I was at a bar one night when a stranger came up, sat and had a drink with me. He was a mid-40 something man who was looking for someone to share his story. I looked like a likely candidate.
His name was Mike, he related the following story.
He was hurt in a construction site accident that left him with crippling back pain when he was only 27 yrs old. He was treated with the usual pain meds and he got hooked on opiates and no matter the dose he lived in constant pain. This went on for many years and he was unable to work and unable to get on disability. He became depressed feeling he was worthless and a burden on his family and one evening he decided to take his life with an overdose of his pain medications.
His mother found him lifeless in his room and called 911. When the paramedics arrived he was pale and not breathing, they began cpr and loaded him into the ambulance and brought him to the nearest emergency room. While these things were happening to his mortal remains, he was undergoing a very different experience. He stated he was an atheist.
He recalls falling down into a deep dark hole. When he got to the bottom he was aware of his body and there were no others around. Before he could consider his situation, his feet burst into flames and he described pain like no other as the flames slowly burned up his legs onto his torso. When they got to his chest he felt his lungs boiling out of his mouth. It was horrible. Burning continued to his neck and face and when the flames consumed his eyes, it all stopped and he was whole again and as Slo Joe Biden would say, son of a bitch, my feet burst into flames again and it was just as painful as the first time.
He said this repeated itself for many, many times, and then it stopped. Next came the demons. He was unable or unwilling to describe them to me but he stated they bit him tearing his flesh from his body. Again agonizingly painful. He recalled his prayers from childhood and he began to pray to God to help him.
He was lifted out of the dark hole and woke in the emergency room where later he was told he was clinically dead for almost 10 minutes.
He told me he gave up atheism and never misses a Sunday at church.
He finished his beer and got up and turned to leave but not before I asked him why he told me his tale.
He smiled and said I looked like I needed to hear this and he left.
Well, son of a bitch!
Joe Biden Chancre Sr Urban Poverty Law Center
P.S. This is a true account though the place has changed to protect the innocent.
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