Billy Garaffa was mid-game on a Friday night in April 2022 when his world went black and his heart just stopped. For sixteen long minutes he was gone, but what he saw while he was “away” changed everything he thought he knew about heaven. Today he shares how God orchestrated everything long before the incident in his incredible testimony.
We hear many heartbreaking stories of people straying away from God, and many today don’t believe in the truth at all. But our God is a merciful God. He is consistently calling us back to Him through miraculous testimonies and visions.
If you ever felt like miracles only happened during Biblical times, stories like Billy’s prove that God is still working evidently in many lives.
Before the game even started Billy felt something different. He described it as a weird awareness he had felt all week. In the locker room he did something totally out of character. He asked his teammates if he could pray.
His friend Ben said later that everyone just stopped. Believers and non-believers alike bowed their heads right there in the locker room and asked for protection.
The Billy Garaffa Testimony of Heaven
During the game Billy suddenly collapsed in cardiac arrest. His wife Isabella was in the stands and could only scream out for Jesus to help him.
While people on the ice worked on his body Billy was somewhere else entirely. He found himself standing in a light so bright that nothing on earth compares to it.
He didn’t feel any pain. He just felt a total sense of peace and the fragrance of the place was sweeter than anything he had ever smelled. He said God was everywhere and just surrounding his whole spirit.
“I could feel the absolute love and peace of God and I knew I was in his presence.”
In that moment God spoke to his heart. He reminded Billy about the two big commandments to love God and love your neighbor. To Billy it finally all made sense.
The Holy Spirit showed him what was happening back on the ice. He saw his body in a little bubble. He saw the CPR and his wife praying. He noticed a darkness trying to get to the bubble but it just shriveled up like a snake and disappeared.
A Miracle that Stunned the Doctors
The doctors found something later that they couldn’t really explain. Billy had rare collateral arteries. These are extra blood vessels that most people don’t have. They kept his brain alive while his main artery was totally blocked.
Billy likes to say God built that miracle into his body years before he ever needed it.
“It’s like God built this miracle into me ahead of time.”
Later, Billy struggled with one question: where Jesus was during the actual rescue? One morning while he was praying he saw a vision of the ice. He saw Jesus standing right there directing every single person who helped save him.
“Jesus said to me, ‘I was always there.'”
Billy’s experience gives us a beautiful glimpse into what waits for us after death. It also shows how much God cares for His children and plans every tiny detail of our lives.
It is amazing to think about those extra blood vessels the doctors found in Billy’s heart. He didn’t know he had them. He didn’t ask for them.
But God knew that on a Friday night in 2022, Billy’s main artery would fail. So, God built a backup system into his body long before the crisis ever hit.
Sometimes we stay up late stressing about a problem that hasn’t even happened yet. We try to plan for every “what if” scenario, but we forget that God has already been to our tomorrow.
He is the Great Architect. He puts the right people in the locker room to pray and he builds the strength we need into our very DNA before we ever realize we’re in trouble.
We can rest today because His plan is already in motion, and He never misses a single detail.
WATCH: Billy Garaffa Shares His Powerful Testimony
