Meet Simon, who survived one of the worst natural disasters in recent times, and went on to discover the potential of Spiritualism to change lives.

Simon was on a beach in Phuket when the tsunami of Boxing Day 2004 hit. He was in Thailand training as a diving instructor, and taking a well-earned day off. As he walked towards the shore at Kata Beach for a swim, he began to realise something was wrong. As the waves came with increasing intensity, he was violently swept away and thought that he would lose his life. He managed to grab hold of a tree and keep hold of it, even when under water as the tsunami continued to hit the land. During this traumatic event he saw other people die. Simon sustained some injuries, but somehow survived this devastating natural disaster, though 200,000 people were not so lucky and lost their lives.

Back home in the UK, Simon felt very lucky to have survived. During this time, he learnt of Rachel Casson, a sports therapist. He visited her for help with a back problem, and discovered that she was also a Spiritualist medium. In a series of readings, Rachel provided evidence of survival after physical death. This included information from his dad, sister and an aunt, all keen to demonstrate that they were still alive and well. Prior to this, Simon described himself as an atheist, but the accuracy of the information given by Rachel was a challenge to his thinking, and he began to realise that there is more to our existence than just our physical presence. He felt his contact with Rachel opened his mind to new thinking and possibilities – ones that in the past he might have rejected. This set his curiosity in motion, and he decided to find out more.

 After regularly attending the SNU Pioneer Centre in Newmarket, and the Arthur Findlay College, his spiritual awareness and knowledge of Spiritualism were greatly increased. This gave him an insight into life and living that he hadn’t had before. He has found the religion to be tremendously helpful, and has seen at first hand its life changing potential. He now advocates the benefit of living by the principles of Spiritualism; while he knows that none of us are perfect, he has realised that Spiritualism has the capacity to make the world a better place. He now has a different outlook on life, and tells us, “It starts to help you make sense of your life, and stops you being scared of death.”

(You can read more about Rachel Casson in our case studies section.)