By . Kate Lyons . A new book tells the stories of Australians whose family members returned as ghosts or in dreams to give them messages of comfort, warn them against danger and in some cases save their lives. The following stories are edited excerpts from Love Never Dies by Karina Machado. 'Look after Mum' Bianca was just 15 when her older brother, Stephen, died in a motorbike accident in 1988. Now aged 41, a nurse and mother-of-three, Bianca tells how Stephen appeared to her regularly for two years after his death. The first visit came on the eve of his funeral. Bianca and her mother were sharing Stephen's bed, because the house was packed with family for the funeral. Bianca's mother was sleeping, but Bianca was awake and unsettled, sensing that something was about to happen. Stephen (left) died at the age of 18 in a motorbike accident in 1988. He appeared to his sister Bianca (right) repeatedly for two years after he died . She put down her book and saw Stephen, wearing his favourite black-and-grey striped dress shirt, the one his mother had given the funeral directors to bury him in. 'It was as bright as anything in the room. All I could see was from his abdomen up and his hands were together, as if he was praying, and he was really staring at Mum and me. He was looking straight at us. 'The feeling that I got – he wasn't talking – was "Look after Mum". That's what I felt he was trying to communicate. Then I quickly closed my eyes and he was gone.' 'I honestly do believe that he saved me…' On Friday February 2, 2013, less than two months after the sudden death of her beloved husband, Leigh, Natasha, 32, went to bed planning to end her life the next day. Natasha was wracked with grief and unable to navigate life without the man she met when she was just 17, Natasha saw no way out except to join her husband in death. But in the early hours of the morning, as Natasha was drifting between sleep and wakefulness, her beloved Leigh, whom she had died in hospital after she discovered him unresponsive in their bed and attempted to save by CPR, appeared in front of her. 'All of a sudden, Leigh was beside me … and he looked exactly like he always did. He had his hair the way he always wore it. I could smell his Chanel Egoiste. He was just Leigh, in every way. I turned to him and said, "Am I dreaming or am I awake?" He said, "You're awake. I'm with you." 'I said to him, "Do you know how sad and hurt I am?" He said, "Yes, bubby, I know, and I'm so sorry but I'm never far away from you".' 'I was crying and he was crying and we were just holding one another. I could actually feel his touch on me! I could smell him. We had a full conversation. 'He said, "I was with you. I know you tried to save me." I said to him: "What am I going to do?" And he told me that one day we'd be together again, that there are too many things I need to do first, but then he would come and get me. I said, "But when? Just do it now." He said, "No I can't take you yet. You'll be okay. I'll never be far away from you."' Natasha said she woke up, her pillow saturated with tears and she could smell Leigh's aftershave and feel him stroking her hair. She said his visit saved her life. 'When he came to me that night, I believe he knew what I was planning to do. He was my saviour because no-one else would have gotten through to me, and I thank him for that. I honestly do believe that he saved me that night.' This is the third book about the supernatural from author Karina Machado . Love Never Dies, concerns After Death Contact (ADC), the name given to experiences where loved ones send a message to or speak to those they have left behind. Author Karina Machado said that the uniting theme in the stories of those she interviewed for the book was love. 'Love is everything, and perhaps it's love that's powering a spirit to a bereaved person's side,' she told Daily Mail Australia. For many interviewees, Karina was the first person they told about the incident and they were relieved to tell their story to someone who would listen without prejudice. 'Perhaps many of us have had ADCs and we just haven't realised, or we've laughed them off or we've thought, that's silly, or I'm dreaming. How many of us have had them without realising, myself included?' Karina says that everyone has some awareness of the spirit world, but that some are 'more in tune than others', she says she is less in tune than others, including her mother, who frequently had psychic premonitions. 'I think there's a spectrum of awareness and most of us are down the bottom of the spectrum, where, for instance you might be thinking of somebody and the phone rings and it's them... Then at the other end of the spectrum are people and spirits appear to them in absolute flesh and blood, that's how real they are,' she said. Despite being lower down on the spectrum, Karina has always been fascinated by the supernatural and this is her third book on the subject. She said that while people might be sceptical, her goal is to share people's stories, rather than convert all doubters. 'My whole point in writing these books is not to stand on a soapbox and declare: "Believe, believe, you must believe!" My point in sharing these people's experiences is I'm a story-teller, not a scientist and I'm not an expert. I haven't tested these theories out in a laboratory. 'All I can say is I'm sharing my interviewees' experiences because they're valuable and they've made an impact on their lives; because a story is always a treasure to be shared.' 'Could it have been Matthew looking after me?' 'As far back as I can remember, I've known about Matthew,' says Erika of the eldest of her parents' four children who was stillborn in 1984. But Matthew first appeared to her in 1993 when she was four-years-old and experiencing recurring nightmares about death. They varied in specifics – little Erika trapped in a coffin, Erika as a teenager being attacked by a shark, Erika as an old woman at the end of a pitiful life where they was 'nothing after, there was no point to being alive' – but they all left her terrified. One night she woke from one of these nightmares and saw with relief that she was not alone. A little boy was sitting on her bed, smiling, she knew it was the brother she never met. 'Matthew?' she said aloud to the boy. He smiled and the thought immediately appeared in her mind: 'You are not alone.' Now 24, the Perth girl said that Matthew continued to appear to her throughout her childhood, including when she lost her great-grandmother at the age of 13 and then again when her grandfather died in 2008. Each time, Matthew looked older than he did when he last visited. Erika says that Matthew stepped in to save her life in January 2012, stopping her from being hit by a bus. 'I got off at my bus stop and I was crossing the road and I saw that the bus still had its indicator to the left so he wasn't turning out yet. 'When I was walking in front of the bus I saw that it was starting to move, but I just kept walking forward, with my earphones in, listening to music.' As she crossed the road, Erika felt 'cool breezes' despite the warmth of the day, and felt her brother smile at her as she crossed the road, but thought little of it until the next day when she was approached by an elderly lady who regularly catches the same bus as her. The woman leaned in and whispered: 'I cannot believe you are still alive.' 'She said that the bus had stopped indicating and was pulling out onto the road. She freaked out, said she was about to scream at the bus driver because she saw me walking right in front of it; she blinked and I was on the other side of the road. She couldn't explain it. 'I thought, "Could it have been Matthew looking after me?" I still can't explain it, but every time I think about it, I see Matthew's smiling face.' LOVE NEVER DIES by Karina Machado is published by Pan Macmillan Australia, RRP $29.99. Available in all good bookstores and online.
New book reveals the tales of loved ones appearing from beyond the grave .
Natasha, 32, tells how her dead husband's appeared and stopped her from committing suicide .
Another woman, Erika tells how her deceased brother saved her from being hit by a bus .
By . Kate Lyons . A new book tells the stories of Australians whose family members returned as ghosts or in dreams to give them messages of comfort, warn them against danger and in some cases save their lives. The following stories are edited excerpts from Love Never Dies by Karina Machado. 'Look after Mum' Bianca was just 15 when her older brother, Stephen, died in a motorbike accident in 1988. Now aged 41, a nurse and mother-of-three, Bianca tells how Stephen appeared to her regularly for two years after his death. The first visit came on the eve of his funeral. Bianca and her mother were sharing Stephen's bed, because the house was packed with family for the funeral. Bianca's mother was sleeping, but Bianca was awake and unsettled, sensing that something was about to happen. Stephen (left) died at the age of 18 in a motorbike accident in 1988. He appeared to his sister Bianca (right) repeatedly for two years after he died . She put down her book and saw Stephen, wearing his favourite black-and-grey striped dress shirt, the one his mother had given the funeral directors to bury him in. 'It was as bright as anything in the room. All I could see was from his abdomen up and his hands were together, as if he was praying, and he was really staring at Mum and me. He was looking straight at us. 'The feeling that I got – he wasn't talking – was "Look after Mum". That's what I felt he was trying to communicate. Then I quickly closed my eyes and he was gone.' 'I honestly do believe that he saved me…' On Friday February 2, 2013, less than two months after the sudden death of her beloved husband, Leigh, Natasha, 32, went to bed planning to end her life the next day. Natasha was wracked with grief and unable to navigate life without the man she met when she was just 17, Natasha saw no way out except to join her husband in death. But in the early hours of the morning, as Natasha was drifting between sleep and wakefulness, her beloved Leigh, whom she had died in hospital after she discovered him unresponsive in their bed and attempted to save by CPR, appeared in front of her. 'All of a sudden, Leigh was beside me … and he looked exactly like he always did. He had his hair the way he always wore it. I could smell his Chanel Egoiste. He was just Leigh, in every way. I turned to him and said, "Am I dreaming or am I awake?" He said, "You're awake. I'm with you." 'I said to him, "Do you know how sad and hurt I am?" He said, "Yes, bubby, I know, and I'm so sorry but I'm never far away from you".' 'I was crying and he was crying and we were just holding one another. I could actually feel his touch on me! I could smell him. We had a full conversation. 'He said, "I was with you. I know you tried to save me." I said to him: "What am I going to do?" And he told me that one day we'd be together again, that there are too many things I need to do first, but then he would come and get me. I said, "But when? Just do it now." He said, "No I can't take you yet. You'll be okay. I'll never be far away from you."' Natasha said she woke up, her pillow saturated with tears and she could smell Leigh's aftershave and feel him stroking her hair. She said his visit saved her life. 'When he came to me that night, I believe he knew what I was planning to do. He was my saviour because no-one else would have gotten through to me, and I thank him for that. I honestly do believe that he saved me that night.' This is the third book about the supernatural from author Karina Machado . Love Never Dies, concerns After Death Contact (ADC), the name given to experiences where loved ones send a message to or speak to those they have left behind. Author Karina Machado said that the uniting theme in the stories of those she interviewed for the book was love. 'Love is everything, and perhaps it's love that's powering a spirit to a bereaved person's side,' she told Daily Mail Australia. For many interviewees, Karina was the first person they told about the incident and they were relieved to tell their story to someone who would listen without prejudice. 'Perhaps many of us have had ADCs and we just haven't realised, or we've laughed them off or we've thought, that's silly, or I'm dreaming. How many of us have had them without realising, myself included?' Karina says that everyone has some awareness of the spirit world, but that some are 'more in tune than others', she says she is less in tune than others, including her mother, who frequently had psychic premonitions. 'I think there's a spectrum of awareness and most of us are down the bottom of the spectrum, where, for instance you might be thinking of somebody and the phone rings and it's them... Then at the other end of the spectrum are people and spirits appear to them in absolute flesh and blood, that's how real they are,' she said. Despite being lower down on the spectrum, Karina has always been fascinated by the supernatural and this is her third book on the subject. She said that while people might be sceptical, her goal is to share people's stories, rather than convert all doubters. 'My whole point in writing these books is not to stand on a soapbox and declare: "Believe, believe, you must believe!" My point in sharing these people's experiences is I'm a story-teller, not a scientist and I'm not an expert. I haven't tested these theories out in a laboratory. 'All I can say is I'm sharing my interviewees' experiences because they're valuable and they've made an impact on their lives; because a story is always a treasure to be shared.' 'Could it have been Matthew looking after me?' 'As far back as I can remember, I've known about Matthew,' says Erika of the eldest of her parents' four children who was stillborn in 1984. But Matthew first appeared to her in 1993 when she was four-years-old and experiencing recurring nightmares about death. They varied in specifics – little Erika trapped in a coffin, Erika as a teenager being attacked by a shark, Erika as an old woman at the end of a pitiful life where they was 'nothing after, there was no point to being alive' – but they all left her terrified. One night she woke from one of these nightmares and saw with relief that she was not alone. A little boy was sitting on her bed, smiling, she knew it was the brother she never met. 'Matthew?' she said aloud to the boy. He smiled and the thought immediately appeared in her mind: 'You are not alone.' Now 24, the Perth girl said that Matthew continued to appear to her throughout her childhood, including when she lost her great-grandmother at the age of 13 and then again when her grandfather died in 2008. Each time, Matthew looked older than he did when he last visited. Erika says that Matthew stepped in to save her life in January 2012, stopping her from being hit by a bus. 'I got off at my bus stop and I was crossing the road and I saw that the bus still had its indicator to the left so he wasn't turning out yet. 'When I was walking in front of the bus I saw that it was starting to move, but I just kept walking forward, with my earphones in, listening to music.' As she crossed the road, Erika felt 'cool breezes' despite the warmth of the day, and felt her brother smile at her as she crossed the road, but thought little of it until the next day when she was approached by an elderly lady who regularly catches the same bus as her. The woman leaned in and whispered: 'I cannot believe you are still alive.' 'She said that the bus had stopped indicating and was pulling out onto the road. She freaked out, said she was about to scream at the bus driver because she saw me walking right in front of it; she blinked and I was on the other side of the road. She couldn't explain it. 'I thought, "Could it have been Matthew looking after me?" I still can't explain it, but every time I think about it, I see Matthew's smiling face.' LOVE NEVER DIES by Karina Machado is published by Pan Macmillan Australia, RRP $29.99. Available in all good bookstores and online.
mother-of-three, Bianca tells how Stephen her beloved husband, Leigh, Natasha, 32, went to from being hit by a bus. 'I got off at my bus warmth of the day, and felt her brother smile at