In Italy there is renewed talk of life after death. The recent passing out of showman, journalist and television writer Cino Tortorella (known as inventor, in the Fifties, of "Lo Zecchino d’Oro" television festival of children's songs) brought up memories of what he said in many interviews, like the one conducted by Alessandro Dell’Orto, regarding near-death experiences (NDEs).

Two near-death experiences

Cino Tortorella was “almost died” twice, in 2007 andin 2009, when his heart stopped. To the question asked by Dell'Orto regarding if in those seconds pulseless he saw the afterlife, Tortorella answered: “For a long time I've kept it to myself, I worried not to be understood. Then I met professor Umberto Scapagnini, internationally renowned neuropharmacologist. He lived my same experience, and persuaded me to talk about it. Now I know that when I close my eyes for good and my heart stop beating it won't be forever and I won't be alone”.

A trip into another dimension

Tortorella added that it was “like a trip into another world, another dimension”. “I saw in front of me a a bright path, along which I have walked off coursing through a deep, sweetest serenity. I found my body submerged in a waive lifting me softly and carring me high, a wave not of water but of pure light, a liquid light. Nothing to do with the earthly one”.

Abyss of clear eternity

All around there wasn't nothing, although for Tortorella was hard to “find the right words to describe that place into detail. Maybe the best (words, ed) are those written by Brother Bonaventura describing the death of his fellow Francesco: He is submerged in the abyss of clear eternity”. Given the high curiosity around this kind of experiences, journalist asked Tortorella if he had seen anyone or heard any voice. Tortorella answered surprisingly: “The second time I've heard many voices. Only one, however, clear, strong. The same one I heard in 2001”.

We will see again

Tortorella referred to when, January 3, 2001, met in Vatican, into the Paolo VI hall, Pope Giovanni Paolo II (i.e. Karol Wojtyla). “When we parted I told him: Holyness, we will see again the next Jubilee - meaning that of 2025 - he smiled at me: Yes, we sill see again”. Karol Wojtyla died April 2, 2005 and April 27, 2014 has been declared Saint by Pope Francis. The one that Tortorella claimed to have heard was his voice: “He said: Yes, we sill see again. Then, after a very long break, he added: But not now”.

Don't be afraid

After that moment Tortorella's heart would start beating again and showman and journalist was fine promptly, going back to work “with a lot of energy that I didn't have before” and publishing, in October 2016, a book edited by Armando Siciliano Editore entitled “Don't be afraid (we will see them again)” regarding NDEs I lived twice such vividly. Tortorella with his work on television has been able to bring for decades, into Italian homes, so many moments of joy therefore is a happy thought to know that in the final moment of his life he got the comfort to know what he was walking into, without being afraid.