Nicole grew up in a hyper-religious family – except, as her parents were from different religious factions there was no agreement about which was the right one to follow or the right way to live life. This created a great deal of rigidity in her family about how to ‘be’, and influenced Nicole’s decision to join the Air Force, where she experienced a horrific accident.

As Nicole was thrust through the windscreen of a moving vehicle, tearing her body apart, her soul left her body and she found herself not wanting to return to it. Later, on the operating table, she left her body again. Years later the events surrounding this were confirmed by the operating physician. For Nicole, those crucial moments were filled with the presence of a spirit guide who convinced her to return as her work on earth was not yet complete.

She not only came back, but she began to function at a whole new level, explaining her DNE (near-death experience) from a scientific perspective in her book.

Nicole has had to make peace with so many aspects of her life; her parent’s style of parenting, the cause of the accident, and the ramifications of it on a physical, emotional and mental health level.

Geographically, she has returned close to where she was born and in doing so, is making peace with her parents, having realised that their trauma has been instrumental in their relationship with her.

There are many pivotal lessons to be gained from this. Nicole has a very flexible way of thinking about healing and recovery from trauma. Most importantly she teaches us that if you are fearing death, you will never truly live.