For years, Vicki Werner, who lives in Utah, lived in a state of relentless turmoil, caught in a whirlwind of chronic stress and debilitating illness. Her journey began in 2004 when her husband, Scott Werner, a dedicated medical doctor specializing in alternative medicine, was wrongfully accused of medical billing fraud. At the time, Vicki was pregnant with their youngest child and holding a one-year-old in her arms when federal agents stormed into their office.
“I had a one-year-old in my arms, and I was 11 weeks pregnant when six U.S. Marshals came into our office and handcuffed and shackled my husband in front of me,” she recalled.
The trauma of that moment never left her. Over the years, the stress manifested physically, leaving her in a constant state of anxiety and nervous system dysfunction. “I became so sympathetic nervous system dominant that I had chronic anxiety attacks. My stomach was just in constant knots, and the wear and tear on that broke my body down significantly.”
She and her husband spent years desperately searching for a cure. "We spent many years attempting to heal, attempting to heal our nervous systems, attempting to heal our physiology, our bodies. It took me a long time to understand what that was doing to my body," she said. But nothing worked. The relentless stress and trauma continued to erode her health, and despite every effort, she only worsened.
Her body began rejecting over 500 foods, and she was left bedridden, experiencing excruciating pain every moment of the day. "When we use a rating scale of 1 to 10, mine was a 27," she said.
Her suffering reached its peak when she was declared medically stable despite being on the brink of death. Then, the unimaginable happened. "Ultimately, it caused me to pass away for eight minutes."
That night, she had no idea she was about to step into a different realm—one that would change her forever.
Near-Death Experience: A Glimpse Beyond Life
For six months leading up to the experience, Vicki’s condition had rapidly deteriorated. She could barely move, and her body shook uncontrollably for hours each day. “My nervous system would start shaking roughly around 10 a.m. and would last into the night.” She was in a constant state of nausea, freezing cold despite multiple layers of blankets, and in relentless pain.
Desperate and terrified, she turned to her husband. “I ultimately asked my husband to take me to the emergency room because I genuinely thought I was going to die.” At the hospital, she clung to the hope that the doctors would find what was wrong and help her.
Instead, she faced dismissal. The medical team ran tests and blood work but found nothing of concern. Only one nurse showed her compassion, while the others treated her with suspicion. “I wondered if they thought I was seeking drugs or something... but they didn’t even give me anything for pain.”
Finally, the doctors diagnosed her with gastritis—a minor inflammation of the stomach lining—and sent her home. “I was very, very disappointed because I knew that wasn’t the case.”
That night, Vicki lay in bed, feeling her body shutting down. Then, everything changed.
As she took her final breath, she suddenly felt a pull from deep within her core. In an instant, she found herself standing at the foot of her own bed, looking down at her frail body. She saw the clock read 6:52 p.m. and heard her husband’s laughter in the next room. When she moved toward him, she realized she was no longer bound by physical limitations—she was present but unseen.
Then, the scene shifted. She found herself walking along a long pathway that led to a dark, ominous house. The towering structure loomed before her, its sharp spires piercing the sky, its blackened walls exuding an aura of decay. The trees were lifeless, their branches brittle, and large crows perched on the iron gates, their beady eyes fixed on her.
She noticed her family on the path—her husband sitting on a boulder, holding their youngest child, surrounded by their other children. One by one, each of them looked at her and said, "It’s okay, Mom. I’ll be okay."
She was overcome with emotion. Did they know something she didn’t? Why were they saying goodbye?
But as she stepped forward, everything transformed. The jagged spires softened into smooth domes, and the once-dark building became golden and radiant, pulsing with warmth and love. The crows dissolved into white doves, fluttering into the sky. The barren trees flourished, bursting into full bloom. Even the ground beneath her feet felt alive. “I could hear the tone of love. I could feel the sensation of love. It was magnificent and beautiful.”
Inside the building, three luminous beings awaited her. They radiated love so intensely that she could not distinguish one from the other, yet she felt no fear—only a deep sense of belonging. One of them spoke, though not with words, but through a knowing presence: “You have died due to severe trauma in your body.”
At that moment, she looked down and saw her physical form shed like an old garment, crumpled on the ground. What remained was pure light—she now looked just like them.
She was then guided into a vast hall, where three towering statues stood before her, encrusted with gold and glistening gemstones. Each one represented a gift. The first, the brightest, was the Gift of Sight.
"Beyond those three was a darkened hallway, and they told me that if I went beyond that passageway, I would not be returning to my body, that there would be no opportunity for me to do so at that time," she recalled. "But they showed me those three statues, and they said I was being given three gifts. The first one was the gift of sight."
Unlike others who receive a life review, Vicki was shown what would happen to her loved ones if she chose to stay.
The most devastating vision was the future of her seven-year-old daughter, Sophie. She saw that if she crossed over, her daughter would lose her life’s purpose. The trauma of losing her mother would silence her—Sophie would become mute, unable to process the grief.
Her heart broke. She turned to the beings and spoke with certainty: "I have to go back. Sophie needs me."
And with that, she was thrust back into her body, gasping in excruciating pain. The soft glow around her room disappeared, and reality came rushing back.
She had returned—but she was forever changed.
Healing Journey: A Road Paved with Challenges
The weeks that followed were agonizing. Vicki was too weak to speak, barely able to move. "It was approximately two weeks before I had enough strength to even communicate again."
Yet, hope began to emerge in small, unexpected ways. One month later, she mustered the strength to attend her daughter’s school performance. Her husband carried her into the auditorium, where she lay on the floor, too weak to sit. “I felt ashamed. I felt a lot of shame and humiliation that I was too weak to walk in by myself. But I was able to attend.”
Desperate for healing, she and her husband traveled to Hawaii, where she met a gifted healer who immediately sensed her pain. “She turned to me and said, ‘I feel like I’m here to help you.’”
During an intense four-and-a-half-hour session, Vicki relived deep emotional traumas that had been trapped in her body for years. She described the experience as “shedding layers of pain” and feeling as though her nervous system was being rewired. As the healer guided her through past wounds, Vicki experienced moments of intense emotion—grief, release, and finally, an overwhelming sense of peace.
"For the first time in years, I felt light. My body wasn’t completely healed, but something inside me had changed."
The relief, however, was temporary. "I got back into my own world. Got back with the same stressors, the same environment. And very quickly, I depleted again and was back in bed."
She realized that true healing wasn’t just about a single breakthrough—it required a deeper transformation in how she lived and responded to life’s challenges.
Embracing Rest and Rewriting the Narrative
Healing, Vicki realized, required more than external intervention—it demanded deep internal work. She had spent years searching for answers, only to find that true healing wasn’t something to chase; it was something to surrender to. A conversation with a friend opened her eyes to a concept she had never fully embraced—convalescence.
“She said, ‘Being a young mother and taking care of our families can be very draining, but take the necessary time to heal. Convalescence holds a very sacred place.’”
That message struck a chord. For the first time, Vicki allowed herself to slow down, to embrace stillness, to accept that her worth was not tied to productivity. “I just started sobbing. It just felt like this moment of breaking free—like, it's time. It's time for me to heal.”
As she leaned into this new understanding, something profound shifted within her. Years of trauma had conditioned her to believe she was broken, but as she deepened her healing journey, she realized that suffering could be reframed.
“I could look at 2024 as the worst year of my life, where I lost my home, my business, my husband, and my only son... Or I could look at 2024 as the year where I found myself.”
She came to understand that healing wasn’t just about the body—it was about the mind, the spirit, and the stories we tell ourselves. "We all have unfinished business with the painful moments in our past. But if we let those moments define us, we stay trapped. Healing is about learning to let go."
The Secrets of Healing: A Holistic Approach
Vicki’s near-death experience was just the beginning of her healing journey. The road to recovery was complex, and as she navigated the challenges of rebuilding her health—physically, emotionally, and spiritually—she realized that true healing required a multidimensional approach.
Determined to share what she had learned, she wrote The Secret to Healing and Recovery, a book designed as a workbook and personal guide for those facing illness, emotional wounds, addiction, or personal struggles. “This book isn’t just for those who are sick—it’s for anyone who feels stuck, unworthy, or disconnected from the life they truly want to live.”
In her book, Vicki introduces several key healing modalities that helped her along her journey, including:
- Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT): Tapping on meridian points to calm the nervous system and release trauma.
- Mindfulness and Meditation: Helping individuals to stay present and reconnect with their inner peace.
- Prayer and Heart Coherence: Harnessing the power of prayer and aligning the heart’s energy to foster healing.
- Nutrition and Essential Oils: Supporting the body’s natural healing processes.
- Inner Child Healing: Addressing the emotional wounds that block true transformation.
Vicki’s book and work as an EFT practitioner offer individuals a comprehensive toolkit for healing—not just from physical illness, but from emotional and spiritual challenges as well.
A Message of Hope: Embracing Love, Compassion, and Consciousness
Vicki’s journey has led her to a powerful realization about the world we live in today. She believes that when faced with significant challenges, many people begin to view the world as unsafe and divided. In a time of increased separation, Vicki feels that there are darker forces at play, attempting to pull humanity apart. The more we focus on these forces, the more we inadvertently attract negativity into our lives. She reminds us of a universal law: where attention goes, energy flows.
However, Vicki emphasizes that the Divine is far greater and more beautiful than we often realize, and it is our responsibility to remember this truth.
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JeanneM
20 hours ago