Phil Seibel describes what he saw in the 28 minutes he was dead (9Now)
Phil Zadibel, 57, from Geelong, Victoria, described the "out of body" experience he had when he died - and what it felt like to look down on yourself.
The Australian fitness instructor died for 28 minutes after suffering a heart attack during a basketball game - and came back to life.
"It was a miracle," he told the Geelong Advertiser, adding: "I didn't go anywhere."
Zadibel, who is a taekwondo instructor, collapsed last November after suffering a coronary artery aneurysm that led to a heart attack.
When his son, Joshua, called the paramedics, a nurse who happened to be in the training room jumped in to try to revive him.
He was soon rushed to the hospital, where he lay unconscious for three days while recovering from the ordeal and from surgery to insert a life-saving stent.
When Zadibel woke up, he was told he had been clinically dead for 28 minutes.
After being released from the hospital, he said his fitness and positive attitude were what aided his recovery.
"It's all about your mindset that keeps you moving," he wrote in an inspirational Facebook post, "In my books, there's only one key ingredient which is intense physical training, but each case to its own merits."
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A post shared by Phill Zdybel (@phillzdybel)
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A post shared by Phill Zdybel (@phillzdybel)
The martial artist added that his so close death changed his perspective on life - and even made him reconsider his previous decision to retire from taekwondo.
"All the little things we worry about aren't worth worrying about," he said a few days after competing in a tournament with his son, "don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something."
More people died and came back to life
A doctor who died and came back to life tells what awaited her "in the next world" - and why she didn't want to return
"I had a near-death experience. After seeing what awaited us there - I didn't want to return"
In an interview with the Australian morning show, he was asked whether at the time of his death he was exposed "to the next world".
He replied: "No. There is no light at the end of the tunnel."
He described his out-of-body experience: "Your mind is still alive. It's still functioning, it could be my subconscious, that I knew what was going on and I couldn't communicate. It could be many things. It could be that I was standing there outside the body... However, still I could see everything. Yes, I saw Josh on the phone and I tried to tell him 'what are you doing on the phone, hang up'. I also saw the nurse coming, but not clearly."
He is not the only one
Died, came back to life and tells what awaits us there: "Complete peace of mind"
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Interview with Phil Zadibel on the morning show:
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Zadibel hopes his story will inspire others and encourage people to become certified in CPR, as this understanding can save lives.
"Everyone needs to learn how to perform CPR and everywhere who does sports should have defibrillators on hand," he said.
An estimated 356,000 Americans go into cardiac arrest each year at home or in public, according to the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation—and nearly 90 percent of those cases are fatal.
Israel is among the only countries in the world where heart attacks are the second leading cause of cancer death, while in most countries it is the most common cause.
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