Four-Year-Old Girl Says She Had a Spiritual Encounter During a NDE

I was just so happy she was here. Like, we had just gone through so much. Even in the womb, Brittany Tomek of Brunswick felt her baby was special. When I was pregnant, they found the cyst on her brain and the white spot in her heart. The smoke signals were there. However, our Zola, nicknamed Zola, was born a healthy baby girl. And then around six months, we noticed she was still like an infant. She wasn't progressing. Tomek went to her pediatrician, who recommended therapy. But she still felt something was wrong. She would just get fevers unexpectedly. She would scream through the night. The littlest, like, ear infections would turn into pneumonia. Next were the seizures. Year after year after year of seeing specialists. Eventually, an ENT recommended Zola get her tonsils removed to treat sleep apnea, which was causing her seizures. A routine procedure. Everything was fine. They went home. That's when she came in our room in the middle of the night, and she went to yell, Mom, and she couldn't even get it out. Just, all we saw was this black mass come out of her mouth, and it just dropped. Zola was covered in blood, lying unresponsive on the floor. She was rushed to Akron Children's Hospital and immediately taken into the O.R. So she was almost out of blood, and she kept going unresponsive, and then coming back. She never flatlined. An hour later, the doctor came out, and she said she was fine. She was going to be okay. Do you want to swing on this, Zola? Zola fought for her life, and because of her strength, doctors discovered that the hemorrhage was caused by a rare genetic disorder called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. It affects the collagen, the connective tissue. So for most people, it's like they're put together with super glue, their bones and their tissues. Hers is like bubble gum. There is no cure, only treatment. Zola will have a lifetime of bleeding, bruising, and pain. After a week at the hospital, Zola got to go home. And over the months following her recovery, Tomek says she started to notice a change in her four-year-old. And then that's when one night I was getting her ready for gymnastics, and out of nowhere, she just asked when she can see God again. And it kind of, it took me back for a second, and I was like, Zola, what do you mean? Like, you want to see God again? She's like, yeah, when do I get to see God again? Tomek says despite never talking to Zola about her grave condition, Zola started talking to her parents about the time she died and went to see God. Tomek says Zola describes sitting next to Jesus and giving Him a hug. Tomek says Zola even started drawing pictures of God in her heart. There were a few times I picked her up from preschool, and the teacher was saying, like, she got in an argument again about God being real. What do you have to say to people that are like, she's four? It's her imagination. It makes me sad that people would think that way and not believe. These are not things that we've put in her head. Tomek believes Zola was saved that day, both physically and spiritually. She had an experience. Like, she has gone through something that we can't explain, and most people can't. And from that passion came purpose. Tomek started a nonprofit called Zola's Zebras, which raises awareness and helps families dealing with rare illnesses. I mean, it's day by day, some days minute by minute, and it's just clinging on to faith and continuing to advocate for your child. In Brunswick, Melissa Reed, Fox 8 News.