A man who died and was brought back to life again has revealed what he saw and how he felt during this time - saying there was no 'light at the end of the tunnel'.
Kevin Hill, 55, has calciphylaxis - a serious, uncommon disease in which calcium gathers in small blood vessels of the fat and skin tissues.
He says that his dead skin began eating away at his live skin, resulting in excruciating pain and five pints of blood loss - meaning his heart stopped and doctors had to work to revive him again.
Kevin said 'dying" and coming back to life was actually a peaceful experience - despite being fully aware he had died.
Incredible, he made a full recovery afterwards, with doctors describing him as the "miracle man".
Kevin, a writer from Derby, Derbyshire, said: "I wasn't looking down at my body, but I was separate from my body. It was like I was in the spirit realm - I was conscious of what was going on but I had so much peace.
"I knew I was bleeding. I knew it was serious. The staff kept coming in and out to stop the bleeding."
Kevin said he was watching the NHS staff from the sidelines trying to save him.
He said: "I knew I had died. I was separate from my body.
"Then I just went to sleep and I woke up, alive and the bleeding had stopped. I knew it wasn't my time to die.
"The situation has made me refocus my priorities. When I came out of the hospital my family atmosphere changed dramatically.
"I have become more resilient. I know I can bounce back."
In the summer of 2021, Kevin's legs started to swell up because they were retaining excess water. He went to the doctors multiple times but he was dismissed, he said.
Finally, Kevin got an appointment at the coronary care unit in Derby and he got sent to Derby Royal Hospital within hours.
Kevin said: "This began my year-long stint in hospital. They gave me medicine to get rid of the water retention. After it all went, they told me I had lost 65kg of water weight."
The water retention was caused by Kevin's heart valve having two parts instead of three.
Kevin had a heart valve operation in January 2022. He said: "After my operation I caught calciphylaxis. This is a rare condition that only one in five people are diagnosed with.
"I had the disease for months. My skin was eating away at me. I had three days where my legs were bleeding out - it just wouldn't stop."
Kevin lost so much blood that he died for a few minutes until the doctors were able to resuscitate him, he said.
Kevin has made a near to full recovery and is now back at home with his wife Camille Hill, 52.
He said: "I am in the final stages of recovery. In my right leg, I still have some pain but it is not near the level it used to be - I would cry for hours.
"My pain level used to be 100 out of 10 and now it had dropped to a four.
"Everyone said I should be dead."
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