Top Stories

People Describe The Closest They've Ever Come To Death

People Describe The Closest They've Ever Come To Death
Jennifer Bedoya on Unsplash

There are many things we take for granted that we should be thankful for.

Our health, having a roof over our heads, loyal friendships, and having food on the table are all things that are not always guaranteed in life.

But perhaps the biggest thing to be grateful for is having another day to live–which is something that has not gone unnoticed by those who've experienced a brush with death.


Curious to hear from those who survived to share their stories, Redditor Rapid_falls263 asked:

"What was the closest you have ever been to death? (Serious)"

Gravity is not always our friend.

The Right Landing

"I fell two stories off my roof onto concrete a few years back. I broke my knee and my wrist. Luckily that was it. If I’d fallen on my head, it would have been game over."

– Actuaryba

Tethered To Life

"Slipped on a steep hill with 100lbs of cable around my neck/chest. One end caught between some rocks and the cable started tightening around me, while I was sliding down the hill into a river ravine. I couldn't grab onto anything and saw the edge of the cliff coming up quick."

"Fortunately the cable stopped tightening before it got to my throat, and that ended up saving me from going off the cliff."

hypnogoad

Lucky Timing

"Late teens heading to school by train, I was feeling like sh*t that morning and even puked halfway to the train but shrugged it off."

"As I was standing on the platform, waiting for the train, I was hoping it'd get better once I sat down on the train."

"A couple of minutes later when the train arrived, I waited until the train stopped and walked towards it. I blink and I'm suddenly on my back on the platform with a circle of people around me and a police officer asking me if I can tell her what weekday it is."

"Turns out, I had fainted walking towards the train and fell down on the track, behind the train. A passerby pulled me back up on the platform."

"Had I positioned myself near the tracks a few seconds earlier like I normally do, I would've fallen in front of the train. Instead, I got a mild concussion and a scar on my chin from the fall."

– Miathon

Some unexpected detours can be a matter of life or death.

Popped Tire

"Car accident on the fwy when I was 12. My mom popped a tire, lost control of the vehicle and ended up spinning around to a dead stop facing on coming traffic. A giant trailer was headed right for us. We got so lucky he saw the whole thing unfold so he had already slowed down and was able to stop."

– Turbulent-Army2631

Misinterpreting The Signal

"I ran a red left turn arrow right in front of a Chevy 2500 doing close to 60MPH. I was already stopped at the light and had been waiting for it to turn green. It was later in the day and the sun was positioned directly behind the light. 16 year old me looked up and said 'yeah, that's probably green'. No, no it wasn't."

"Anyway, I got T-boned right where the front and rear doors meet on the passenger side. The part of the frame that separates the doors got pushed all the way to the center consul, which I smacked my head against. I just remember waking up in a daze with a lot of blood on the right side of my face."

"Fast forward through the call to mom and the ambulance ride. doctors showed me a scan and said several fragments of my skull were a piece of paper thickness away from entering my brain. The best (worst) part is I was supposed to be taking my sister with me. She was taking her sweet time at home so I left without her."

– ThePassenger08

Close Call

"Haul truck ran an intersection and nearly ran me over. I speed up and swerved between him and another oncoming haul truck to avoid collision. A safety supervisor witnessed all of it, and had me and the idiot in the truck stop at a camp and proceeded to chew him out for nearly killing me."

– anothersatanist89

These examples serve as a reminder how our bodies are unpredictable.

Illness

"I managed to get Legionnaires Disease a couple years ago. 25% fatality rate, even with treatment."

"Spent 1 week in the hospital, and 1 week sleeping at home. Couldn't eat for most of the time (the bacteria was in my left lung and stomach)."

"edit: I didn't find out what it was until a week or two later when the Health Department called me with questions. Up to then, I was only told it was pneumonia."

– SubversiveLogic

Shower Accident

"Had a seizure in the shower, smashed my head into the faucet when I fell and landed face-down. I was turning blue and had a four inch gash on my head when my boyfriend found me. Cat was soaking wet, because he jumped into the tub. Took about four minutes of CPR."

"I do not shower with the bathroom door closed, and I do not shower if someone isn't at the apartment with me."

– SocksAndPi

Mom To The Rescue

"My appendix ruptured while I was lying in a hospital bed trying to convince the doctors that I really was in pain. They assumed I was pregnant and just lying about it. They took blood, pee, and did a pelvic exam--which made me throw up because it hurt so bad to move my torso, let alone put my feet up in stirrups."

"All negative. They still didn't believe me that I wasn't even sexually active at the time."

"Anyway, I have a very hazy memory of talking to my mom and telling her that it was okay, soon it wouldn't hurt anymore. I was just gonna sleep for a bit."

"She flipped and happened to work at that hospital, so she got them to do an ultrasound to find this phantom pregnancy. 1 terrified look from a tech later, I was booked for surgery and finally got a morphine drip. After almost 14 hours in the ER."

– Nillabeans

Aggressive Infection

"I had pneumonia, and I didn't realize how serious it was until the doctors tried three strong antibiotics, and the infection kept growing, and fluid was building up on my lung."

"They openly told me they didn't know why the infection was growing, only they it was resistant to all three antibiotics they tried. They put me on two IVs for four days, but the infection was not going away. It was getting harder to breathe, and laying on my back was impossible because of all the pain in my right lung."

"Eventually the infection started shrinking on its own, but it was so scary!"

– hyacinths_

On The Brink

"I was dx with lung cancer in 2014. Numerous failed treatments and I got down to 101lbs. I was very sick. But we finally found a good treatment and I have been NED for about 3 or so years now."

– Diianeee

These Redditors almost reached their final destination.

Mystery Tug

"Working on flight deck of aircraft carrier during flight ops. Felt someone behind me tugging on my coat trying to get my attention. When I turned around it wasn’t a person tugging on me; it was the intake of an F-14 trying to pull me inside for a closer look at the afterlife."

"Or maybe all the other near-death stuff that happens on a flight deck. It’s hard to pick just one. Cool job, though."

– ChooChooSoulCrusher

Thin Ice

"Fell through the ice ones frigid January day. Not quite the middle of nowhere. Thankfully a random motorist was driving the back roads and found me."

– PMyourTastefulNudes

Good Instinct

"Almost stepped on a Mojave rattlesnake when were were miles from civilization and nowhere near a road. I was a child at the time, and it was before everyone carried cell phones so if I got bit I would have been in serious trouble. That's one of the deadliest snakes in America."

"The snake was nestled in some big rocks that made a little hole in the ground. I was going to step in there because it looked cool, but right before I did, I had a six sense sort of feeling that I shouldn't. I trusted my gut, and really examined the area in front of me."

"It took me a while but I eventually spotted a little baby Mojave rattler right where I was going to step. One of the few times my I've experienced my instincts protect me like that. Kind of cool actually, it almost feels like a superpower when it happens"

– 14thCluelessbird

Consequence Of Contaminated Food

"I thought I got roofied once. One beer got me drink for 6 hours, got someone to drive me home from the bar. Next day worst headache I ever had, immediately threw up anything I tried to drink, so slept all day. Day 3 got up to pee, fell down couldn’t get up. Crawled to the couch and called 911."

"Ambulance lady said I had a temp of 103, I had E. coli in my blood, said another 24 hours I woulda been dead. I only called 911 cause my work said I’d get fired without doctors note. Otherwise I woulda just went to sleep on the couch."

"Also didn’t have pants on when I called 911. Had no pants to go home in."

– SomePerson80

The Unfriendly Visitor

"I was in Iraq and I thought I was just 'backed up' from the fortified peanut butter. It got worse so I went to the medic. Next thing I know they are flying me to Kuwait. I fucked up real bad, and caught some crazy parasite from eating ice off the local economy. The doctor said I would have died if that medic hadn’t got me outta dodge. Mortar fire, small arms fire on a daily basis and I almost get taken out by a parasite eating a hole in my colon….."

– 4t0micpunk

A Major Catastrophe Thwarted

"I learned that one of my coworkers was planning a mass shooting at my office, and the only reason it didn’t happen was that a family member found out and intervened at the literal last moment."

– Umbre-Mon

Failed To Detonate

"I stepped on two IED pressure-plates that failed to detonate, during one deployment."

"On another, my Bradley CFV juuuust clipped the edge of a AT mine buried in the road, but since we didn't roll over the pressure-trigger in the center, it didn't explode."

"Just another day in the life, back then......"

– TheGoodJudgeHolden

This terrified my mother more than it did me, but as a five-year-old–I believe–I fell out of the passenger seat of the car while she was driving on a residential street.

Luckily, the truck behind us came to a stop. However, my mom had kept driving as she panicked from seeing the empty seat next to her and mistook the gas pedal for the brake.

Apparently, I begged to sit in the front like the "grown-ups" did and I eventually figured out how to unbuckle the safety belt, unlock the door, and pull on the handle.

I was a very curious child.

Want to "know" more?

Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.

People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?

But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.

It would be so great to be sure there is something else.

But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.

Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:

"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."

PeachesnPain

Recovery

"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."

"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."

"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."

good_golly99

Take Me Back

"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."

"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."

"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"

Hannah_LL7

"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"

huntokarrr

The Fog

"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."

"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.

The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.

Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.

Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:

"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."

– r7ndom

"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."

– dee-fondy

"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"

"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”

"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."

– KatMagic1977

"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

"I can buy clothes in any store I want."

– WaySavvyD

"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"

– LiZZygsu

"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"

"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."

– Princess-Pancake-97

"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."

– snic2030

"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."

"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."

– dma1965

People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.

But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.

That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.