SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (ANS) -- Doctors inexplicably missed a burst appendix, which led to her untimely death in a hospital bed at age 27. But she shocked her doctors and nurses when she abruptly sat up and began to tell stories about a visit to heaven.

Bookcover of Betty's book, 'My Glimpse of Eternity'

“I had never been sick in my life,” Betty Malz recalled, at a conference

 hosted by Hospital Christian Fellowship in the Midwest

At first, she thought she pulled a muscle water skiing or the pain came from her terrible sunburn. But about 11 p.m., after everyone else fell asleep, she began to vomit.

She nudged her husband John in bed. “I’ve got to get some help,” she told him. “I’m very seriously sick.”

About three miles away, they found a small hospital. After a few tests, an intern came back shaking his head. “We’re in a lot of trouble her,” he informed them. “You have an appendix swollen and ready to burst. I have 26 patients and 24 beds, with two patients in labor ready to have babies at the same time. We’re not equipped for this emergency.”

An ambulance transported Betty to a larger hospital in Clearwater, but no one realized her appendix burst during the trip.

After she arrived, a doctor disagreed with the first doctor’s report. “You aren’t even swollen on your right side,” he noted. “You just got too much sun. We will treat you with some antibiotics, put you on a liquid diet, and you’ll be on the beach in a few days.”

After five days, Betty’s health continued to decline. After 11 days, she was blind, had a fever of 105 degrees, and toxic poisoning had spread throughout her body.

A new specialist came in who mistakenly informed the family she had a tubular pregnancy, and recommended surgery to remove what he thought was a four-month-old dead fetus.

Deeply discouraged, Betty’s family decided instead to fly her to Union Hospital, close to their home in Terre Haute, Indiana. After Betty arrived there, doctors performed surgery for her supposed tubular pregnancy, but were shocked when they got inside.

“I’ve found a mass of gangrene the size of a man’s head,” her surgeon told her husband and parents in ICU. “This is the nastiest mess in my 28 years of practice. The first intern was right. It was a ruptured appendix 11 days ago. She has a serious bowel blockage and all her organs have started to disintegrate.”

“I don’t know how a 120 pound woman has lasted for 11 days,” he added. He told them she had a slim chance of survival.

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