Man who cheated death twice will 'never forget what he saw' in his last moments

A dad who survived two near-death experiences has shared his insight into one of the most profound questions asked by humans - What really happens when we die? Pete Mackenzie Hodge is among those to have had a close encounter with the afterlife.

Now a chance meeting with one of his heroes - comedy legend Steve Coogan - has inspired him to pen his inspirational account of life and near death in a new book. The 38-year-old first came close to the brink in 2008 after graduating from .

He had just completed his studies and was 22-year-old when he was diagnosed with “I went from playing drums and football to that diagnosis," he said.

“At the time, that was a major shock for myself and my family,” He spent most of the year in and out of hospital getting chemotherapy.

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He underwent surgery which swapped his bones for titanium, but just a year later, his body began rejecting the foreign materials and he ended up in a critical condition. Fighting for his life in the intensive care unit, Pete had to make the difficult decision to amputate his leg.

“I didn’t want to die so went through with the amputation,” he added. “It was above the knee and then I went back to The Christie for more chemotherapy.”

Pete had to learn how to walk all over again through an intense physio regime. “I was grateful to be alive,” he added. “It sounds like a really difficult decision to make, which it was, but it was such a dramatic time that I didn’t feel like I had the time or space to think about it all.

"All I knew was I didn’t want to die. By losing the leg, I would have a second chance at life. I look back and think, 'thank God I did make that decision'.

“I wouldn’t have gone on to meet my wife and have my daughter otherwise. So many blessings came out of such a catastrophic situation.”

While Pete made a recovery and went on to adjust to his new way of life, he can recall having an other-worldly experience while fighting for his life in hospital,

He was in the intensive care unit when he glanced at the hospital curtain by his bed and saw a Casio watch face with minutes and seconds ticking by. He now believes that clock was a countdown to the end of his life. “I really believe we’re all this energy and we’re all carbon,” he added.

“I think what happens when we leave this work is that energy just gets recycled in another realm. Although our physical bodies cease to exist, that energy lives on.”

And it’s not the only time Pete has had a strange encounter during a near-death experience – his second coming when he fell seriously ill during the pandemic. The dad became severely unwell after developing a mysterious bacterial infection in his lungs which resulted in pneumonia and .

Fighting for his life again, Pete can recall leaving his body and seeing himself lifeless in his hospital bed.

“I left my body in the bed and what I saw there was my soul ascending,” Pete, a former drummer in band Inego, added. “I could see my physical body on the bed still, which was a really profound experience.

“I saw a plethora of colour and stained-glass windows. My sedation was increased and it did something to bring me around.”

But Pete said the experience wasn’t scary. “It wasn’t a, ‘Oh my God I’m dying, I don’t want to die,’ it was pure acceptance and pure surrender. It was a really magical moment, but obviously I’m so relieved and grateful to be here.”

He was placed into a coma for 13 days, going to sleep in 2020 and waking up in 2021. Doctors told him he was extremely lucky to be alive.

“All the doctors have said I’m a very lucky man. I shouldn’t be here but I am. It feels like I’m the luckiest guy in the but also one of the unluckiest.

“I’m a firm believer that with every bad thing that is brought to us, there’s an amazing blessing attached to it or a second chance at life. The victory of surviving all that is quite a euphoric thing to go through.”

Pete has since announced his first published book, Delirium Diaries, which details his second unlikely survival in the ICU followed by the drama of deep psychosis. It is set to be released on October 28 and is .

Inspired to put pen to paper after a chance meeting with actor and comedian Steve Coogan, Delirium Diaries explores the contrast between the comfort of home and the sterile hospital environment, sharing tales of love and resilience while emphasising the power of sheer grit and determination in defying the odds.

“The pure terror of facing the second near death experience of my young life is something that I wanted to channel into helping others,” Pete added.

“It happened during a time when society was petrified and were on their knees and I felt like my story represented hope and the fact that you have the ability to defeat any opponent if you want it badly enough.

"During a chance meeting with one of my heroes, Steve Coogan, I was lucky enough to have a long conversation with him covering all sorts of topics – music, lockdown, the Lake District.

“It wasn’t until we started talking about my recent illness that Coogan raised the idea of me writing about what I had just gone through. I Initially wrote the book as a therapeutic exercise. Being in and coming out of a coma is a very traumatic event.

“I found writing to be a helpful aid to my recovery as I attempted to re-piece the jigsaw pieces of my brain and mind, to heal myself and try to separate the reality and fiction of the world around me to the hallucinogenic, vivid dreams I experienced during my illness."