We all come close to death (permanent loss of body) every night when we leave our bodies temporarily during sleep. We just usually don't remember anything about the process unless we make a point of training our mind by regularly watching ourselves fall asleep.
believe it... or not
I have had many conscious out of body experiences but no near death experiences. Most of my OBE's are quite boring as usually when I realize I'm out, I get too excited and before I know it I'm back again.
The similarity of thousands of near death experiences is good proof that we are more than our bodies unless you are a hardened skeptic with a closed mind in which case nothing will change your views.