I Was an Atheist… Until I Died for Three Minutes: Proof That Heaven and Hell Are Real
Tricia Barker wasn’t religious in practice, even though she grew up in a Christian home. At 21, she crashed while driving to a 10-km race in Austin, Texas, and was rushed to the hospital with a fractured spine, a broken foot, and internal injuries. She waited 17 hours for surgery because she had no health insurance. Before the operation, she reportedly whispered a plea: “If there is a God, this is going to be a hard day. Please help me. Let me live. Let me walk again.” On the operating table, she died for about two and a half minutes. In that suspended moment she felt a profound calm and total clarity, floating beyond her body while a quiet peace enveloped the room. She would later describe the experience as a gateway to an unfamiliar reality where everything she believed was tested and transformed. A vision of light beings—and a direct communication with what she would come to know as God—showed her a destiny she could not ignore: to become a teacher who could help others live with joy and belief in themselves. After a long recovery, she redirected her life toward teaching and spiritual work, and now shares her story to suggest that the afterlife may be real.
In This Article:
A Late Start, a Deadly Crash
Tricia was late to the race, hadn’t had her morning coffee, and felt extremely sleepy. She crossed the intersection on a yellow light, and another car speeding through apparently ran the red. The collision was brutal, and she went into shock, unable to move. A nurse who happened to be driving by stopped, ran to help, and called an ambulance while telling her not to move. At the hospital, doctors found a fractured spine, a broken foot, and internal injuries. She underwent CT scans and an MRI, but because she had no health insurance, she had to wait 17 hours for surgery. Before surgery, she signed the documents and noticed in the fine print there was a “17 per cent chance of death.” She wasn’t afraid to die, however—being an atheist who believed death was nothing—yet she whispered, “If there is a God, this is going to be a hard day. Please help me. Let me live. Let me walk again.” This moment foreshadowed a different truth she would soon encounter.
An Out-of-Body Journey and a Glimpse of the Afterlife
While under anesthesia, Tricia says she popped out of her body and could see herself on the operating table. She recalls total clarity, no pain, and a sense of being aware of everything in the room. She even heard an Elvis Presley song playing on the radio. In the distance, a man in his thirties stood next to a shiny 1960s truck. It was her grandfather, who had died when she was ten. He asked her, “Do you want to keep going towards God?” She spoke to what she believes was God during this journey. Behind the surgeons, she saw “light beings”—they were made of silvery-white, gold, yellow, and blue light, and they looked androgynous. They communicated through telepathy and lit up the hands of the surgeons, telling her she would be okay and showing her an image of herself running. Her heartbeat monitor even flatlined, and she moved through walls and corridors, leaving the hospital behind as she drifted toward the beyond. She describes moving beyond our universe into a bright, peaceful afterlife full of light.
A Divine Message and a Return
Then a booming voice—neither clearly male nor female—spoke with a vibration that she felt in her core. It was God, and it told her that her true calling was to teach and, specifically, to show students how to live a life full of joy, passion, and belief in themselves. When she protested about teachers not earning much, she says God laughed and showed her souls along a river—some filled with fear and darkness, others glowing with light. That moment sealed her sense of purpose and confirmed her path. Moments later she was flung back to reality. She woke gasping in the ICU, sure that her experience was no dream. Returning to her body felt almost constraining after such a grand revelation.
From Atheist to Teacher and Medium
After a full recovery, Tricia returned to college and shifted from pursuing law to teaching. She taught at various levels, including high school and community college, focusing on helping students overcome personal challenges. Today she is an English teacher at Houston City College and also works as a spiritual medium. Her story was first published in her book, which is available here. While her family initially doubted her account—her mother in particular—she persisted, noting a detail her mother later confirmed: her stepfather buying a candy bar from the hospital vending machine. The skeptical response from a minister’s pamphlet only joined the chorus of disbelief at the time, but Tricia’s experiences shaped her life and work. She continues to teach and to counsel, using her experiences to help others confront fear and find purpose. Her story remains a testament to the possibility that the afterlife may be more than a myth.
