In 2019, Charlotte Holmes from Wichita, Kansas, went to her cardiologist for a routine check when her blood pressure suddenly spiked. Doctors suspected a stroke or heart attack and rushed her to hospital. During treatment, her heart reportedly stopped for 11 minutes and she was declared clinically dead.

Vision of Heaven

While staff fought to revive her, Holmes said she began to see and smell flowers her husband could not see. She later recalled: “I looked around at the beauty. I could see the trees, I could see the grass. And everything was swaying with the music because everything in Heaven worships God.” She said Heaven was “so above what we can even imagine a million times,” and that she felt “no fear, just joy.”

Loved ones and lost child

Holmes claimed she saw her parents, sister, and other relatives: “I see my mom, I see my dad, I see my sister, I see my family members standing behind.” She also described seeing a toddler God told her was the baby she lost in pregnancy, and said He explained, “They continue to grow in heaven.”

Glimpse of Hell

Holmes said God then showed her “the edge of Hell.” She remembered “rotten flesh – that’s what it smelled like – and then screams,” calling the contrast with Heaven “almost unbearable.” She said God told her, “If some of them do not change their ways, this is where they shall reside.”

Recovery and message

Holmes was revived, later recovering and sharing her story to offer hope: “People need hope… Heaven is more than you can imagine… Heaven is real.”