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People Who Foresee Their Own Death

Premonitions of doom needn't be grim



Premonitions ... some people foresee their own death.


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View GalleryBy Mike Hallowell
PREMONITIONS are very strange things indeed.

Over the years in this column, I've covered numerous stories where individuals seem to have had warnings about forthcoming events that, in scientific terms, they could not have foreseen. And yet, they did.

WraithScape readers may recall the international tennis player who, some years ago, suddenly decided to avoid making a plane journey. The aircraft subsequently crashed, killing everyone on board.

And then there was the case of the schoolgirl who wrote, "today's the day" in her diary before leaving the house that morning.

A gust of wind blew over a tree as she was passing, and the youngster was crushed to death.

She had previously given other indications that she knew she would die on the day in question.

Interestingly, a premonition of death was discussed at an inquest held in Sunderland many years ago, and subsequently recorded in The Sunderland Echo.

On February 17, 1960, 87-year-old William Robert Stephenson was at his home in Sunderland when he took ill without any warning.

William collapsed before he was able to summon help, and slumped to the floor in the living room, unconscious.

Of course, when anyone of such an advanced age collapses like that, the situation is serious, but William's difficulties were compounded by the fact that he ended up lying directly in front of an open fire.

This resulted in his leg being severely burnt before he was found and rushed to hospital.

Doctors at Sunderland General Hospital did everything they could.
William's condition was stabilised, but the major concern was the condition of his leg.

The burns were severe, and eventually a decision was taken – the limb would have to be amputated.

Despite his age and condition, William pulled through and survived the surgery. Over the next two weeks his strength seemed to be returning and, in the words of one doctor, he "was making good progress".

But then something strange happened. On April 2, William told his son Albert: "Son, I'm going to die on Good Friday."

How Albert and the rest of William's family reacted to this announcement we do not know.

Perhaps they were disturbed, or maybe they just put it down to a touch of depression. After all, the elderly pensioner had been through a terrible ordeal.

Over the following days William seemed to be "holding his own", and the doctors were still optimistic about the future. Alas, he then developed pneumonia.

This, coupled with the trauma of the burns and the stress on his body caused by the operation, proved to be too much.

On April 15, 1960, William Robert Stephenson passed away. It was, just as he had predicted, Good Friday.

An inquest was subsequently held at Sunderland Coroner's Court, and the coroner, Mr. Cuthbert Morton, recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.

What was it that enabled William to predict so accurately the day of his death?

We may never know, but something allowed him to have a glimpse of the future – his own future – before it actually transpired.

To some, the idea of foreseeing one's own demise might be troubling, but it need not be.

I know of many other cases where this has happened, and in each instance the person accepted their future calmly and without resistance.

William Robert Stephenson is now at rest, but in his passing, tragic though it was, he managed to gift to all of us a sense of awe regarding the universe we live in.

We may not fully understand it, but we can always be uplifted by its mystery.

* If you have any spooky stories or eerie tales you'd like to see in print, send them directly to the Gazette or e-mail them to Mike here.



The full article contains 629 words and appears in n/a newspaper.Last Updated: 06 February 2008 4:11 PM
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The above article (in case the link goes down).
 
I've come across this a few times.

A former mate with whom I'd lost touch did it, according to her daughter. She wasn't in terribly brilliant health - early 40s, diabetic, had part of a leg amputated - but certainly wasn't expected to die.

Then one day she gave away some of her more personal possessions and rang a few friends (not me though) to tell them she was thinking of them. She made a special fuss of her two daughters and grandson and gave one of the girls an empty box, saying, 'I don't have any money to give you but this box is full of all my love.'

Within a few days she had a heart attack, though she'd never had heart trouble before, and died soon after reaching hospital.

Her daughter says she was perfectly calm in the ambulance and seemed accepting of what was to come.
Spooky.
 
My brother in law's mum used to work in an old people's home and whilst putting one of the old ladies to bed, the old dear said 'You know, the angels are waiting up there for me tonight'. To which, my bro in law's mum replied something along the lines of 'Yes dear, let's hope they wait a while longer'.

The old lady died that night. :shock:
 
I worked with ol' folks for years and have heard many variations of that story, usually first-hand.
 
I have experienced something like this but it didn't occur to me to post it.

I don't even know if I should post it now -but anyway

I was sitting on the sofa when I was pregnant with my second child when I had the thought/feeling "I'm going to die soon". It was quite calm, I thought it without any sort of emotion, then I sort of jerked myself out of it thinking - but I can't die I've got one young child and a second on the way. But the feeling was completely unmistakable. I don't know how to describe it - a definite fact, something that would certainly happen. There was no emotion attached to it and I don't remember having emotions afterward.

I wish I could describe it better; clear, unmistakable, inevitable, there's no arguing with it, detached from any emotion, relaxed, calm possibly even peaceful and spiritual, the calm acceptance of a fact.

Some weeks later I had an illness and I woke up during the night dreaming that I was dying. When I went for my next appointment/ultra sound there was no heartbeat. They can be very specific what age the fetus would have died by measuring its size and it coincided with the night I had the dream.

It never occurred to me when I had the feeling of dying that it was not about me but about the baby. It appeared to be me who would die. Also in the dream I experienced the feeling of dying as though it was happening to me. Not someone else.

When I had a second miscarriage a year later I had exactly the same dream which I called 'the dying dream'. I remember not wanting to go to sleep that night because every time I drifted off it was a dream of dying, dying, I'm dying. Then I would wake myself up but would keep repeatedly having the dream every time I fell asleep. Again it was fairly exact that this was the same day I lost the baby and I really experienced it as though it was me dying. I don't remember there being any dying premonition that time.

So yes I totally believe all these stories because they sound very similar to my experience.
 
My dad was a physics teacher and as rational as they come. The one thing that just didn't fit into his world view was that his dad, my grandad, predicted the exact date and manner of his own death (he was shot by a German firing squad during the War), thirty years before it happened.

This family history is what sparked off my interest in Forteana.
 
[Puts on turban, gazes into crytal ball and says in best Gypsy accent]

"Perhaps you were being told you would die and be reborn spiritually dear".
 
I honestly can't remember where I got this idea from, I vaguely remember a dream during which I felt real pain in my left side. Since that time I have had the idea that I am going to die from being stabbed in that spot, or perhaps somehow with pain there. It is a strange thing lol I realize.
 
Most of this is just selective recounting. A handful of cases seem to illustrate premonition, but what about the thousands who make incorrect predictions? Add those into the mix and there's nothing special going on.
 
Hi TOD,

You've got me thinking. I very rarely remember dreams but have had a few precognitive ones. Now thinking about it, I have never had a "real world" dream (as opposed to fantasy dreams and nightmares) which did not come true in real life.
 
lkb3rd said:
I vaguely remember a dream during which I felt real pain in my left side. Since that time I have had the idea that I am going to die from being stabbed in that spot, or perhaps somehow with pain there.
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:lol: Cop this, then. I used to have a dream like that and would wake up clutching my side. :shock:
Eventually I realised that I was causing the pain myself by grabbing the spot I thought had been stabbed just as I woke up, and was able to stop myself doing it. The dream didn't recur after that. ;)
 
A few years back an old boy who lived down the road from us decided to give away a huge chunk of his belongings, saying that he wanted to replace his furniture. Within a week he had died. Many have said that he had made no effort to look for replacements for his stuff, in fact I would have thought he would have purchaced furniture before giving it away. I think he knew he was going and felt it would be easier doing it this way as he had no imediate family.
 
Ben Kinsella foretold his stabbing murder in a school essay
By Lucy Cockcroft
Last Updated: 8:09AM BST 01/07/2008

Murdered schoolboy Ben Kinsella wrote about his own death in a chilling essay which described the experience of being stabbed.
The 16-year-old brother of EastEnders actress Brooke Kinsella wrote the essay for a creative-writing class just weeks before he was killed in a gang attack.

It was found among his possessions following his death in north London on Sunday.

Describing an attack startlingly similar to the one he suffered, Ben wrote: "I've been stabbed, three times in the chest, twice in the back, once in the gut for good measure.

"The pavement feels so very cold on my so very punctured back. Everything feels cold. Numbness persists. As I stare up at my killer-to-be he feels not the slightest measure of remorse at what he has just committed. Instead his dark smile sickens me in ways I couldn't imagine."

Ben wrote of falling victim to "the monstrosity society has become" and described being surrounded by his loved ones in hospital, yet feeling like the "loneliest person in the world".

Then, describing his emotions in heaven, he said: "I just feel free. Free from anger, worries, anguish and pain."

Police believe Ben, who once appeared in ITV drama The Bill, was an innocent victim of a fight which spilled from a pub in Islington on to the streets outside.

It was sparked when a group of underage youths were evicted from the Shillibeers bar just before 2am on Sunday. Ben was knifed several times in the neck and the chest, possibly by four separate young black attackers.

He bled to death in the arms of his friend Louis, the son of Birds of a Feather actress Linda Robson.

Ben's grieving relatives read the essay after his death, and decided to make it public.

In it Ben, who was described as "extraordinarily talented" by his teachers, wrote: "I can only wonder whether I deserve to die here, now. Was it all for a reason? Who can say?

"As my mind becomes inflamed with questions I can only feel the pain pass over me like a shadow. Blood escapes my wounds. Blood once destined for greatness now seeps into the drains."

Later on he said: "I knew I was gone and couldn't ever come back. I just wished I had the strength to say goodbye. I was dead now."

Ben then described meeting his grandfather, aunties and uncles in heaven.

He ended the essay by writing: "This is my home now and I've never felt better. I'm not scared any more. There's no weight on my shoulders, no struggle.

"I'll never say I'm glad he did it because, well, I'm simply not. But I much prefer it here than being stuck on a weird world."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2226052 ... essay.html

Chilling...
 
I'm not trying to belittle these other accounts, but it's hard to reply to this thread without giving a story of a prediction that failed (otherwise I wouldn't be giving it!).

About 10 years ago I went to bed exhausted. That often sparks a hag or night-terrors attack, but this time it made the "hypnogogic" dreams rev up (I think those half-asleep dream images pop up every night, but usually they vanish from memory after a few seconds).

Anyway, a dark stage of sorts, with black curtains in the background appeared. A little girl with blond hair and a 19th century-looking petticoat-type dress came out, skipping/tap-dancing like Shirley Temple. She stopped in the middle of the stage, giggled, pointed straight at me (though I was just a sort of omniscient view in the direction of the audience) and said, "You're not going to live out the day."

I popped back awake, a little startled at being directly addressed by a half-waking dream (and by its message). I would have been pretty freaked out all the following day -- except --

About a month earlier I'd fallen into bed exhausted -- and the hypnagogic images began -- and a thundering Voice exclaimed something like "You will die on October 17th, 2037!" (It gave an exact date, which I don't remember now, so don't write this one down to see if it's right :) )

Anyway, I called into the darkness, "Ya can't both be right!" and went to sleep.
 
At least yours were dreams!

Lots of little blonde girls point at me and giggle, saying, "You're not going to live out the day."

I pinch myself but I am still at work. :(
 
'I'm more likely to be hit by a car than die on duty': What soldier, 19, told mother before he was killed in Christmas Day road accident
By Chris Parsons
Last updated at 1:33 PM on 27th December 2011

A young soldier on leave ahead of his first ever Afghanistan tour of duty was killed in a road accident on Christmas Day.
Edward Heal, a 19-year-old trooper in the Kings Royal Hussars, was hit by a car in North Somerset after leaving a pub in the early hours of Christmas Day.
The tank gunner had been training for a tour of duty in Afghanistan due to start in March.

The soldier's heartbroken mother, Elaine Coles, 50, said her son had gone for a drink on Christmas Eve with his stepbrother Sam, 24, at the Bristol pub in Clevedon, Somerset.
Holding back tears, Mrs Coles told the Western Daily Press: 'I have been worried about him going to Afghanistan ever since he joined up.
'He always said to me there was more chance of him being hit by a car than being killed while on duty.
'I can't believe it. It shouldn't have happened. His Christmas presents are still there by the Christmas tree.'

The teenager, who was on leave from his regiment for a week, was hit by the Mazda in Kenn Road, Clevedon at 1.15am on Christmas Day. He was declared dead at the scene.
An Avon and Somerset Police spokesman said: 'An investigation is under way to establish the circumstances.'
Anyone who witnessed the incident or has information which could help the investigation is asked to contact Avon and Somerset Police on 101.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1hpGNZngr
 
My MIL phoned me about three days before she died with a series of enquires about her daughter, our financial health, our marital situation etc. etc., something she had never done before. Usually if I answered the phone to her we would exchange a bit of inconsequential family chat and then she'd want to speak to my wife, naturally enough.

I thought at the time 'how odd' but no more. After she died of course it assumed a larger importance as the last time I spoke to her.

Rather than a premonition, I've thought since that it was more that she had privately or sub-consciously decided to give up the struggle - she was seriously ill with a chronic but not in itself life threatening condition - and was just checking she'd leave her daughter in a good state.
 
my mother used to work in a care home, and one of the elderly female patients said "i'm going to die today" and all the staff told her not to be silly as her health was stable but sure enough she died that day.
i guess you know when you're getting near the end

my maternal grandmother had never had a great relationship with my mother some of which can be explained by her epilepsy and some of which frankly was explained by her being a bitch
anyway on the last day of my grandmothers life my mum had popped up to take some cuttings to her father and her mother was unusually lucid &
friendly to her and asked her to stay for a cup of tea. mum was really taken aback but said she had to get back home to me (i was only 11 at the time) that was the last time she saw her mother and i know she regrets not staying
 
I had a miscarriage many years ago, but the day before it happened I had a very vivid dream that I was locked in a freezer, slowly being killed by the cold. I could really feel my life slipping away, but the next day I discovered it wasn't my life that had slipped away. :(

It is something that has stayed with me for a long time. Just that feeling of helplessness as you die. :?
 
That sounds so awful Cherrybomb, very sorry to hear that. :(
 
Aww thank you, Mythopoeika. Having re-read my post it is really gloomy - Sorry everyone, didn't mean it to be so glum! :oops:
 
Not at all. We can't be serious all the time. ;)

It's a great story, and I wonder if it tells us that your body already knew what was happening.
 
That's kinda my theory on it. The body knows what's happening and the brain is trying to sort it out. Getting us ready for what is about to happen. Kinda like when you get stress dreams after a really busy day.

However, some of the other stories on here are very creepy, people knowing that they will die on a certain date, or in a certain way :shock: spooky!
 
That's kinda my theory on it. The body knows what's happening and the brain is trying to sort it out. Getting us ready for what is about to happen. Kinda like when you get stress dreams after a really busy day.
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Yes, I think that accounts for a number of strangenesses - I think a lot of the time our subconscious is actually ahead of our consciousness and has to - I don't know - find ways to break through? I don't know how the brain works (nor does anyone else) but I'd guess that raw signals from the rest of our body or from the external world go through the subconscious and get pre-processed before they get to the conscious train of thought, and that conscious train of thought isn't necessarily able to immediatly pick up on unusual happenings (like your miscarriage) for a variety of reasons.

Those of us who have been made aware of general 'Forteanity' maybe become more consciously sensitive to such happenings and pick up on more of the oddities that are out there?
 
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