An Indian-origin British stage actor Shiv Grewal, who “died” for a good few minutes before being revived, has opened up about his encounter with the afterlife. Grewal, 60, whose heart stopped on a February afternoon in 2013, has woven a vivid tapestry of what happened next when he “died” for seven minutes after going into cardiac arrest.
Tragedy struck Grewal during a seemingly ordinary lunch with his wife, Alison, near their house in southeast London. Desperate for a lifeline, Alison frantically dialled for an ambulance, but he was gone by then, for a few minutes.
Recounting the surreal seven-minute episode, Grewal shared his unique experience with PA Real Life, painting a portrait of his journey to the other side. "I knew, somehow, that I was dead," he recalled, his voice resonating with an air of disbelief. "I felt things completely separate from my body. It was like I was in a void but could feel emotions and sensations."
"I had no body as such. I suppose it was a bit like swimming through water, you feel weightless and disconnected from the physical world," he mused. He delved further, describing celestial scenes. "At one point, I was traveling over the moon, and I could see meteorites and all of space," he revealed to PA Real Life.
Yet, amidst the cosmic spectacle, Grewal grappled with a profound choice. "There was a whole set of possibilities, various lives and reincarnations that were being offered to me," he confessed. "I didn't want them," he asserted. "I made it very clear that I wanted to return to my body, to my time, to my wife and to go on living."
The arrival of the ambulance and paramedics made things better. Rushed into surgery to alleviate a fully clogged main artery, Grewal's harrowing journey through the realms of existence was far from over. Cerebral hypoxia, the deprivation of oxygen to the brain, led to a month-long induced coma and left him grappling with epilepsy in its wake.
After his recovery, he started using art as a medium to express himself. Under the apt title "Reboot," his collection is exhibited at London's Karma Sanctum Soho hotel until September 24.
He also spoke about death that will eventually catch up to him. "I'm less fearful of death because of it, but at the same time, I'm also more fearful, because I've realized how precious everything I have in life is," he admitted to PA Real Life. "My drive for life has been boosted. I've always thought that kindness is essential for humans to evolve and become better, but after this experience, I now feel this very deep inside me — like a fundamental truth."
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