'At 1 o'clock that afternoon, I died': Woman describes trip to Heaven

'I remember closing my eyes and, instantly, I was standing in the most beautiful tunnel of light with two angels and the presence of God.'

Crystal McVea suffered complications of pancreatitis that led her to a temporary death before doctors were able to revive her. During her brush with death, McVea said she traveled to Heaven and met God.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - McVea is a teacher whose death experience drove her to write the true story of how she went to Heaven in "Waking Up in Heaven."

Speaking to The Church Boys, McVea shared the story of how she accidentally overdosed on pain medication in the hospital.

"At 1 o'clock that afternoon, I died. I remember starting to doze off ... but not in a foggy, groggy kind of way. I knew that something was happening. ...I remember almost every detail. I remember being in the bed. My mother was at my feet and I remember starting to drift off - and I remember opening my eyes and telling her that I loved her," McVea told TheBlaze.

"I remember just closing my eyes in that bed and I opened them and I was standing in the most beautiful tunnel of light I could ever describe. ... I had two angels standing to my left whom I recognized as angels immediately ... they took on vague human shapes" and she added they seemed to be emitting an amber light.

McVea knew she was in Heaven and later described her instant knowledge as the ability to "transfer all of my emotions and thoughts to you in a single second."

She said she could "tangibly feel the love radiating from [God]" and it was so strong that she immediately fell and began to worship Him.

"It was unreal," she recalled, adding, "I remember just being completely made whole in him. ... God showed me my four children and he told me I could go back and be their mother or I could stay there. For the first time in my life I chose God ... I chose to stay with him. I'm so glad that he allowed me to remember that."

The group made their way toward the light and God told her she would not be able to return should she cross over, which she was fine with until God revealed an image of her 3-year-old self, laughing and playing.

The child had not yet become the victim of sexual abuse and was an innocent.

Then she heard her mother screaming her name.

She wanted to remain beside God, but was torn between staying and returning long enough to tell her mother she was fine. She asked God if she could return and speak to her mother, to which the Lord replied, "The choice is up to you."

McVea admitted, "I didn't want to come back to my life, but I did want my mom to know I'm okay." God told her to share her experience with her friends and family then she woke up surrounded by doctors.

She attempted to return to the tunnel but was unable. She was alive. Critics dismissed her claims of visiting Heaven, but McVea refused to back down.

"I can't make you believe what I'm saying anymore that [sic] someone can make me believe that it didn't happen," she simply responded.

In fact, McVea continued to share her experience and wrote her second book, "Chasing Heaven: What Dying Taught Me About Living," which was released March 22 this year.

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