I took a tumble a few years ago that resulted in a nasty injury. Charles's story about his surgery gave me chills because it's exactly what I say about my accident (not the surgery). My consciousness ran straight from the accident (my memory doesn't quite last until the moment of impact) to waking up without any hint of the passage of the 15-20 minutes that apparently passed before I was discovered.<br><br>For the first time in my life, I became aware that the process of my awareness can just stop. It was a bit scary for a while, and I also had the thought that that must be what death is like.