Movie Opening: 90 Minutes in Heaven

Piper’s story begins on January 18, 1989, when a semi-tractor truck crushed him in his car. Declared dead by the first rescue workers to arrive on the scene of the collision, his body lay under a tarp for the next 90 minutes. At the moment he was hit, simultaneously, he was surrounded by a host of people who had preceded him in death (including his grandfather). He was also encompassed by white light, the most beautiful aromas and colors he had ever encountered, love, and joy beyond the human experience. “I was embraced by God. I felt His presence. I saw His angels,” Piper told Deadline. He was afraid to tell people what he experienced at first for fear he would be judged. “When you put yourself out there and start to talk about the experience you had, you become very vulnerable. And people will make fun of you, and ridicule you. I get that, but it did happen. I wouldn’t have believed it myself if it didn’t happen to me.”