Steffani Besch, at only age 13, experienced a traumatic near-death experience while at a summer swim party with her church youth group. A fellow child and prankster pushed Besch into the pool but hit her head on the way down, leaving her unconscious for over 30 minutes underwater.

The pool was overcrowded and had been over-chlorinated, leaving the water cloudy. In the frenzy of children playing in the pool, no one noticed the young girl sitting at the bottom.

Her friends noticed she was missing and ran for help. The youth group was dismissed by lifeguards, but broke up into teams to search themselves. They finally found her a pulled her up out of the water, where her body was lifeless.

Steffani’s friends began to gather around her. One by one, they began to speak the name of Jesus. “That’s the only thing they knew to do, was say the name of Jesus, while they stood there figuring out what to do,” she says.

During the emergency, Besch, who was thought to be dead by doctors, was experiencing something incredible.

“I had an experience with the Lord and I literally saw my spirit leave my body and I saw my natural body on the bottom of the pool,” she recalls.

“The next thing I know I was at the gates of heaven and there was a battle for my life. I heard Satan say she’s coming with me. I heard the Lord say no she’s not. This went back and forth three times.”

“I remember brilliant colors. I mostly remember the feel, because there was no fear. There was such a knowing of love and that I was safe and protected. Nothing else, even the arguing over my life didn’t affect me. I knew I was safe,” she says.

Miraculously, Besch woke up and found herself sitting in the hospital bed.

“I know what happened to me,” she said. “Jesus saved my life. He saved my life today. He gave me my life back.”

“We don’t have an explanation,” the doctor said after Besch was found to be OK. “The only thing we can say is we are going to call this a miracle.”

You can watch more of Besch’s testimony below.