♪ a woman claims she had a spiritual experience that changed her life and the idea of death. she claims she died and went to heaven and spent time with god. >> if you have heard of near-death experiences, this is eerily familiar. that is something that one author says could make it true. here's abc's linzie janis. >> reporter: 36-year-old crystal mcveigh was in the hospital ing with treated for a rare pancreatic disease three years ago when she was accidentally given more pain medicine than her body could handle. >> basically i died of drug overdose. >> reporter: her heart stopped. in the nine minutes doctors worked to revive her she said she was at the gates of heaven talking with god. >> i was standing in the most beautiful tunnel of light. there was no words. it was effortless communication between us. >> reporter: in her book,