My Last Breath - Revised 2022

By Matthew Dovel

As seen on ABC news' "20/20". This is a unique story of someone who was in the very presence of Jesus Christ Himself and what it was like to spend three days in hell. I have found that nothing I have ever said has been more interesting to people than my story about dying and what happened afterwards.
My first out-of-body experience I had was at the age of twelve when I almost drowned and was engulfed by a white light that permeated my very soul. This experience and what happened afterwards when I went into the white light led me to a suicide attempt ten years later. Unlike the drowning, my suicide attempt took me to a place that to this day, another fifteen years later, still sends shivers up my spine. After being in Hell, I can only say one thing that would make you understand how bad it really is. Try to imagine the worst person you can think of; it can be someone famous for being notorious. This someone would have to be someone that you believe deserves to die for what they have done. What comes to mind is a child molester or even a murderer.After going to Hell, I would not wish the worst person on earth to go there, not even a child molester or murderer. I
will explain why I now feel the way I do about Hell, but you will have to read my book to find out.

As seen on: abc's 20/20, GMA, A&E's 'I survived beyond and back', George Noory's 'Coast to Coast', and many more...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Matthew Dovel
• Release date: Nov 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005792930

Matthew Dovel

This non-fiction details two near death experiences by the author. As seen on numerous television shows about life after death, Mr. Dovel was divinely inspired to share his complete story in this book. Read what happened to him when he crossed over to the other side, once heavenly and the other hellish, the profound changes that took place afterwards, and the message he brought back with him:

Book preview

My Last Breath

Revised 2022

by

Matthew D. Dovel

© 2003 My Last Breath by Matthew D. Dovel.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a newspaper, magazine, or journal.

© 2022 My Last Breath - Revised 2022 by Matthew D. Dovel

Table of Contents

Dedication

Part 1 the enlightenment

Chapter 1 Death

Chapter 2 Drowning

Chapter 3 Heaven

Chapter 4 Girls and condiments

Part 2 falling from grace

Chapter 5 Love hate

Chapter 6 Total debauchery

Chapter 7 the last frontier

Chapter 8 Suicide

Part 3 the transition

Chapter 9 the entrance to hell

Chapter 10 Deep in hell

Chapter 11 Scared straight

Part 4 back from the dead

Chapter 12 Adjusting to sobriety

Chapter 13 Visions

Chapter 14 Spirits

Chapter 15 Following your desires

Chapter 16 Retrospective

Chapter 17 Why are we here?

Biography – Revised 2022

Why do people commit suicide?

Dedication

Raymond and Carol Dovel, my wonderful parents, have always been a source of unconditional support for me and I thank them for that. When I really needed help the most, they were always there. No one could ask for better parents than the ones I have and I dedicate this book to them both. I hope that this book is a source of joy and pride for them both.

Louise R. Barrera, my true love, and wife, opened my eyes to love at first sight. I knew the instant that she crossed my vision that she was the woman that I had been waiting for my whole life. I didn’t know true happiness could exist in a relationship like ours. I used to dream of having a relationship like on TV shows like the series Heart to Heart, thinking that a relationship like that was just a fantasy, but now I have it. Louise makes me believe that I can do anything that I set my mind to. She truly believes in me. I also dedicate this book to her for all the encouragement she has given me over the years

Mark S. Dovel, my brother, showed me what was important in this life by living his life to the fullest. You pushed me past my fears and inspired me to write this book for the benefit of others. I honor you today by writing this book and also by dedicating it to you.

I thank God for guiding my hand and mind to express in words my feelings about this wonderful life that I live and for giving me a second chance.

Brittanie M. Dovel, my daughter, is the light of my life and she continues to be a source of joy and pride for me in everything that she does. I hope that this book is a source of pride for her with me.

Cody M. Dovel, my son, for always making me smile by what he says and does. I’m certain that whatever he decides to do in this life that I will always find pleasure in his decisions. He is not perfect, but he will always be to me.

Ronnie Adams, Irina Barrera, Rafael Barrera, and the other children that I have had the privilege of having a hand in raising. They offered me the intellectual challenges that came with raising children. They allowed me to be a positive influence in their lives as they grew up to become responsible adults. It has been one of the greatest joys I have ever experienced. Knowledge is the greatest gift one can impart on another and I hope that I have passed some wisdom onto them all.

Part 1 the enlightenment

Chapter 1 Death

Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome.

Isaac Asimov

If you are reading this, you will die, some of you sooner than later, someday, eventually. Have you ever thought about it? Dying? What would it be like to take your last breath? Will you go into the night quietly or will you go screaming and kicking to the bitter end? Make no doubt about it, your last breath will happen someday with or without your permission. Death is also the one thing that everyone will have to do alone. I’ve died twice, literally. I took what I believed to have been my last breath, twice. I passed over to the other side and visited what lies beyond. I came back, obviously, for a reason and that reason is to tell the story of what happened during my brief stay in the beyond. My stories will give comfort and hope to those people that need it. Also, I hope my stories will scare those people that need it before it is too late.

At the age of twelve, I drowned in a neighbor’s swimming pool and at the age of twenty-five, I attempted to commit suicide. Two totally different life after death experiences with two completely different stories to relay. You may not believe what this book entails, but rest assured, every word in this book did happen. The events that I will describe in this book have had no equal to their positive and negative influence on me throughout my life. However, in order for me to tell you what happened after death, I must start at a time in my life that would lead up to that ever changing event.

Let me start at the age of nine. I grew up in a little town called Poway located in the suburbs of San Diego, California. Today, I can hardly recognize Poway because it is a much different place now compared to the place I grew up. Back in the seventies when we first moved to Poway, it was known for its wide-open, undeveloped spaces. For a young boy, it meant that it was spacious enough to be free and to run wild. At this time, it was common to see people riding horses on the side of the main road. In fact, there was a stable on the main drag not far from our home. We had one traffic light in our town and it stayed that way throughout my adolescence. Today, Poway has million dollar homes on the surrounding hilltops and huge commercial industries tucked away in the once open valleys around town.

I had one older brother in my family, Mark. He was just shy of four years my senior and we were the epitome of the older brother, younger brother rivalry. As we were growing up, I remember sitting in the back seat of the family car fighting over who was touching who and whose side belonged to whom. You see, I had my side and he had his side (unwritten kid’s rule). An imaginary line was drawn down the middle dividing the two halves. Of course, for some unknown reason, we would sit as close to the line as possible, just to get the others goat. That was until the hitting started. It was always the other one’s fault and he started it was always the normal response that one of us was bound to wail out when my parents had enough. Then my dad would quickly bring our fight to an end, which left us resenting each other.

What I remember the most was the backseat of our family car. When I was younger, my father was in the Navy and he was transferred constantly. We were always moving. It would never fail that with each transfer, we would have to travel from one end of the United States to the other. He transferred from Seattle to New York, New York to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Detroit, and Detroit to San Diego. To take these long trips across the United States we would always drive the family car. Of course, this was long before Gameboys, Walkman’s, CDs, and air-conditioning. I’m surprised that my brother and I survived these trips at all, considering how mad we made our dad. I guess it was lucky for us that he was driving because he, quite possibly, would have killed us both.

Even though my brother and I seemed to be fighting all the time, he was still my big brother. I would follow him everywhere and anywhere. I remember how much it bugged him. I, of course being the younger brother, followed right behind him throughout school. He most certainly was not the shining star that I was in school, so his reputation would always precede me. Each first encounter that I had with one of my brother’s previous teachers started with some patented, sarcastic remark toward me, Oh, you’re Mark’s younger brother. Well, you’d better behave in my class young man! In time, they would realize I was nothing like my brother, so they would cut me some slack. Oh yeah, I learned quite a bit about life from my brother and, especially what not to do to get my dad angry.

In Poway, we lived in one of the first tract home developments of about fifty houses. It was located in the middle of town and the tract was surrounded by fields and hills. In the fields and hills around our neighborhood is where we played imaginary war, built forts, had rock fights with other kids and played softball. Our streets were some of the few in Poway at that time to boast of sidewalks and street lights. We even had cable TV on our street.

I had two best friends that lived across the street from me, David and Ronnie. It was very unusual for our family to have stayed in one place long enough for me to develop relationships, especially best friends. We were all about the same age with only a few months separating us and we did all the things that young boys do. We had camp outs in our backyards, skateboarded, rode bicycles, fought, laughed and cried together. We were always trying to outdo one another in every way. Who was the fastest, who could jump the farthest and who could do it (whatever it was that day) better. In the end, it never really mattered because we were best friends.

It was an unusually warm summer in 1974, and I found myself spending much of my time at Ronnie’s house. Mostly because he was the only one of the three of us to have a swimming pool. Before this day, I didn’t really pay much attention to what was going on outside of our neighborhood. I lived for the moment, like most children did and if it didn’t affect me directly, I just didn’t notice it. I had no opinion on government at that time, even though I watched the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal on the news daily. I remember watching the Mutual of Omaha show just before The Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday evenings. It all was the same to me at that time, entertainment, not real, just something to pass the time.

On the other hand, I did have an opinion on religion due to one of my first experiences with it. I remember only going to church on two occasions prior to that summer and from what I heard and saw on those two occasions, I was left with an irreversible opinion. The first occasion was at a funeral of a deceased friend of my father’s and the second was a life scarring experience with my best friend David and his parents. Both situations left me afraid of a word they called, God and a place called