May Lewis's Near-Death Vision of Heaven
Published October 12, 2026 at 2:40 PM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
May Lewis, a ten-year-old girl in Manselton, Swansea, South Wales, suffered from a month-long illness characterized by fits and a trance. During a trance that lasted from a Saturday until the following Monday, she briefly regained consciousness on Thursday, and with eyes closed, described visiting heaven, which she called beautiful and populated by happy people in crowns. She told neighbors 'It is better there.' For five days, she was described as a 'living skeleton' who was 'limp and motionless' and sustained only by brandy and water.
Fuller account of this event (the complete account as preserved in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 61, No. 38, 21 September 1899):
A little girl named May Lewis, aged ten years, residing in Manselton, Swansea, has been suffering for a month past from a strange illness, characterized by fits and a trance. From Saturday until the following Monday she was in a trance, and on Thursday she regained consciousness for a short time. With her eyes closed she described a visit to heaven, which she said was beautiful, and filled with happy people wearing crowns. She told her neighbors, 'It is better there.' For five days she has been a living skeleton, and has been kept alive only by brandy and water, being perfectly limp and motionless.
In Their Own Words
“A TEN year old girl named May Lewis, living at Manselton, a suburb of Swansea, South Wales (says a correspondent of the Morning Leader) re- covered on Monday from a trance into which she fell on Saturday week. It followed on fits, one of which lasted for three hours. She temporarily recovered consciousness on Thursday last, when, with finger pointed up- wards, but with eyes closed, she said she had been to heaven. The place, she said, was beautiful. The people were all happy there, wearing crowns and singing. She was told that she would be allowed to return to her parents for a short time longer, and in reply to questions of sympathetic neighbors, said: It is better there; it is better there!” — Millennial Star 61:38”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 21 September 1899 (Vol. 61, No. 38). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1899-09-21_61_38 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Complete account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 61, No. 38, 21 September 1899 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1899-09-21_61_38
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