7 Lessons from Heaven ─ How Dying Taught Me to Live a Joy-Filled Life

In this inspiring follow-up to her million-selling To Heaven and Back, Dr. Mary Neal shares untold stories from her astonishing near-death experience and powerful insights about how the reality of heaven can make each day magnificent.
Dr. Mary Neal’s unforgettable account of a 1999 kayaking accident that took her life, and what happened next, has riveted more than a million readers. But something happened as she shared her story in the years since. Not only did Neal realize she had more to tell, she discovered she had yet to answer the biggest question of all: How does knowing heaven is real change our lives on Earth?
In What I Brought Back From Heaven, Dr. Neal takes readers deeper into her out-of-body experience, which includes encounters with angels, a journey to a “city of light,” and what it was like to meet Jesus face-to-face. Even more Neal shares how she went back with the absolute knowledge that the God we hope for—the one who knows us, loves each of us as though we are the only one, and wants us to experience His supernatural power in our daily life—is real and present. She offers practical insights and inspiration for how each of us can experience this God every day and begin living without regret, worry, anxiety, or fear.
“I have never finished a reading at a venue, including in corporate settings, without people lining up to talk to me because they want to know more,” says Dr. Neal. In What I Brought Back From Heaven, Neal meets that demand in a book that will usher each of us into a life-changing encounter with God.

Mary C. Neal is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon, former director of spine surgery at the University of Southern California, and a founding partner of the Orthopedic Associates of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She received her medical degree from the School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she also trained in general surgery before completing an orthopedic surgery residency at the University of Southern California. She has served as an elder in the Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole, is a member of the board of directors for several nonprofit organizations, and created the Willie Neal Environmental Awareness Fund (wnealenvirofund.org).