Gabe Poirot’s account of an 18-day coma has drawn renewed attention to a question that has fascinated Christians, historians and artists for centuries: what did Jesus actually look like? After surviving a catastrophic electric-skateboard accident in 2021, Poirot says he experienced heaven and encountered Jesus in a way that transformed his understanding of faith.

Clips from a March 2026 Fox News interview resurfaced in October, bringing his testimony to a wider audience. Among the most discussed details are his description of Jesus’ appearance and his belief that the Shroud of Turin resembles the figure he remembers. But while his story has a powerful personal and spiritual dimension, his claims about heaven and the historical appearance of Jesus remain unverified.

Gabe Poirot’s 2021 Electric-Skateboard Accident

Poirot’s story began on October 25, 2021, when he was 20 years old and riding an electric skateboard. During his 2026 interview with Lila Rose, he recalled racing a friend at roughly 20 mph, although he acknowledged that his speed could have been 25 or 30 mph.

He struck a small raised object or bump in the road, was thrown from the skateboard and landed on his head. Poirot has said he was not wearing a helmet, fractured his skull and suffered a severe traumatic brain injury. His friend initially thought he might be joking before realising the seriousness of the situation.

The precise speed varies across accounts. While Poirot estimated approximately 20 mph in The Lila Rose Show, later media reports described the accident as occurring at around 30 mph. Based on his own retellings, the most cautious description is approximately 20–30 mph.

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Why Poirot Says He Spent 18 Days in a Coma

Poirot says his injuries were so severe that he had to be resuscitated. He subsequently remained unresponsive, spending three days in what he described as a natural coma, followed by approximately 15 days in a medically induced coma while on life support.

During The Lila Rose Show, he explained:

“it was a natural coma for three days and then a 15 day medically tube coma where I was on life support pretty much.”

Fox News also described him as a survivor of a life-threatening skateboarding accident who spent 18 days in a coma.

The phrase 18 days in heaven reflects Poirot’s interpretation of his experience during that period of unconsciousness. It does not mean that doctors medically established that he had physically visited heaven. His account of resuscitation, brain injury and coma should be distinguished from his explanation of what he believes happened beyond his physical body.

Gabe Poirot Says He Left His Body and Encountered Jesus

Poirot says the experience began almost immediately after the accident. He recalls feeling as though he had left his physical body before being drawn upwards towards a light.

He later came to understand that light as a person rather than simply a visual phenomenon. As he put it:

“The light was a person. The light was him.”

Poirot says this experience led him through a spiritual realm to what he identifies as heaven, where he encountered Jesus face-to-face.

He has stressed that the experience did not resemble an ordinary conversation or take place within what he understood as the physical world. During his interview with Lila Rose, he described it as happening:

“outside of my body, outside of the English language, in a realm that was not on the earth.”

He says Jesus communicated with him directly through a spiritual form of understanding rather than conventional audible speech. Poirot has described the encounter as more real to him than anything he had previously experienced, while acknowledging that ordinary language cannot fully convey what he remembers.

These details form the centre of his testimony. They are his account of a near-death experience, not independently established evidence that consciousness left his body or travelled to a supernatural realm.

What Does Gabe Poirot Say Jesus Looked Like?

One of the most widely discussed parts of Poirot’s story is his description of Jesus’ physical appearance.

When Lila Rose asked him directly what Jesus looked like, he replied:

“He was about 5’11, six feet.”

Poirot said Jesus met him “eye to eye” and had darker-toned skin, with an appearance he associated with the Middle East. He added:

“He was darker toned skinned, closer to like Middle Eastern yet eternity at the same time.”

He also described Jesus as appearing approximately 33 years old while simultaneously being eternal. According to Poirot, Jesus had medium-length, slightly curly hair, although he clarified:

“Not super curly though”

His description differs from many familiar Western artistic representations of Jesus. However, it remains a personal religious testimony rather than a historically verified portrait.

His More Dramatic Description in the Fox News Interview

A March 2026 Fox News interview, which resurfaced on social media in October, brought another part of Poirot’s description into focus.

He described Jesus as “pure fire” and said his eyes were burning white and red. He also compared Jesus’ physical presence to a mustang and referred to him as the “Lion of Judah”.

Poirot repeated his description of Jesus’ height:

“He was 5’11”, like six feet, yet as tall as eternity.”

He then said:

“Like an ocean of love, yet his eyes were burning white and red at the same time.”

Another striking remark was:

“Talk about testosterone! Like a mustang.”

Poirot argued that Jesus had been culturally misrepresented as soft or passive. He described the figure he says he encountered as powerfully masculine, explaining:

“a lion, but he’s not a lion angry against me, he’s a lion angry for me.”

He added:

“He’s a mustang on my behalf. He did it all for me.”

These statements help explain why the interview attracted attention, but they should be understood as Poirot’s descriptions of his claimed encounter, not independently verified details of Jesus’ appearance.

Why Poirot Believes the Shroud of Turin Resembles Jesus

Despite describing Jesus in considerable detail, Poirot insists that no painting or physical image can fully reproduce what he says he experienced.

When Lila Rose showed him a traditional painting of Jesus, he said he liked it but did not believe any artwork could adequately represent the figure he remembered. He explained that:

“there’s no image you can hold in your hands”

that does Jesus justice.

Nevertheless, Poirot believes the Shroud of Turin comes closer than other depictions. When discussing the relic, he said:

“The Shroud of Turin is a cloth yet it’s not just a cloth.”

He continued:

“It represents the supernatural light of Christ because the light of Christ touched that cloth. And so I love the Shroud of Turin.”

Poirot also qualified his view, explaining that the Shroud matters because it points towards Christ rather than because the cloth itself should become the central object of faith.

When asked whether its image matched what he remembered, he answered:

“A cloth can’t do him justice – but I would say it does better than others.”

This is the basis for describing the Shroud as the closest image of Jesus according to Poirot. It is his personal comparison, not scientific authentication of the relic or independent confirmation of his near-death experience.

What Is the Shroud of Turin, and Is It Authentic?

The Shroud of Turin is a linen cloth bearing a faint image of a man. Preserved in Turin, Italy, it is one of Christianity’s best-known religious relics. Some Christians believe it is the burial cloth of Jesus, while its authenticity remains the subject of historical and scientific debate.

Believers who accept its authenticity argue that its image and physical characteristics are consistent with Jesus’ crucifixion and burial. Others point to scientific and historical evidence suggesting that the cloth originated much later.

The most prominent scientific challenge came from radiocarbon dating published in Nature in 1989. Researchers from laboratories in Arizona, Oxford and Zurich tested material from the Shroud and reported a date range of approximately AD 1260–1390, with at least 95 per cent confidence. Their conclusion was that the tested linen was medieval.

Some Shroud researchers have challenged the reliability or representativeness of the tested sample, suggesting that contamination, restoration or other factors may have affected it. These objections remain part of the debate, but they do not establish that the Shroud dates from the time of Jesus.

The Catholic Church’s treatment of the relic also requires an important distinction. During his 2015 visit to Turin, Pope Francis prayed before the Shroud and described it as an “icon of love”. The Vatican presented the relic as an object directing attention towards Christ and human suffering.

Religious veneration, however, is not the same as a scientific declaration of authenticity. The Church has allowed the Shroud to hold religious significance without requiring a definitive scientific finding that it is Jesus’ actual burial cloth.

Consequently, the Shroud cannot independently confirm Poirot’s vision, even for someone who believes the relic is authentic.

What Does Poirot Say Heaven Looks Like?

Poirot’s testimony extends beyond Jesus’ appearance. When Lila Rose asked what heaven looked like and what its inhabitants were like, he admitted:

“Honestly, I don’t know.”

He nevertheless described heaven as a place of beauty and glory without death or decay. He said:

“But there’s only beauty in heaven. There’s only glory. There’s no death or decay.”

He connected this description to his belief that there is no ageing in heaven, explaining:

“With that, I would conclude that there is no age in heaven. It’s beauty.”

Poirot has also said that the heaven he believes he experienced cannot be understood simply as a physical location. As he explained:

“This heaven that I was brought to isn’t, can’t be described as a location. Heaven is.”

Even so, he described buildings, monuments, mansions and libraries. When asked about houses and buildings, he said:

“The houses, the buildings, the monuments, they only speak of Him.”

He portrayed these structures as elements of an environment resembling a city, while emphasising that their meaning was connected to Christ rather than ordinary earthly life.

His account also included libraries that he described as beautiful. In his interpretation, Jesus was inseparable from what the books represented, to the point that he described Jesus as effectively “the page” when the books were opened.

These descriptions reflect Poirot’s interpretation of his experience and should not be treated as independently verifiable information about the afterlife.

The Prayers and Message Poirot Says He Received

Prayer is another central theme in Poirot’s testimony. He says Jesus showed him prayers that people on Earth were making for him during his coma.

He recalled:

“When I was suctioned up and brought before Jesus, he showed me the prayers that everyone was praying over me.”

Poirot believes those prayers were connected to his return to his body. He has been careful to clarify that he does not mean prayer itself saved him instead of God. Rather, he interprets the prayers as part of how he understood God’s response.

He also recalls a personal message from Jesus. According to Poirot, he feared that his sins and failures would be exposed. He says Jesus lifted his face and showed him his wounds before asking:

“Gabriel, why are you concerned about that which has been paid for?”

In another 2026 appearance, Poirot gave a closely related version:

“Gabriel, the price is paid. Why are you concerned about that which does not exist?”

The two versions should remain distinct because their wording differs. In both accounts, Poirot interprets the message through the Christian belief that Jesus’ sacrifice provides forgiveness for sin.

He says the experience changed his understanding of Christianity. Although he was already a Christian before the accident, he felt that his faith became personal rather than remaining primarily intellectual. He also acknowledged that he had previously placed too much emphasis on material possessions as evidence of God’s blessing.

He has since summarised his outlook by saying:

“all I needed in life was Jesus, Jesus plus nothing.”

Gabe Poirot’s Book and Renewed Media Attention

Poirot has expanded on his experience in his 2026 book, 18 Days in Heaven: I Left My Body. I Met Jesus. What He Told Me Will Alter Your Eternity.

Published by Harrison House Publishers on April 7, 2026, the book runs 160 pages and presents his account of the accident, coma, claimed encounter with heaven and return to life.

Its commercial performance has also drawn attention. The New York Times bestseller list dated April 26, 2026, placed it at No. 1 in the Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous category, reflecting sales for the week ending April 11. Publishers Weekly’s trade-paperback data for the week dated October 5, 2026, placed it at No. 21, after it had reached a high of No. 3 earlier in April.

The book’s marketing describes the experience in explicitly supernatural terms, including Poirot’s claim that he died, entered heaven and returned with a message. These remain the author’s claims rather than independently verified medical or scientific findings.

The renewed attention in October followed the circulation of clips from Fox News’ March 14 episode of Saturday in America. The programme featured Poirot discussing his coma, faith and claimed encounter with Jesus. Its official description highlighted his belief that heaven is a person rather than simply a place, alongside discussion of his book.

His interview with Lila Rose similarly gave him an opportunity to explain the experience in detail.

Importantly, Poirot has warned against treating his account as a definitive guide to the afterlife. During The Lila Rose Show, he said:

“I pray that people don’t try to look at it as if it’s like a textbook”

He explained that he was sharing the best description he could offer of a personal experience and wanted people to know Jesus for themselves rather than simply accepting his testimony as authoritative.

Is There a Historically Verified Picture of Jesus?

There is no surviving contemporary portrait that establishes Jesus’ exact appearance. The Gospels do not provide a detailed physical description specifying his height, complexion, hair length or facial features.

Familiar depictions of Jesus that became widespread in European and Western art were created centuries after the first century and reflect the cultures and artistic traditions in which they developed.

Historians and scholars can make informed observations about the likely appearance of a Jewish man living in first-century Judea by drawing on archaeology, skeletal evidence, contemporary descriptions and the population of the region. Such reconstructions generally differ from the pale, long-haired European Jesus common in Western art.

However, even a well-informed historical reconstruction cannot establish Jesus’ precise height, facial structure, hairstyle or eye colour.

Poirot’s description therefore belongs to a different category: a personal religious testimony about an alleged supernatural encounter. Neither a modern painting nor the Shroud of Turin can conclusively verify it.

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Conclusion: A Personal Testimony, Not a Verified Revelation

Gabe Poirot says an electric-skateboard accident on October 25, 2021, left him critically injured and in an 18-day coma. He believes he left his body, entered heaven and encountered Jesus, whose appearance he remembers in unusually specific terms.

His belief that the Shroud of Turin comes closer than other images to the Jesus he remembers has become a prominent part of the story. Yet the Shroud remains disputed, and the radiocarbon dating of the tested linen produced a medieval date. No historically verified portrait establishes Jesus’ exact appearance, and Poirot’s account cannot independently prove that he visited heaven.

For believers, his testimony may carry profound spiritual meaning. For others, it remains a personal claim following a severe brain injury and prolonged coma. The distinction matters: the experience he describes may be meaningful to him and his audience, but its supernatural explanation cannot currently be established as fact.

Source and Research Disclaimer: This article has been prepared from the sources and information provided, including Fox News, The Lila Rose Show, the published transcript of Poirot’s interview, Google Books, The New York Times bestseller list, Publishers Weekly, UNILAD, the Vatican’s account of Pope Francis’ remarks on the Shroud of Turin, and the 1989 Nature study on radiocarbon dating. Poirot’s descriptions of his coma, near-death experience and encounter with Jesus are presented as his personal testimony. The article does not imply independent verification of supernatural claims, the historical appearance of Jesus or the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin.

Sources

• Fox News: Gabe Poirot says he ‘met Jesus’ during an 18-day coma
• The Lila Rose Show: E318, Gabe Poirot interview
• Transcript of Gabe Poirot’s Lila Rose interview
• 18 Days in Heaven by Gabe Poirot, Google Books
• The New York Times bestseller list, April 26, 2026
• Publishers Weekly bestseller data for 18 Days in Heaven
• UNILAD: Gabe Poirot on Jesus and the Shroud of Turin
• UNILAD: Gabe Poirot’s message from Jesus
• Vatican: Pope Francis’ remarks on the Shroud of Turin
• Nature: Radiocarbon Dating of the Shroud of Turin

Featured Image Credit: GoFundMe / John Michael Howell for Gabriel Poirot