Man who died for 10 minutes shares what it really feels like to experience death

A man who died for 10 minutes has spoken out about his experience, and what he remembers of the feeling. Matthew Allick suffered a huge heart attack and was clinically dead for 10 minutes.

Matthew had started feeling unwell at the end of August 2023, and was struggling with shortness of breath and swollen feet. Otherwise, he had been generally fit and healthy, so assumed his symptoms were just his body adjusting to a new night shift pattern he was doing at work.

Then, Matthew began to struggle climbing a single step at his workplace, and a colleague called an ambulance. Shortly after arriving at hospital, Matthew collapsed following a cardiac arrest caused by a pulmonary embolism. He was then deemed clinically dead.

But miraculously, Matthew survived and was then in a coma. He came around after three days, and recalled it feeling as though he’d awoken from “a peaceful sleep”.

via SWNS

Matthew said: “It was the end of August back in 2023 and I started noticing I had swollen feet. They would swell up and then go down the next day, so I ignored it.

“But then I started getting out of breath doing simple tasks, like, if I stood up too quickly, it felt like I had just done a sprint. It never lasted long though and I considered myself fit and healthy – someone who went to the gym a few times a week and ate well – so I just thought it would go away.”

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Then, at work Matthew realised he couldn’t climb the stairs, and asked a work friend to call an ambulance. Paramedics arrived within five minutes and decided Matthew had an irregular heartbeat. They said that it was likely nothing to worry about but took him to hospital as a precaution.

‘I dropped dead. I had no pulse, no heartbeat. Nothing’

Once at the hospital, a doctor asked Michael to rank his pain on a scale of one to ten. He said: “I told him that it had been a zero before but suddenly it was an 11 out of ten. He said that it couldn’t be an 11, and I said, ‘Now it’s a 13’.”

Then, the worst happened. Matthew continued: “And then I dropped dead. I had no pulse, no heartbeat. Nothing.” Doctors used a defibrillator and gave Matthew CPR so aggressive that it caused internal bleeding. He was considered clinically dead for several minutes before medics resuscitated him and placed him into a coma.

His family was warned if he ever awoke, Matthew may be brain dead – because of the length of time his brain was deprived of oxygen. But when Matthew woke up he was fully conscious, and only had issues with his memory.

He said: “I don’t remember anything from when I was dead. But what I do remember is coming out of the coma and it felt like I had been sleeping. Everything was peaceful. It felt like a peaceful sleep.”

via SWNS

Initially, Matthew also struggled with memory – finding it difficult to get people’s names correct and even identify different colours. But over time he recovered. “I slowly started to return to normal,” Matthew said.

“At first, I could recognise faces but couldn’t get people’s names, and I remember I couldn’t recognise colours. My brother brought me an orange, and I said, what colour is that? But my brother spent time with me getting me to recite movie quotes to regain my memory. I also had to re-learn to sit up, how to walk, how to control my urine. It was a crazy journey.”

Matthew later found out how crucial blood transfusions were to saving his life and now wants to raise awareness of the importance of giving blood – especially among Black heritage communities.

A spokesperson said: “Although the blood used to treat Matthew came from a range of donors of different ethnicities, the need for more Black heritage donors to come forward to provide ethnically matched blood is well established. ”

Matthew added: “Without blood transfusions I wouldn’t be here today. We often don’t realise how critical blood donation is until we’re on the receiving end. Someone’s decision to give blood saved my life. That’s what I want more people to realise. I really want to raise awareness for blood donation – especially among the black community.”

Matthew says he is “75 per cent back to normal” now but has good days and bad days. To become a blood donor, download the NHSBT app, visit Blood.co.uk, or call 0300 123 23 23.

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