I had a very very similar experience... My idiot brother was driving me around in a golf cart and he took a U-turn going full speed.. I flew out the back and was about to be hit by a car, instead I dragged myself into the lake (we were at docks) and ended up with a fractured wrist. Pretty scary (I was 11)
A Speech class in college. I started drinking before giving presentations. The booze was wonderful for my gpa! The closest to death I've been: passenger seat of a car at night while it was raining + sudden hydroplane = 540 degree spin out into the ditch at 70 mph. I was quite calm and accepted my fate. I recall thinking, 'So this is how I die.' I lived, in case anyone was guessing... so I was wrong. Just about the only time I've been wrong. Still a little pissed about that. No bruises or bumps. But I did get rained on while waiting for the tow truck.
In Germany, I was going around 100mph when my motorcycle's rear wheel lifted up for about 2 seconds due to panic braking on my part because a stupid rent-a-car, tourist most likely, veered into the fast lane even though on the autobahn blocking the fast lane is illegal. That empty feeling in your stomach (similar to when a roller coaster goes down a hill) and the knowing what could happen hitting the pavement at that speed with cars coming behind you.. *shudder*
4 things come to mind: 1) When I was 8 or 9, I got pushed in the deep end of the pool and nearly drowned. The lifeguard was able to get to me just in time. 2) Hitting black ice when I was a senior in college on the interstate and spinning out of control - an eighteen wheeler was barrelling down on me and I felt that was it for my life. Somehow I avoided hitting him and anybody else and went off into the median without a scratch on me or my car. 3) The first week my son was home from the hospital, he stopped breathing and we had to take him to the ER. Another time we had to get an ambulance - luckily we have gotten through those episodes and hopefully won't ever have to deal with that again. 4) This one might be my #1 but I don't know - I went to Athens Greece by myself and on the first night, walked from my hotel to this restaurant. Stayed there past midnight and decided to walk back. Only problem was I didn't know how to get back! I must have spent over 2 hours wandering the streets of Athens, after midnight, lost. Every so often, I would try to get someone to help me but half the time they didn't speak English. I finally found someone that had lived in NY and he actually walked me back. I was never so relieved in my life. I tell myself often that if I can handle that and not crumble that I can handle anything.
Last year when I got into my 4th car wreck. Illegal immigrants ran a red light on the feder and slammed into me. I had 5 people in my car, including myself. They were driving an astro van and were going at least 60 while I was in my Bmw, not even a year old. He hit me right behind me in the rear driver seat. All four of my friends had to go to the hospital with minor injuries(But I didn't know that they were minor at the time) My friend sitting behind me got over a 100 stitches in his face and another one of my friends chipped her tooth on my head while we were spinning around. I still have an indent on the top of my head from her tooth haha. Anyways after reading this it seems that at least 70% of the posts are about cars so be more careful driving folks!
It's kind of strange. I've been close to death twice, once from a massive encephalitis attack that left me in the hospital for 6 weeks among other things and the other from a car wreck. Both times I'll admit I thought it was peaceful more then anything. Scariest moment of my life? When my parents literally tried to kill each other. Probably the scariest and most depressing moment of my life, and pretty much the only reason I ever force myself to talk to them anymore is due to a younger sister that I'm determined they don't wreck.
This dumb ass chick told me she was pregnant w/ my baby on Christmas Eve a few years back..(Found out she lied about it) . I sure as hell did not want to have a kid w/ her. She looked aight but was just stupid as hell. Other than that, been in a few car accidents that were close to being lifechangers. But thanks to the man above im still livin'. Oh and I was born w/ my umbilical cord wrapped around my neck a few times. If that counts..
It was when my son was 1 year old. He had pneumonia and had to be hospitalized. Those were the longest days of my life next to his hospital bed. He's now 16 and is a great kid.
1. Dad’s quadruple bypass and valve replacement surgery 1a. Getting hit (auto/pedestrian) by a car while crossing a street (near 6th and Austin) and having the car leave me there. Light turned green, sign said walked and I did, they turned really quickly and hit me). I heard they slowed down and then took off. 2. Having my brother in law almost pass away 3. My wife being hospitalized with complications after my daughter's birth. 4. Any surgery involving my parents. Anything else I can handle.
You are lucky. If it was reverse and an immigrant was stumbling around the US no one would help. i am always amazed how overseas people are so willing to help out others. I had a guy in Japan walk us close to a 1/4 mile to the GAP. he didn't speak English. I just pointed to his GAP back and kind of gestured about where it would be.
I was coming home after visiting my future in-laws in Vancouver for a week (which was a disaster) and had to make one stop in Denver before going to Austin. I decided to take some of my medication to relax and ended up accidently taking Adderall instead. All I had in my stomach the whole day were 2 Snicker bars, and a huge thing of Dasani. Before the flight to Austin I took the Adderall and ended up feeling as though my heart was going to come out of my chest for the following 3 hours. I developed vertigo in the middle of the flight and me covering my head up with my hoodie was pretty much the only thing that covered up my dilated eyes. Taking that much Adderall gave me the ****s and I had to hold it in the whole flight because I felt like I would freak out if I got up out of my chair. Did I mention that we flew through a pretty bad thunderstorm? By the time I landed it was approaching midnight. When I landed my mom picked me up and dropped me off home. I ate two huge homemade hamburgers before trying to go to bed which was a huge mistake. Felt nauseous and was unable to sleep all night and the following morning until I forced myself to throw up sometime in the afternoon. Vertigo is one of the worst feelings I've ever experienced. I rank it up there with passing a kidney stone.
Putting my one-week-old baby son in the hospital. It was for jaundice and he simply needed UV lamps, but even a regular procedure like that sucks insane balls for a new parent. I haven't cried like that since I was a kid. Less scary, but recent: Hunkering down in the a hotel room bathroom with my family in N. Houston as Hurricane Ike churned past, tearing off part of the roof as it went. It seemed like every joint in the hotel was screaming with stress. Landing in Chicago a couple winters back. It was during a break in a snow storm and it was rough. The old, haggard stewardess said it was the worst landing she had ever experienced. I'll never fly into that city in the winter again, or sober. Choked on some meat twice in the past several years. Once was when my wife was seven months pregnant and she had to give me the Heimlich maneuver. The second time was when my buddy and I were headed home some bars and hit taco cabana. I was eating in the car and he hit a RR track and I swallowed too big a bite. I started wheezing and motioned for him to pull over. We had been drinking so he thought I was going to puke. I had to motion at my stomach in a Heimlich way and he figured it out, ran around the car and helped me out. Scary.
When I was 14 or 15 I was walking down the road at night (small town, think your typical backwoods road surrounded by pine trees dotted with houses every 50 yards or so) with a friend after having walked to the local convenience store for some snacks and a car passed us, stopped, and then slowly crept back towards us. Some guys leaned out of the window and asked us if we wanted to buy some drugs off him, we said no, and it became obvious they weren't really interested in dealing... as they hopped out of the car, brandishing weapons, held a gun to our heads and took everything on us (a walkman, 5 dollars, and some freaking potato chips, lulz?). As they drove away they threw the Smashing Pumpkins tape from the walkman out of the window (the most valuable thing they stole). Another time when I was probably 12-13 I cut my left wrist rather badly when I fell into a glass cabinet. It was a very deep gash that literally came within a few millimeters of severing a major vein as well as a tendon which controls most of the function of my hand. I could've bled to death if not for the quick thinking of my older brother.
It's funny, I've had a much worse near death experience(s) and that didn't scare me nearly as much as almost going to jail. It's like I don't mind dying, but going to jail for a couple of weeks? Nope.
When I was maybe in 1st or 2nd grade I fell out of our day cares van as it took off. Luckily we werent going fast so I may have had a scratch and thats it. A few years later I was playing with my cousin at a Mervyns grand opening I was pushed and hit a pillar gashing my forehead..I bled every where and had to go to the emergency room and get stitches. Maybe a year after that I was running around the pool with my sister while my mother washed clothes at the washeteria. I fell in the deep end .. Only thing I remember is falling in and knowing I couldnt swim. Next thing I know im out of the pool coughing up water. My mom says I told her that something white lifted me up out of the pool..but I dont remember. About 4th or 5th grade I was crossing the street to go home from school. I remember looking both ways before I crossed. No cars were coming so I sprint towards the other side...next thing I know I hear a car horn coming from the distance I turn to look and boom..the car hits me I go flying over it. I landed on my knee and remember thinking I have to get to the other side quick before more cars come. I got to the other side look over myself and all I have is a scratch on my knee. The driver comes out asks if im ok ..shes pretty terrified ..Im like yeh...I go home and that was that. When I was in 6th grade I was at a friends apartment. We were hanging out watching TV when all of a sudden his balcony glass door shatters. Gunshots are flying ...I duck/run to the door climb over the railing slide down the pole and run home. I never did find out what the deal was about that. In 7th grade a friend and I were walking to my apartment from his apartment so that I could change and we could catch the bus to NW Mall. On the way there we cross through the back of a shopping center. A minivan pulls up real quick which I thought nothing of because it was used as a shortcut by many people. I turn around and see a pistol aimed at us and I remember the words .."shoes or ima shoot!" "shoes or ima shoot!" Fight or flight kicked in and we burned out running. I hear gun shots flying. We get into the gate of my apartments and the van speeds off. My friend says ..they shot my hat off! I was like what? He says they shot my hat off! We waited a while then retreieved the hat. There was an entry and exit hole in the hat. Thank god for the trend of wearing your hat high style ..where you wear your hat like this. Fast forward to 98...and the most scariest moment in my life. I was driving in the south west part of houston heading to a club when all of a sudden I felt a tremendous force plow into the left side of my face....My ear is ringing really loud and I had a sense of deja vu. My friend in the passenger seat says are you hit? are you hit? I didnt understand untill i look down and blood is pouring like water from my mouth and nose I say yes and pull over. I jump out of the car into the passengers seat. He speeds me to the hospital running every red light. I feel as if this is it ..this is how I will die ...tomorrow they will be saying wow I just saw him the other day and now hes gone. I remain conscious the whole time. I had been shot in my face with a tech-9 ...shattered my pallet bone..had to have my mouth wired shut for about 3 months. ..doctor said half an inch in any direction and idve been outta there. Bullet went in through my left cheek and came out the edge of my right nostril.
The birth of my daughter. My wife and I had a robust birth plan, which got tossed out the window when her water broke. She never had contractions. They had to use pitocin instead. She had to stay bedridden and get an epidural since we couldn't use any of the pain coping techniques we practiced. But most scary was that our daughter's heart rate kept dropping off the internal monitor. The nurses and doc thought she was grabbing the umbilical cord, so they would turn my wife from side to side and slam her hips down to pry the cord loose. A number of times they were on the verge of doing a C-section but every time the heart beat came back. We finally got to the moment when they wanted my wife to start pushing. They got all set up and were waiting on the next contraction when the doctor does a double take and asks the nurse "Is that what I think it is?" Not a question you really want to hear at that moment, but then things got super scary very quickly. They barked at my wife not to push and shouted "OR NOW!" One of the nurses just started wildly pulling every cord hooked up to machinery out, and another nurse hopped up on the gurney and starting pushing my daughter back up the birth canal. In mere seconds, they whisked them out while I trailed behind them numb to everything that was going on. A nurse met me at the door of the Operating Room and quickly got me into scrubs and a mask. Then I was ushered into the room. There were at least 15 people moving quickly and urgently. It reminded me of a gunshot scene from ER. I walked into shouts of "who's in charge?" and our doctor firmly saying she was. They also kept asking my wife to take a deep breath so they could administer the anastetic. By the time I was ushered to a point about a yard from her head, she was out. I tried to reach out a hand to touch her hair, but the doctors told me twice to stay back. They put up a divider sheet, and then I heard someone call "baby's out." This was less than a few minutes after they initially called for the OR. At this point, I see some blood on the floor, and I notice that there's no crying. There was a team of 4 neonatal personnel on hand, and one of them said "she's not breathing." For a few seconds there, I thought I was going to lose both my only child and my wife. I was numb with powerless terror. It seemed like an eternity, but my daughter did cry a few seconds later. My wife was out cold for another hour before she came to. Turns out she had a prolapsed cord, which is where the umbilical cord comes out before the baby. This cuts off the oxygen supply to the baby and can kill them or lead to brain damage. It's pretty rare, and is one of the true delivery emergencies. The hospital staff had never seen one present itself that late in delivery. Fortunately my daughter is fine. She's 2 and half now and is supersmart. My wife was also fine, but she now has a c-section scar to join her hernia surgery and burst appendix surgeries. When we took a refresher tour of the hospital before the birth of our son, the sight of the hallway leading to the OR made my wife cry. It still put an icy clamp on my chest and gave me a feeling of dread.
