Does a life-changing or life-threatening illness present a greater opening of the mind to the Spirit?

The illness was not mine, but it is one of the things that brought me to where I am today. My mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Within the month's time that I watched her wither away to nothing (it was a mercifully swift death), I read every book I could get my hands on relating to alternative healing and communication with the dead. It set me on my journey. It was the greatest gift she gave to me, short only of giving me life.