I Died in a Skateboard Crash and Spent 18 Days in Heaven. Here’s What I Saw
We were racing down the road at 30 miles per hour.
My friend, John Michael, and I had just rounded the corner of the road when my electric skateboard collided with a tiny light bump in the middle of the lane. I did a backflip off the board and landed right on my skull. Right then and there, I simply slipped right out from my body, and from above, I saw everything.
Seeing my body below me and what happened next wasn’t just surreal; it made me rethink everything. John Michael turned around in utter shock and witnessed my body seemingly lifeless on the road, and he rushed over to me. As blood gushed from my ears and vomit filled my lungs, he held me up. He immediately called 911.
I was far from the skateboard. Aaron, my other friend, came running over and both he and John Michael were panicking, both trying to wake me up. There was no response, other than my body rigidly posturing itself. I was stiff, and my eyeballs were empty of life.
My 20-year-old body was basically dead in John Michael’s arms. As they had to sit tight and wait for the ambulance, all they could do was pray. They couldn’t believe something so horrible could happen in just a moment right before their eyes.
But I didn’t experience any pain or sorrow at all.
The ambulance quickly arrived, and in moments they were loading me onto a stretcher and frantically attempting to get oxygen into my lungs. I was not responding at all. My body was raced to the ER, but my spirit had a different destination.
Gone. Just like that. I finally felt free. Everything that was such a weight and burden just evaporated off me.
I didn’t cease to exist, or “go to sleep and dream.” Instead, it was as if I had simply stepped out of an old, worn-out suit. I saw it, but it wasn’t me. Who I truly was—my spirit—was being suctioned upward into a tunnel of pure, living, and joyful light.
I wasn’t just lifted to a higher “altitude” in the skies above. I knew I was passing through the veil. As I was being transported through a vertical tunnel, I didn’t just see the light above me—it wasn’t distant or separate. The closer I got, the more it consumed me, wrapped around me, pulled me in like I belonged to it. It wasn’t just something I was approaching, it was something I was becoming part of. All the darkness and death faded away in the distance.
How Long Was I Gone?
Down here on earth, I was out of consciousness for roughly 18 days. Up there, it felt like a breath. Time doesn’t work the same when you’re standing outside of it.
Every day, my family and friends hoped that my blood pressure would stabilize so that I could breathe again. I was transferred to the ICU (Intensive Care Unit), where my body was continually watched as everyone prayed for me to come back to life.
Because all they could see was my deteriorating body, they dealt with immense grief, feeling that they had lost me. But I hadn’t stopped existing; I simply had moved.
It was both as short as a minute but as long as a lifetime. Whenever I look back at my time before my accident, it feels like hundreds, if not thousands of years ago. It honestly feels like I am looking at another person’s life because it was just so different.
Second Peter 3:8 (TPT) says, “So, dear friends, don’t let this one thing escape your notice: a single day counts like a thousand years to the Lord Yahweh, and a thousand years counts as one day.”
For every second I was about to experience with Him, everything was about to change.
You Have a Divine Appointment
The light I was suctioned into wasn’t just a visible destination; it was a presence that funneled me, not just upward, but inward through the veil. And then, after passing through this tunnel, I knew I was at the center of the city.
Revelation 21:23 (NLT) tells us, “And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light.”
This wasn’t just a place. This was a Person. I saw Him.
My eyes locked with His.
A force stronger than gravity arrested me and wrapped me up. There was no escape. I was free-falling from a helicopter into the deepest trench of the widest blue ocean of love.
“But Gabe, what did He look like?”
Before I can even answer that, you need to understand—whatever image you’ve had of Him growing up, it’s not accurate. In that moment, I knew. Everything I had ever seen—the church paintings, Christian movies, actors playing His role—every portrayal had been off. The Christ I learned of was nothing like the One I was standing before.
It is going to take an entire chapter and really the rest of this book, and even then I could never finish the full explanation of what He looks like. I know you want to know all the features, but first you must understand:
His eyes.
They weren’t just a “feature” or “sole detail” of His being.
They were Him—all of Him.
I saw all the colors that had ever existed or could exist, all in one. He was the deepest ocean of liquid love that had no end. A spectrum of intensity that only increased the longer I stared.
His eyebrows, hair, jawline, arms, chest, heart, stature, nose hairs, ears, forehead, eyelashes, teeth, mouth, skin, and complexion all said the same thing:
I love you,
I love you,
I love you.
18 Days in Heaven
Gabe Poirot
Here I was, a measly human being, staring into the eyes of the eternal King of kings and Lord of lords. The great I AM, Majesty, Alpha and Omega, the One who existed before the start of existence itself.
How could this be, that I would even have the chance to look at Him? Here, in the very throne room of heaven, I struggled to process the possibility of my admission near this King.
The throne room was the grandest place I had ever witnessed. It was so large yet so intimate. There were countless beings all around, elders and living creatures (cherubim) and the seven Spirits and harps full of praise and golden bowls.
I stood there completely undone—a holy, reverent fear, unlike anything I’d ever known, struck me silent. This wasn’t just “someone.”
This is the One.
Even now, as I am writing this book, my heart is still pounding faster than you could imagine. I felt as if I almost didn’t want to attempt a breath because who was I that I would even attempt to share the same oxygen as Him. I feared and respected His presence.
The atmosphere was electric, charged with the fire of holiness. The air was thick, saturated with the weight of His glory, like it was dripping with something far greater than rain. It was like a cloud, but it filled the entire place and was not just limited to a certain location. His fragrance completely embraced me with every breath I took.
His fragrance wasn’t like the humidity of the Florida Everglades. No, this was something eternal—an everlasting fountain of fire, not just surrounding me but burning into me. Wrapping around me like a robe, like a living garment of pure, unending presence. It felt burning hot and freezing cold at the same time.
In that moment, I saw.
The fabric of His presence wove everything together—that has ever existed, from the grandest galaxies to the smallest pro-tons. It all was created from Him. All it took for Him was the tiniest movement of His finger. Half a centimeter. If that. Then, the universe began.
Every being and creature in the throne room radiated beauty and praise beyond just auditory sound. But none of them pointed to themselves. It was all for His glory.
There are many mansions in heaven—one for every son and daughter. But they weren’t just plopped down into existence—they were handcrafted and emanating as an extension of the very heart of the greatest Carpenter of all time. He delights in building every centimeter of your home.
There are details, rooms, structures, and designs that not only exceed your wildest dreams and imaginations, but they will leave you speechless in awe of all His delicate plans that He has had for you the entire time. Each one is prepared even before you arrive.
Yet, as breathtaking as they are, it’s not about the mansions. Just like everything else in heaven—the towering mountains, the endless beaches, the radiant cities, the monuments that tell His story, the libraries filled with eternal wisdom (and books that are written detailing His plans for all of His family), the universities where revelation never ceases, the golden streets, the pearly gates, the sparkling gems, the holy sapphire floor—none of it exists to draw attention to itself.
The gifts are never above the giver. And after seeing it all, there’s only one thing left to say,
“Worthy is the Lamb!”
Revelation 5:11-13 (NLT) paints this picture perfectly:
Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. And they sang in a mighty chorus: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered—to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.” And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang: “Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.”
Every ounce of heaven’s molecules far exceeded my wildest dreams and desires I could have ever imagined. And then there was me.
A 20-year-old, made from the dust of the earth, standing before the King Himself. I was the same man who had been a hypocrite. An addict. Ruthless. Prideful. Perverted. A liar. An enemy of God. And now, here I was before Him.
Terror gripped me. I was sure the record of my sin was about to be laid bare—every addiction, every moment of lust, every lie, every crude word, all of it. I knew I deserved judgment. At best, I could hope to be nothing more than a distant acquaintance. I felt just as Isiaah did when he was before the throne:
…I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!” Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke. Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies” (Isaiah 6:1-5 NLT).
My face fell to the floor. But then… He said, “Gabriel.”
His arms wrapped around me.
His hands held up my head so that I could look right into Him. There was no hesitation.
Tears.
They ran down my face.
Not only was I allowed before His feet, but He looked at me as if I was His one and only.
“Gabriel.”
“Welcome home.”
“Look at Me.”
No one had ever loved me like this before. I had never seen a smile like the one I witnessed on His face. He was thrilled. The level of excitement and joy that emanated and flowed from His being was beyond any description I can put into the English language.
Ezekiel went through a very similar encounter to mine, thousands of years ago.
Above this surface was something that looked like a throne made of blue lapis lazuli. And on this throne high above was a figure whose appearance resembled a man. From what appeared to be his waist up, he looked like gleaming amber, flickering like a fire. And from his waist down, he looked like a burning flame, shining with splendor. All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. This is what the glory of the Lord looked like to me. When I saw it, I fell face down on the ground, and I heard someone’s voice speaking to me.
“Stand up, son of man,” said the voice. “I want to speak with you.” The Spirit came into me as he spoke, and he set me on my feet. I listened carefully to his words (Ezekiel 1:26-28; 2:1-2 NLT)
I knew exactly how Ezekiel must have felt. In His eyes, I saw the eyes of Father God, pure love, staring right back into me. Jesus’ eyes were a perfect mirror reflecting how my Father sees me.
This perfect Father—the One who knew everything about me—saw me as if I were Jesus Himself.
It wasn’t just “similar to” or “close enough.” It was exactly.
The way He loves Jesus…that’s how He loves me. I wasn’t some outsider, barely making it in. I was seen, cherished, adored, and valued just as much as Christ was. I truly felt like a grave accident had occurred, like an angel had misplaced me and confused me as if I was part of Christ Himself. How could this be?
But then Jesus sternly told me I was not mistaken and reminded me of His words in John 17:23 (TPT): “You live fully in me and now I live fully in them, so that they will experience perfect unity, and the world will be convinced that you have sent me, for they will see that you love each one of them with the same passionate love that you have for me.”
It was true. I was cut from the same cloth as Him. I was in Him and He was in me.
Before this experience, I always wondered if I could have a mansion in heaven. Where would it be? What would it look like? Who would be there? But ever since this moment, I can’t stop thinking about this place—His throne. His glory. His heart.
His home…was my home.
He had a room in His mansion just for me, located at the core of all of who He was, and at the center of the city, and all of creation.
Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going (John 14:1-4 NLT).
The room had my special name on it. It was made of a white, stoney substance. The Lord has not allowed me to remember or share that name with anyone.
Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it (Revelation 2:17 NLT).
He Died and Came Back with Revelations that Break Chains on Earth
One moment, blood poured from his ears as doctors prepared his family for the worst. The next, Gabe Poirot's spirit was lifted through a tunnel of living light--straight into the blazing throne room of Heaven.
For 18 miraculous days beyond his body, Gabe encountered Jesus face-to-face and received revelation of what truly happens after your last breath--and how you can live in the power of eternity now.
As a pastor, evangelist, and voice to millions worldwide, Gabe carries a mandate to awaken this generation to the supremacy of Jesus, the authority of His blood, and the believer's identity as sons and daughters of God. His testimony is not about scenery or symbols, but about the blazing reality of Christ Himself.
This is not merely a near-death story--it is a faith-charged encounter that proves your victory, secures your destiny, and calls you to walk in the unstoppable power of His finished work.
In these pages, you'll discover how to:
Walk in covenant victory and enforce the triumph of the cross in every area of life.
Release powerful prayers with Heaven's authority to defeat the enemy.
Break chains of shame, guilt, and condemnation through the finished work of Jesus.
See yourself through the burning eyes of Jesus and discover your true identity in Christ.
Live fearless and faith-filled, knowing your eternity is secure in Him.
From the pavement of a brutal accident to the sapphire floor of Heaven, Gabe's story will activate your faith, dismantle every lie, and ignite your spirit with the unshakable reality of eternity.
