Sarah Bullen is a name recognised widely in the literary world. Known for her international writing retreats and her online writing courses, she has guided numerous aspiring writers to success, resulting in the publication of more than 180 books.
Sarah is an accomplished author herself, but her journey took a dramatic turn after a near-death experience in her 30s, while she was in a coma for three weeks. She wrote about it in a deeply personal memoir, Love and Above, which also dealt with her husband’s battle with a brain tumour and his exploration of shamanism to fight the cancer.
In her new book, The Other Side, she dives deeper into her own near-death experience and tells the stories of others who have seen the ‘other side’, or who possess the ability to communicate with those beyond the grave.
TELL US A BIT MORE ABOUT YOUR BRUSH WITH DEATH.
‘In 2012, I was 36. My husband, who had been battling brain cancer for four years, was in the final stages of his illness. I was fit, had two young children, and was the group editor of a magazine stable. One day, I got the flu, and within 24 hours I was in a coma on life support.
‘It started with a sore throat. I’d been at the printing press that morning, signing off a magazine, and while waiting for it to go to print I went for a run. The next day I told my company to courier my laptop to me as I planned to work from home. But within hours I was at Constantiaberg Hospital in a coma.
‘There was no clear diagnosis at first – just influenza