Don Piper

Don Piper is an American Baptist minister and author best known for his 1989 near-death-experience and the resulting bestseller 90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death and Life (2004, with Cecil Murphey). On January 18, 1989, Piper was struck by a semi-trailer truck on a bridge in Texas; paramedics found no signs of life and covered him with a tarp from 11:45 AM until 1:15 PM. During this period — 90 minutes by his account — he experienced what he describes as direct conscious post-mortem encounter with heaven, including meeting deceased relatives and joining a heavenly choir before Christ's gates. He returned to consciousness when a fellow pastor (the only one with him at the scene) prayed for him and Piper began singing "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" from beneath the tarp. He underwent 34 surgeries and 13 months hospitalized for substantial physical injuries. 90 Minutes in Heaven remained on the New York Times Bestseller List 5+ years and has sold 6+ million copies. The 2015 motion picture adaptation extended the framework's cultural reach.