Cheaters of Death: 'My spirit came out of my body'

AndrE Williams

STAR Writer

Imagine a doctor pronouncing you dead at 12 years old, and although you have lived for another 25 years, you are still unsure of what cause your life-changing episode.

For Attalia Harriman, 37, she is convinced that God had a role in your debacle, as she remembers vividly her near-death experience over two decades ago.

"I was going to boarding school. I came home for the weekend and while having breakfast I had a slight headache. I stopped eating and started crying. Initially, my mother thought I was faking then I started vomiting, my lips hands and feet were white," she told THE STAR.

The next thing Harriman remembers is being rushed to the doctor.

"Everything went blank. Suddenly I was looking at my body and looking at everyone in the room. I was able to tell them what everybody in the room was doing," she said.

multiple tests

"My heart stopped and the doctors said they could not feel my heartbeat. A syringe was used to puncture my heart and apply medicine."

The doctors could not determine what was the cause of her illness and after multiple tests, including brain scan, heart scan and chess scan, the diagnosis was still unknown.

Harriman also told THE STAR that her situation caused her to miss school for quite sometime.

"The doctors said the vessels in my head look slightly stretched, but a migraine headache has not killed anyone. People used to tell my mother all sort of Jamaican folklore say duppy lick me, smaddy do mi something and all other things" Harriman said.

car accidents

She told THE STAR that her mother's Christian belief kept them grounded throughout the period despite all that was been said and all that remains unknown.

Harriman also said she has been a survivor of three car accidents during the course of her life, however, they do not compare to the near-death experience she had when she was 12 years old.

"That was the worst because I actually came out of my body. My spirit came out of my body, I was on the other side," she said.

Harriman said she has learnt a valuable lesson from her experience, one that she will carry with her throughout life.

"I do consider myself extremely lucky. That experience at 12 years old gave me an insight that certain things are possible. It changed my belief in spirituality, it was just not my time to go,"said Harriman.