Out of the ordinary - Independent People

The extraordinary life and experiences of an Athlone chiropractor and metaphysical healer have been documented in two memoirs. This lady has certainly made her mark in her adopted town since she travelled to Ireland to open a chiropractic business in 1999. In the intervening years, among the many things Mary Helen Hensley has done is enhance her music talents, which she first developed in a Gospel Choir in church in Martinsville, Virginia, USA. “I did want to be a singer when I was young, and I learned my music in the church, but I would have difficulty doing just one thing in my life. I do many things, and I do still get to sing,†said Mary Helen, who has played, with a volunteer music group, every second Thursday night in O'Connell's pub, Brideswell, for almost a decade. While building her chiropractic business at the McCormack Centre, Mary Helen learned to play the bodhran, in between times of working with clients. She was taught by renowned bodhran player, Niall Mooney, who is a native of Athlone, and who is well known on the trad music circuit. While the Athlone Chiropractic Centre continued to grow, Mary Helen's life began to take other turns, and during her Athlone years, she became a mother to two very lively young girls, Jemma and Jada. Mary Helen, who has recently published her second book, 'Circles of Light' is popular as a chiropractor in Athlone. But events which took place many years before in her native America have caused Mary Helen to return to her true calling, as a metaphysical healer. She was 21 years old, when she had a serious and life-changing accident, while on her way to a Christmas party in Charleston, South Carolina, on 14th December, 1991. She broke her neck and severely distorted her spine, detached her retina, and learned, wrongly as proved, that she might never have children. “The light went green, and I turned onto a six-lane highway, but I could then see that a car was racing towards me and had no intention of stopping at the red light. I didn't have time to brake or swerve, and I knew I didn't stand a chance,†said Mary Helen. “I became consciously aware that I had a distinct choice of remaining in my body, experiencing the impact, or I could simply exit. It all seemed very natural, and it felt as if I had all the time in the world to make this decision. It was the choice that has shaped the rest of my life.†She says that she decided to leave her body at that time. The experience which followed for her is one that is literally 'out of this world', but one that Mary Helen has spoken of to all her family, friends, peers, and literally anyone that got to know this lady over the past twenty odd years. “I was aware of everything, and saw the crash from above, and saw the man who crashed into me being visibly upset, and then saw myself in the hospital, but I was hovering above it all,†she said. “I had no more attachment to my body, and I went very quickly through a tunnel, and while other people who have experienced this said they met family members, I did not. Instead, I met two figures, which I couldn't call human, but they were of a form that was familiar to me. I didn't get a shock, and they didn't present themselves in a frightening way, and I was in a place with them which looks or sounds like nothing we have ever seen here. Even the colours in this place were not like any I've ever seen in this world.†Mary Helen said that these two beings, which she calls 'guides', showed her pictures of her life, and showed her visions of the future, including an awareness of the fact that she would be a mother. “I saw everything, and all of a sudden I knew I wasn't finished, and I made a choice to go back with all the memories of what I saw in my out-of-body experience intact,†said Mary Helen. “I had experiences long before that, but I now had a knowledge that I could bring healing and awareness and understanding of illness and disease to other people.†While the body that she returned to was broken, a chiropractor helped her heal her physical injuries. She had just finished her final year studying Art and Design in South Carolina at the time of her accident. She then decided to return to school to study Chiropractic at Sherman College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where she went on to become a doctor of the science. “Going back into my body was like putting on a suit, which had been in a wardrobe for years,†said Mary Helen. “You have awareness that it is a suit, but you don't have the same attachment to it, like you once had. I don't get hung up much on my physical body since that time, and I love my inner peace.†Mary Helen says that she has seen and spoken with dead people since childhood, most particularly her grandfather, who was a surgeon in Kentucky during the 1940s. Again this is something she has freely discussed with her family and peers over the years, but she said that this skill was almost dormant before her accident, but has been stronger since then. She also remembers living many other lives, and has recounted some of her experiences on Ray Darcy's Today FM Radio show, and on Ryan Tubridy's RTE 2FM show. She has unearthed evidence from many people that her grandfather had a similar gift to herself, and had an amazing power of healing, which he kept secret from his family. However many of those he healed contacted his wife, Mary Helen's grandmother, following his death. “We have made death into something we are trying to avoid, but I've been there, and it is not to be feared, but obviously it's important that we live and experience life to the maximum,†said Mary Helen. “My grandfather speaks to me all the time, and healed me from an illness before I went into labour the second time. My children have also spoken to my grandfather, as they too, have inherited this gift of communication.†Mary Helen is a respected businesswoman in Athlone, and besides her chiropractic centre and conducting metaphysical healing sessions, she has recently entered into the literary world, and has written two volumes of memoir, 'Promised', and 'Circles of Light', which had a successful launch on Halloween weekend this year. The first book, 'Promised', which is published by Bookhub Publishing, tells the story of Mary Helen's life from childhood in the USA, to her college years, the accident and out of body experience, a sexual assault, details of a broken marriage from her past, healing herself from cancer, and her participation in a high-profile murder trial. Her new book, 'Circles of Light', also published by Bookhub, is like no other Athlone book before. It features many local characters and hostelries, where Mary Helen Hensley sang and played bodhran in traditional music sessions. The story takes up from the day she landed in Athlone in July 1999 to open her chiropractic business. “In 'Circles of Light' I talk about my healing sessions which I've been doing for years, and I include the births of my two children, the world of my chiropractic business and about the interventions I have experienced from my two dead grandparents, and the spirit world,†she said. Mary Helen currently speaks all over Ireland at seminars on spirituality. Her upcoming engagements can be found at www.spiritoneseminars.com or www.maryhelenhensley.net. Mary Helen is a popular member of the community and has a large clientele at her Dublin Road centre. The bubbly, green-eyed American blonde certainly has many strings to her bow, and her name and reputation continues to grow with the success of her two books. She will be launching the books in her native America before Christmas.