I was asleep in the early morning knowing my son to be gravely ill but alive when the clock rang 3/4 of an hour early. The tone was different, lower. It has never done this, before or since in years of use. I got up to stop it but it would not stop when turned on and off, shaken etc. I did not want to wake my husband. Eventually it stopped after a few minutes and I checked the time it was set so that it would wake me when I should get up. This was correct so I got back in bed and slept for a few minutes until it repeated the same exact sequence 10 minutes later, and so did I.

Some time after I got up I was telephoned to be told my son had died at the exact moment the clock first rang. I did not at first realize what had happened, through my terrible grief but later decided he had contacted me through the clock to say he was safely separated from the body now unable to support his spirit or soul. He rang twice to make sure I knew what the message meant. I think that was the time it took him to prepare for  the journey from Earth to Heaven. Since time and space meant nothing to him after death he may have stayed with others, his children for example and asked the Almighty to assign a spirit to visit me, so he could be with them. This I do not know. I only know for certain it was a message to me and was meant to be passed on to others as a sign that life after death is a fact. He was able to locate and recognize me 10 minutes after death, so his intellect and personality, his own mind, must still have been alive then and presumably now.

Was this experience difficult to express in words? 

No

Did you hear the deceased or hear something associated with the deceased?         

Yes

            Describe what you heard, how clearly you heard it and what was communicated:  

The clock ringing its alarm bell with a lower tone than usual

            Did the voice or sound seem to originate externally or outside of you, inside you, or did you not hear a voice or sound, but had a sense of knowing what was communicated? 

No voice

Did you feel a touch or experience any physical contact from the deceased?           

No

Did you smell a distinct smell, scent, fragrance or odor associated with the deceased?     

No

How long did the experience last?       

12 minutes approx overall

Was the beginning and end of the experience gradual or more sudden?        

Sudden beginning and end

Could you sense the emotions or mood of the deceased?          

No

Not at the time it happened. I did not know it was my son. Later I tried to imagine why had done this and why he should be allowed to contact me. We are not special to be selected for such an experience. I assumed he wanted me to know he was safe and it has given me great comfort to realize that but also the Divine who allowed this must require me to pass on this information to others for the fear of death to eventually be nullified by many such experiences.

Did the deceased give you information you did not previously know? 

Absolutely. As a Christian I should have believed in the bible information on life after death but having first hand contact with it reinforces my belief to certainty and I no longer fear death in any way. It may be more pleasant than life.

How do you currently view the reality of your experience?          

Experience was definitely real

            Please explain why you view the reality of your experience as real or not real:         

All those I have told about it are unable to offer any other explanation, except coincidence and this is too much of a coincidence for me to believe.

            Was the experience dream like in any way?  

No

Describe in detail your feelings/emotions during the experience:          

Grieving, knowing Tony would not live much longer. This had nothing to do with the clock because at the time I did not know he was dead or was contacting me

Was there any emotional healing in any way following the experience?          

Yes

I am partially comforted that he has not been extinguished and is still alive.

What was the best and worst part of your experience?     

not relevant

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience?        

Yes

            Describe:     

Relationships with living children have become difficult because they do not want to accept these facts I have told them. They say it would cause distress to my daughter-in-law and her children to hear them and I must keep a secret from them. This is not easy if I tell others and publish it abroad (to you) and other researchers. My husband also says this is impossible and I am crazy, the whole episode was just a coincidence, as do my other children.

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?   Yes

My entire attitude to paranormal has altered as I was taught through Catholic upbringing this is evil and untrue, used to make money out of trusting mediums who are faking sances. Now I know this is not the whole story. Some  can be believed and others can't

Did the experience give you any spiritual understandings such as life, death, afterlife, God, etc.?           

Yes

It clarifies all the above and makes concrete things which were previously faith

What emotions did you feel during the experience?           

Because of our great closeness and his age, compared to mine I was devastated with grief and sill cry at least twice a day. My sadness is for his having been deprived of half his life and my own at being without him.

Was the experience witnessed or experienced by others?          

No

My husband in the same bed had taken sleeping tablets and did not wake.

Did you have a sense of knowing, special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose?   

No

Not at that time but I do now

Have you shared this experience with others?        

Yes

Researchers are interested and credulous. Relatives are annoyed and view me as a lunatic.

Have you shared this experience formally or informally with any other researcher or web site?  

Yes

Catholic and Church of England will not respond - not interested.

Newspapers radio and TV refuse to publish except for 1 TV station still considering a feature but not replied yet.

Fortean Times may be publishing a "letter to the editor" I wrote, as may 1 local paper.

Mike Pettigrew of Institutes for Afterlife Studies and Research has  sent me his cassette and spoke a long time by phone to Ireland ( An expensive extra!)

 Is there anything else you would like to add regarding your experience?      

I would like to contact Tony again but I am afraid to try. I am unable to do so because I cannot relax and "empty my mind" as people say is necessary. He may not want me to. I am doing what he wanted by writing this and telling people I believe in life after death.