leaving the body was."
She was then propelled into a dark tunnel. "I clearly knew I was dead. There was no mistaking it," she said. The sensation was of moving at high speed through a soft, dense passage, a journey that was frighteningly swift but not claustrophobic.
A Reunion and a Life Review
At the end of this tunnel, a profound emotional reunion awaited. Her grandfather, who had died of cancer when she was 12, was there to greet her. "It was a relief to see him," Lura said, noting he appeared as the healthy, vibrant man she remembered from her early childhood, free from pain and illness.
Their communication was telepathic, "more elegant and more honest" than spoken words. This comforting presence marked a transition. Guided onward, Lura then underwent a panoramic life review.
She was shown segments of her life, experiencing not just her own memories but the emotional impact of her actions on others. "When I wasn't nice to this little girl at six - I felt her disappointment in me," she explained. The purpose, she felt, was not punishment but a lesson: "don't be the roadblock" in another person's destiny.
The 'Sea of Love' and a Reluctant Return
Lura's journey progressed through visions of past lives—a concept she struggled with—and onto a beach with colours deeper than on Earth. Ultimately, she lost all sense of physical form, becoming pure consciousness and "bathing in the sea of love." It was a state of wanting for nothing, accompanied by ethereal music and a brilliant, expansive light shared with other souls.
Abruptly, this bliss ended. She was pulled back, first to her grandfather in a mauve-hued realm, and then, painfully, into her injured body. "It was like a bottle being re-corked," she described. Her return to the Virginia countryside felt unreal; she was desperate to go back.
A Secret Buried for Years
Rushed to hospital, Lura tried to explain her experience to a doctor. This was only four years after the term 'near-death experience' entered public discourse. The doctor laughed and accused her of taking drugs. In the 1970s, without the internet, speaking of such phenomena risked being labelled a "whackado."
She carried the secret alone until she was 25, when she finally told her grandmother. To her immense comfort, her grandmother revealed that Lura's own mother had similar experiences. This validation allowed Lura to eventually share her story publicly, offering a unique window into an event that forever altered her perception of reality, death, and the continuity of existence.
