When 20-year-old Beverly Brodsky mounted a motorcycle in 1970, she was unaware that her life was about to undergo a transformation so profound that it would challenge her beliefs, alter her faith, and provide her with a narrative that continues to resonate with people globally today.
What she claims to have experienced during her near-death episode was not a typical tunnel or a surreal haze — it was an encounter she characterizes as God Himself, albeit in a manner she had never envisioned.
Beverly was raised in a conservative Jewish household in Philadelphia, and her faith crumbled at the tender age of eight upon discovering the atrocities of the Holocaust.
By 1958, she identified as an atheist. However, everything shifted years later on a sun-drenched road close to Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.
An accident that altered everything
Beverly was a passenger on a motorcycle when a collision resulted in a fractured skull and severe facial injuries — so extensive that medical professionals remarked they had only seen injuries like hers “on the battlefield.”
She spent two weeks at UCLA Hospital, her body encased in salt-soaked bandages, and was discharged without any pain relief medication.
Physically and emotionally shattered, Beverly ultimately cried out to a God in whom she had no faith:
“God, if you exist, you can take me now because I am done.”
What transpired next is a story she has dedicated her life to sharing.
“I was myself, yet not within my body.”
Beverly recounts that she abruptly felt her pain vanish and observed herself hovering above her physical form. On the ceiling, she perceived a being she identified as an angel; radiant, luminous, and male in essence, yet devoid of wings.
She conveyed to author Kenneth Ring:
“I scarcely had the opportunity to comprehend the magnificent peculiarity of the situation – that I was myself but not within my body – when a radiant being enveloped in a shimmering white light joined me.”
The being grasped her hand, and she describes how they floated effortlessly through the window and towards the Pacific Ocean.
A passage into light
Hand in hand with the angel, Beverly sensed herself being led towards a small, dark passageway.
“There, before me, was the living essence of the light. Within it, I perceived an all-encompassing intelligence, wisdom, compassion, love, and truth.”
She characterized the entity as neither male nor female—merely a pure, perfect presence.
“It… encompassed everything, akin to how white light contains all the colors of a rainbow when it passes through a prism. And deep within me arose an immediate and astonishing recognition: I, even I, was in the presence of God.”
She posed every question she had ever contemplated.
Overcome with emotion, Beverly states that she faced this presence with every painful inquiry she had borne since her childhood, particularly the injustices she had witnessed in the world.
“I realized that God is aware of all your thoughts instantly and communicates telepathically. My mind was exposed; indeed, I became pure thought.”
Then came what she refers to as a surge of understanding:
“I was granted more than mere answers to my inquiries; all knowledge revealed itself to me, like the instantaneous blooming of an infinite array of flowers all at once.”
Before the experience diminished, she remembers observing what she described as a “magnificent fire,” reminiscent of the core of a star—a final vision she interpreted as a blessing.
A New Life, A New Faith
Beverly returned to her injured body and to a life that had changed completely. Once an atheist, she transformed into a devoted Christian and ultimately shared her narrative globally.
Her near-death experience has been highlighted in McCall’s magazine, a BBC documentary (The Human Body), Israeli public radio, and the book Lessons From The Light, where Kenneth Ring referred to her account as “possibly the most moving in my entire collection.”
Now a long-standing member of the church, Beverly continues to speak candidly about the moment she believes she encountered God—not in the form she anticipated, but in a manner that reshaped her perception of life, death, and everything in between.
