A woman has shared how she was buried alive after a devastating earthquake and almost died twice – but was brought back to life by a mysterious voice.
Maayan Sebbag had been travelling with a friend and slowly ticking off her bucket list of once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
And there was one place left for her to visit; a panda reserve located in a remote part of China.
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As they arrived, the pair sat down to eat their lunch, when suddenly, the ground began moving.
Within moments, Maayan became trapped under a mountain of rubble and slipped away into a place of complete darkness.
While there, two competing inner voices starting talking and a beam of light began lifting her up, as she begged to return to her body.
“One voice told me I’d never be rescued,” the holistic therapist told Need To Know.
“And the other said I was going to survive.
“My strength shifted depending on which voice I believed more.
“When I listened to despair, my energy dropped, but when I chose to hear hope, it lifted.”
Maayan, now 44, found the strength to break free from the rubble, where she was quickly rushed to receive medical care.
She had tried to escape from the earthquake, but tripped while running, and ultimately crushed her head and face.
Maayan found herself trapped in the “tiny grave” with a blood-filled mouth and throat, as well as her jaw and tongue shattered.
Upon arrival, the hospital had collapsed and so a temporary medical camp was set up, where she was transported to for treatment.
She said: “The doctors told me not to lie down.
“If I did, and I slept, I would die.”
After a few days, though, with no food or water, her body gave in.
Maayan, from Israel, said: “I was so weak.
“I couldn’t help it.
“I felt like my body was no longer holding me.
“I was being lifted up and I felt like I was becoming one with the Earth.
“It was peaceful, not frightening.
“The dark space wasn’t scary – it felt like home; a place I had been missing my whole life.
“Then, a mysterious voice spoke to me.
“It was God asking me what I would regret most about leaving my life behind.
“At first, I thought about my purpose in wanting to help others; but he urged me to go deeper.
“Suddenly, a sharp and overwhelming pain entered my stomach and I understood that my deepest regret was never becoming a mum.”
Maayan, who went through the experience in 2008, begged to return to her body.
She said: “I kept asking God to give me a second chance.
“I was so young and still hadn’t fulfilled everything I wanted to.
“He agreed; but I was given a clear set of instructions.
“I was told that when the sun rose and the rain stopped, I had to start walking.
“There would be people who helped me and people who tried to stop me.
“I was told to listen to the voice and trust it.”
She was “zapped” back into her body and claims her body felt like it was “full of power”.
Despite medical advice to rest, Maayan continued to walk through the destroyed and dangerous area in a bid to find the nearest hospital.
She then underwent a gruelling eight hour surgery to fix her wounds.
But, while under, she “died” once again.
She said: “My spirit went up in the air.
“I returned to the same, dark, loving place – and God’s voice came back to me.
“He showed me a glowing door and gave me another choice.
“I was asked if I wanted to go through the door or back into my own body.
“Part of me wanted to stay, but I couldn’t ignore what I still longed for in life.”
Maayan declined his offer and a horse made of light flashed in front of her, which carried her back into her own body.
Her face was rebuilt and she spent months in rehabilitation, never speaking about her near-death experiences out of fear people would think she was “crazy”.
But, in a bid to show people that death is nothing to be scared of, Maayan has since written a book titled Unburied about her experience being buried alive.
In 2024, she returned to the site of the ordeal and reunited with those who helped her to survival.
And, over the years, she was granted her one wish to become a mum, with four in her brood [not named for privacy reasons].
She added: “Death is not the end.
“It’s the end of one layer of us.
“If I could survive that, then anything is possible.”
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