50. I Died (and came back to life) at Bonaroo

Submission:   "On Friday, June 2012, I was airlifted out of Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. During this near-death experience, I left my physical body and was able to watch almost as a third party as I was airlifted to the cardiac care unit in Chattanooga, Tennessee on life support. The next day I awoke, and by Sunday, June 10th, I miraculously returned to the festival after refusing to be released to a women's shelter. Nine months after the festival, I ended up having a complete mental breakdown, an existential crisis triggered by that experience that led me to do a series of wild and crazy things, landing me in a mental hospital for a week where I forgot my own name for two days. Believing I actually died June 8th,may sound out there. But it all happened and the event became a launching pad for my now 10 years of sobriety after a three year addiction to heroin and opiates. This is a story about mental health and stigmas around drug addictions and addicts. It's been a long journey and I'm very grateful to still be on this earth."