Decades ago, while riding in a 1965 Corvette Convertible, author Nicole Kerr’s life nearly ended forever. She was just nineteen years old, and a student at the Air Force Academy. Her near-death experience (NDE) set the tone for the rest of her life and is the epicenter of the book “You Are Deathless.” Broken into twelve chapters, leading with one of ten lessons identified by the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS), this book lends an informative, insightful, and appreciated view of someone who has experienced NDEs.
Prior to reading this book I was no stranger to NDEs. With family in healthcare, I was familiar with the stories of the light, the dead relatives that those with NDE experiences encounter during their flatline, and the various other unexplainable phenomena that can occur. However, “You Are Deathless” was the first book I’d read that centered around such a topic from a personal perspective.
“You Are Deathless” is a vulnerable read. Author Nicole Kerr self-proclaims that she doesn’t have a book that delivers easy steps and techniques to happiness, her book isn’t weighed down in the science of it all, and she didn’t have some miracle recovery. But, what “You Are Deathless” provides is a woman who was born into a family with strict commandments and trauma of their own, living her life to please her family, and blaming herself for the accident that nearly ended her life forever. This book provides the process, the learning, the loneliness, and troubles she continued to face, ultimately finding love, finding peace, setting boundaries, and learning to endure.
Kerr’s book inspired me. “You Are Deathless” takes readers not just through her own story, but shows us the power within to live, and no longer fear death. Ending with a much-welcomed touch, Kerr provides book club questions that force readers to further evaluate what is such a heavy topic and intense experience. I found these questions, after my own reading of the book gave me a great opportunity to better reflect and digest all this book encompasses.
I was prepared to learn a lot from Kerr’s experience, but I wasn’t prepared for the life altering vulnerability that Kerr displays within. Her honest, brutal, and perceptive account provides readers with lessons, stories, and experiences that will have them living the life they have left more fully and thoughtfully.
*Note: image used is directly from Nicole Kerr’s website and is a photo of the 1965 Corvette Convertible she was in when she suffered her NDE. This is the vehicle one day after the crash at the towing lot.
For The Love Of The Page 