Frightened People Share The Near Death Experiences That Still Haunt Them
Anyone that's had a near-death experience comes back a different person. Seeing the door close to closing on your life can be earth shattering to your world view. Once, you were invincible, never-ending. After a near death encounter? You're mortal, and you have an ending. Reddit user, u/evierajah, wanted to know how those experiences changed you when they asked:
How did you almost die?
Math Is Deadly, Kids
My maths teacher wouldnt open the window in our very stuffy classroom. This induced a asthma attack and she denied me going to the bathroom because she thought I was faking.
3 hours later I came round from an asthma attack, being told I was hanging by a thread.
Don't Lose Your Head
Was walking along not paying attention like an idiot, and stepped out in front of a double-decker bus. The guy behind me grabbed the hood of my sweater and yanked me back, but I was close enough that the bus still smacked into and broke my 'leading' foot. If he hadn't been there, or I wasn't wearing a hoodie, or I was a bit heavier, that would have been my head.
When The Nurse Almost Kills You
Had a bad cough so I went to the doctor. He gave me a puffer (can't remember what it was called) and when I went home I fell asleep.
Something woke me up from a dead sleep and when I sat up I started having a hard time breathing. I couldn't talk at all so I had to write on a pad of paper to tell my boyfriend, now husband, to take me to the hospital.
I wrote down my symptoms for the triage nurse and she asked me if I could l talk I shook my head no but she made me try. I choked out an "ok" and she said I could talk and said I could go home since I'm just sick or I could wait.
I waited 4 hours in the waiting room and couldn't get a great breath unless I was sipping water. It was getting frustrating watching people go in before me. I know a lot of them had good reason to be there but with how few people were actually there is was evident she kept me as the lowest priority.
When I finally went in I was feeling like death and even the few tests they did were like torture. The nurses and doctors in the actual ER were very nice and gentle but it still was awful at that point.
A short time after they were done the tests the doctor came in and said I was septic and I should have come in earlier. Any longer and my organs would have shut down and I would have died.
My boyfriend told him I had been in the waiting room for 4 hours and the doctor was pissed. I don't know what happened to the triage lady but I hope she got in some kind of trouble. I know they have to deal with a lot but her bad day could have been a worse day for me and my family.
I was put on an antibiotic pump for a week but it took a couple weeks to feel like myself. The doctor said I could have easily stayed asleep and died at home so it was good I woke up.
The Heart Knows Best
My parents didn't believe I was in agonizing pain, so I went back to partying, next day the pain was back, stood my ground, went to the hospital. Doctor finally comes to inform me I have a heart infection, wouldn't have needed to come in the next day.
Truck Sandwich
Was in a bad wreck with an 18 wheeler when I was 16. I was on the passenger side in the back seat and the car we were in got crushed when the trailor jack knifed and squished us between the truck and trailer. None of the first responders could believe nobody in our car was killed or even really hurt.
A Quick Escape
I was on my motorcycle as a six-car accident happened AROUND ME. I came around a curve on the interstate as one car hit the concert barrier and spun out into four lanes of traffic. Cars were spinning and rolling around me, and I was barely even dodging, it was like they were dodging me. I pulled off and as I was coming to a stop a semi came sliding sideways through the whole mess. I hit the throttle again and it smashed into the guardrail a meter or two behind me. It was like seriously like a car chase action movie, except it was all luck and not skill.
The throttle punch at the end was the only thing that was on purpose.
Look In The Mirror
I had an accident while moving a big antique mirror by myself at home. It broke and half of it fell onto my neck. It severed my jugular vein and I came within a few minutes of bleeding to death. The paramedic who saved me said I lost about 2 litres of blood (a little over 4 pints) and I was extremely lucky to survive.
Aqua Trap
When I was 8, I very nearly drowned in a swimming pool in France. I was playing on the divider between the deep and shallow areas - which was effectively a row of large boulders - and slipped between two of them, getting my leg firmly stuck (and badly cut up in the process). I was trapped, hanging upside down in the water, and unable to twist my leg at all.
The only sign that anything was happening on the surface was the very tip of my foot sticking out, mostly obscured by the boulders, so there wasn't a good chance that anyone would spot anything unusual. I remember looking at all these upsidedown legs moving in the water and thinking "This is how I'm going to die. In France." After what felt like an age, I vaguely remember seeing two big hairy legs move towards me, and next thing I knew I was forcefully yanked out of the water, with blood dripping into my eyes. The guy carried me to the side and made sure I was alright. No idea what would have happened if he hadn't noticed.
[ghiscari\]1_
Just A Bunch Of Forgetful Chickens
...in second grade I got chicken pox and ended up having viral encephalitis as a complication.
One thing I remember was a woman visiting me in the hospital and I asked her name, and it was the same as my mom's name so I told her that. Turns out it was my mom and I just didn't recognize her at the time. I spent two weeks in the hospital with that.
Wife = Safety
My wife went on a weekend away with friends. We lived in a little old wood house with a gas heater built into the floor of the hallway. It was late spring, and the heater was kept turned off by pushing the thermostat way down. 59F was as low as it went. I went out with some friends and came home late, went to sleep.
A cold front blew in and at around 5am the temperature dropped to 58F in the house. We kept a throw rug over the floor grate in the hall most of the year to keep out dust. I awoke to smoke filling the air and the sound of the smoke alarm. I sat up in bed and looked down the hall just in time to see the throw rug burst into flames. I jumped up, grabbed it by the corner and ran outside, hosed it off. I went back in and got the pets into the yard, woke up my neighbor, and then realized that without the smoke alarm I would be dead. I would have suffocated and the house would have burned up like a book of matches.
Smoke alarm saved my life.
Parachuting Disaster
I'm a paratrooper in the 82nd airborne division and had the (now rare) misfortune of suffering a static line injury.
Essentially the cable that opens my chute is attached the top of my chute and the inside of the plane. Through bad luck i ended up with too much slack and it wrapped my arm. I bounced off of the outside of the plane and my parachute was too twisted to open properly. I ended up with a torn bicep and shattered shoulder blade. All things considered my injuries should've been way worse and i'm lucky to be alive
Let's Go Around One More Time
First two times I was rushed to the ER anaphylactic shock. I swear if my mom wasn't beside the hospital bed crying the 1st time I would have let go.
Third time I was on a plane landing at the airport, but clearly flies around it a couple times. The captain comes on the speakers and informed us the wheels may not be locked/deployed. The landing way was lined all sorts of fire/EMS trucks. No problem with the landing, everyone cheered when we touched down. The captain said it was probably just a burnt out light.
I started having seizures in my late 20s, resulting in permanent partial blindness. I kind of brushed off the danger of seizures until I had one for more than a half hour. The neurologist explained that it's really bad for your brain and I was lucky to still not be a brain dead vegetable, let alone alive.
Sometimes Called "The Porcelain Throne"
Just pushed pretty hard on the throne. Vision narrowed and saw stars.
100% thought [dead]
Like Yo' Mama Always Told Ya'
Running with scissors.
I was a kid and I was running up the stairs with scissors in my hand. I was holding them in a fist by the handle with the shears facing upwards. I tripped and caught myself with my elbow with less than 1 inch before I impaled the scissors into my neck.
Oh, and I also OD'd on Flintstone Vitamins when I was like 5 years old. Most vitamins won't cause an issue, but the amount of iron I ingested was a problem.
Don't Take The Blue Pill
When I was barely 6 months old I had a really high fever. My mom took me to the doc and put one of those pills they put up your butt (I forgot what it's called) to fight the fever. He calculated the dosage wrong and after about 40 minutes my whole body was basically blue and I couldnt wake up. My parents rushed me to the ER and they got my body temperature back to normal. The doctor calculated the dosage wrong due to my weight, I was a fairly fat baby but not as fat as he thought I was....
35 Seconds Is All The Difference
I was 35 seconds too late to die in a major terrorist bomb blast. I was walking directly towards it.
I paced it a few years later. 35 seconds.
edit: doesn't matter which one. it was a big one.
Battling A Tsunami
Got chased by tsunami then nearly drown in it.
It was 2004, I was on the coffee shop with my best friend, our body still shaking after we had experienced the 8.9 earthquake earlier. We don't know why people began to scream and running to and fro. I saw the electricity tower from far away swaying left and right, we have no idea what really happening. That's when the water slowly rising from our feet rapidly, I thought it way a massive flood, so we just run along with people. Suddenly the stream of flood (it was black) got fierce and went up to 3 meter, we're all swept away.
I alone got sucked into a small store after the water breach the door, I got pulled in along with a few bikes, and a car. I got drowned under those vehicle, I thought, this is it. Somehow there's a force of stream from below, pushed me up, I slipped between the vehicles above me, not smooth though, my upper body got injured badly. As I reached the surface, there's only 30 cm space between the ceiling and the surface of water. Luckily, the water surface level got no higher, it slowly degrading. There are three of us survive inside that small store, pretty sure there's a lot of body on the floor, below the vehicles.
Wow...
A big plane hit the building I was in.
9/11?
Yep. South tower, ~40 floors below the plane.
H/T: Reddit
(c) Oh Myyy LLC
Of course, most of the time, it was “just a phase". And looking back, those phases are regrettable, to say the least. Here are some prime examples of that.
SirGergoyFriendman asked:
What was your biggest/most regrettable "It's not a phase, mom. It's my life." that, in fact, turned out to be just a phase and not your life?
The enthusiasm of a young person can lead to some unexpected changes that parents are just not ready for.
Hi, Wheeljack!
I was VERY into The Transformers when I was a wee lad in the 1980s. One day, I decided to change my name to the name of my favorite Autobot. My name was lame, and I wanted an awesome Transformer name. And I was VERY insistent that my parents only call me by my new name. Calling me by my 'old' name would cause a big fat tantrum on my part.
So for the better part of a week, my poor parents had to call me Wheeljack.
Very 2008.
Ariana Grande Shrug GIFGiphyMy cat-ear phase. I wore cat ears every single day. Everywhere. I had like 20 pairs of them. Now everyone thinks I'm a furry.
I find that very cute and wouldn't have thought you'd be furry. Even if you'd had cat mittens. I think my suspicions would have started if you moved a bit like a cat, displayed catlike grooming habits or got a cat mask.
Not gonna lie, that car sounds cool.
I went to a car show once as a teen, and the only newer car there was some chick's PT cruiser. It was hot glittery pink, and at the time I was obsessed. I insisted that one day I would have a hot pink car, with pink seats, pink dash, pink carpets, etc. I was pretty heavily goth at the time, so my parents just rolled their eyes.
These phases can often lead to some very strange fashion choices.
That’s commitment.
When I was a teenager (early 00s), I was waiting for my mother to pick me up and was wearing one of those sh!tty sports wristwatches. It was itching me so I took it off for a second, but then she arrived and because I was struggling to get it back on my wrist, I looped it around the equally sh!tty chain I had around my neck in a rush to get out the door.
My mom asked me about it in the car, and I told her this was my new style and I planned to wear it like that every day. She rolled her eyes.
I wore that watch on a chain around my neck every single day for 3 years or so. There are even professional family photos where I'm wearing it because I refused to take it off.
One day, the chain broke and I lost the watch. I was in high school at that point anyway and it was a major lady repellent, so... phase over.
Not everyone can be Eminem.
slim shady eminem GIFGiphyBaggy pants, being a rapper someday and being a professional skater.
When I was about 14 and Eminem was starting to blow up I bought myself a keyboard with a synthesizer. It cost like $200 which was all the money I had saved up. It finally came (this was way before amazon prime and such) and I tried rapping.
My sister told me "you're effing horrible" and I gave up right then and there.
This should be a sin.
I used to button the top buttons of polo shirts.
I must say, this is probably the worst one I've read.
Looking back at our regrettable choices, all we can do is cringe.
An optimistic look at bad tattoos.
check me out season 3 GIF by PortlandiaGiphyBeing a tattooer. Regrettable because of those poor people who have my awful doodles on their bodies.
Take heart! My favorite tattoo is the one I drunkenly got my buddy to do in his living room one year during March Madness! It's dumb and frankly mediocre? But such a good story and has such good associations I smile every time I see it.
RIP Fredro’s.
My friend and I decided we were going to open a bar in Jamaica with exotic snakes in glass cages in the walls at each booth. We convinced ourselves it would be amazing for at least two years in college. It was going to be called Fredro's.
My entire family made fun of me for it. Once we got out of college, we realized it was not feasible and joined the office grind. We're also two white guys with no ties to Jamaica.
Talk about cringey.
I wore a top hat with an anime pin on it for around a year. Met one of my current best friends while wearing it, idk how he could bear to speak to me after that.
My weirdest phase was probably when I insisted on wearing knee-high rainbow socks to school every day. But honestly, I don't regret it. I rocked those socks, and I wish I still have a pair.
To all the people out there cringing over their past selves, remember that you were just a kid, and to be easy on yourselves. After all, we've all been there
Yet, too often, manufacturers who oversell their products fail to deliver what is promised and are inevitably left with angry customers who want their money back.
Whether the merchandise was defective or ridiculously overpriced, strangers online shared some of their worst purchases when Redditor BooksMcGee asked:
"What is the worst product you ever paid money for?"
Short Life Span
"This NERF gun that's supposed to shoot tennis balls for your dog. I bought it cause I thought you could load 3 at a time and shoot them far, but it's just one and it's super loud and the gun broke after like 4 shots (reading reviews later, this was a common issue)."
Lame Pets
"There were these toys called squiggles when I was a kid and the commercials made it seem like the toy was alive. It looked like you would get this crazy little fuzzy worms as pets that would follow you around an so sick tricks and listen to your every command. It was really just a piece of fluffy string tied to another piece of string with googly eyes on it. People may say that it was supposed to be a magic trick but they should also explain that to a 5 year old who really wanted a pet."
Card Value
"Not their fault, but I paid $70 for a Yugioh card hours before it was limited to one copy. Probably dropped to $20 by the end of the day."
These purchases were bad for your bum.
"A bicycle that literally fell apart before I made it out of the parking lot."
Not Worth Sitting On
"Joybird brand couch. Was so terrible, we returned it. Still hard to believe, we returned a freaking couch."
Going Nowhere Fast
"A 2000 VW Beetle (used)."
"Biggest piece of sh*t that literally had to have just about everything replaced before 100k miles and would still break down every time you left the driveway to the point where the tow-truck driver knew us on a first-name basis."
Expensive Lemon
"An Oldsmobile Achieva from one of those buy here pay here places. I should have known better, but I was young and thought I was getting a good deal. I had the thing for about 5 months, I drove it for maybe 3 weeks. The rest of the time it was either in the shop, or in my driveway waiting until pay day so I could afford to fix whatever broke on it this week. Eventually told the dealer just take it, I'm not paying for it any more. He said nope, and I will make sure your credit is ruined. I said well you sold me a lemon, do you really want to go this route? He came and took it. Never reported anything to credit. I heard he got sued by several other people who sold sh**ty cars too and eventually went out of business."
"Always amazes me when I see them driving around still, I can only assume there's enthusiasts who just love repairing horribly designed cars."
– zerbey
These Redditors were not convinced what they ingested was edible.
Bad Cereal
"A box of plain Cheerios. Thought they were honey nut, poured a bowl, was very disappointed."
"If I wanted to taste cardboard, I'd just eat the box."
– gor8884
Space Pizza
"A burnt frozen pizza at the air and space museum cafe in DC. I Don't wish that experience on anyone. There are some amazing restaurants in DC, don't settle."
– Alseids
The following electronics just gave off a bad charge.
"Asus Transformer Pad TF700"
"This was one of those early 'high end' Android tablets that was grossly underpowered, and it showed. Thing was slow as sh!t in no time flat. Rookie mistake investing into shiny new tech while they were still working all the bugs out. Think I paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $350-400 for it..."
– Luke5119
Bad Apple
"macbook pro 2018 13" touchbar. 2 years old and dead (battery). they're asking $300-$400 to change the battery. malfunctioning keyboard with double presses and missing presses. that's a lot of money for bad design."
Chilly Reception
"Past winter my old room heater broke down and I had to buy a new one. Went to a store nearby and somehow got convinced to buy a very costly heating device.. It's also my fault, since there were some sligthly cheaper options around, but nope. I wanted the expensive one thinking it will make my small room a volcano with little to no effort/cost (that's also what the seller told me). Long story short the device wasn't doing ANYTHING. No significant temperature changes, too much space, a weird noise, and was doubling my previous device in utility cost. I still gloom over those 80 euros.."
Some of my disappointing purchases was clothing, but only because I purchased them online. Unless they are a brand I'm familiar with, I'm usually fine with buying new jeans off of their websites.
But when it comes to graphic tees only available on specialty shops, an M-size shirt is not necessarily the same size as those found in other reputable stores.
I bought a medium sized T-shirt from a boutique store online because I loved the look of the design. But when it arrived, the supposed medium fit me like an XL.
At least I gained a fierce cleaning rag from this impulsive purchase.