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People Share Their Creepiest Experiences At Summer Camp

People Share Their Creepiest Experiences At Summer Camp
Photo by Josh Campbell on Unsplash

Summer camps can be a place where kids form some of the best memories. In contrast, without proper oversight summer camps can lead to some disturbing experiences. From unlikely accidents to scare tactics, some people may not reflect on their time spend fondly.

We had an excellent summer camp close to where I grew up, we went every year and it was amazing. One summer stuck out more than the rest and looking back was a bit creepy. The speakers at that year's bike camp were, let's say, conservative. We had the example give that when we (a group of 12/13-year-olds) sin that God a big ultimate being hates it and will then oppose us. Fire, brimstone, gnashing of teeth, you can fill in the rest.


There was a path down a wooded hillside where logs had been put into the side ending in a fire pit at the bottom. Kind of like a christen camp amphitheater. One night in an act of "cleansing" following a sermon like mentioned above, we were instructed to burn anything that wants of God. These were emblems on t-shirts, fiction books that spoke of magic, and entire CD collections worth hundreds of dollars. One parent threatened to sue after their was encouraged to daughter burn one such collection. I'm not sure if they still officially do this but looking back the brainwashing techniques used were seriously creepy.

Redditor whatsthatpidge wanted to hear more unnerving experiences and asked:

"People who have gone to summer camp as a child, what was your creepy/scary experience?"

Some nightmare fuel...

Went on a camping trip. I was one of the first ones out of the bus and had to use the public bathroom. I notice a few daddy long legs on the wall outside the bathroom and think nothing if it. I open the door and am immediately greeted by thousands if not millions of daddy long legs that are covering the bathroom from top to bottom. (The bathroom was big as well, like 3 stalls and 3 urinals.)”

“That and coupled with the fact that our camp counselors were sadistic and told us pre-teens a bunch of scary stories then jumped out of the woods in the middle of the night screaming with bloody Jason masks. I stayed in my tent most of the time after that.” krill482

Too close for comfort.

As a 13 year old kid, I went out into the woods at like 1am with a headlamp to pee, just immediately behind my cabin, because I didn't want to walk to the wash house. While I'm peeing, I look forward and see a large bear, just staring at me. Would have pissed myself if not for the fact that I was already peeing.”

“Either way, I just finished my stream while he stared at me, and walked backwards back to the cabin. He turned around and walked away, but there was no chance in hell that I would turn my back on a bear and run the other way.“ thevetrenairygamer

Moving Pictures Reaction GIFGiphy

Intruder alert!

“My youth group stayed at a camp site for a weekend trip. We were all in the cabin playing card games when someone with a gorilla suit ran by the cabin and started banging on the door. It really freaked everyone out because it was no one in our group. They came back a couple times until one of the adults confronted the person and they ran away. They never found out who the person was.” iBTGx43

“Helen Keller could have pointed out the breaks on my x-rays."

We were playing soccer and someone shattered my leg, broke it in 8 places. There was no swelling so they said I was faking it and they wouldn't take me to the hospital, they sent me back to my cabin for the night. I hopped around for a day but the next night I was in too much pain to sleep so I limped to the nurses office, broke in and took a handful of benadryl just so I could sleep.”

“That night, a group was doing an overnight in a three sided shelter and decided to have a peanut butter fight before bed. One kid fell asleep with peanut butter in his hair and woke up when a skunk walked into the shelter and pulled a piece of his scalp out.”

The kid punted the skunk out of the shelter, which caused it to spray everyone on the overnight. So they "had" to take the kid for rabies shots so they "might as well" take me along to get x-rays since they were going anyway. Helen Keller could have pointed out the breaks on my x-rays.” Gnarbuttah

Freezing temps...

“My camp counselor thought it'd be a good idea to take her group of 11 year old's out of the warm cabin we were sleeping in and instead sleep overnight on the outdoor stage they used for camp plays. It must've been 10 degrees out. I was so cold, it was unbearable.”

“I couldn't conserve any body heat bc I had a stick for a body and my sleeping bag wasn't made for that type of camping. I remember being tense and scrunched up in a ball. Every movement I made was like dipping my legs in ice. The outside of my sleeping bag was wet and cold from condensation which made it worse. Eventually we walked back at 4am bc all the kids couldn't take it anymore. It wasn't creepy but it was scary to be so so cold and tired in the dark. I still remember it!” 211adderall

They made her sit in the sun and wouldn't allow her to have any water...”

“I went to girls scout camp when I was around 8 years old, so around 2001. All the counselors were young twenty year olds. There was a girl in my group who did something to piss off the counselors, I don't remember what but I know it was minor. It was the middle of summer and super hot, and she was moderately overweight. They made her sit in the sun and wouldn't allow her to have any water as punishment. They were terrible people, made me super afraid of them as a kid.” rhaianon19

“...kid holding a arrow at full draw and lets go...”

“Went to a boys scout summer camp in the mid-late 90's. They had an archery range where we all were learning how to shoot. They were big on safety, but it was the 90's so..... Anyways everyone shoots, and we are down range getting our arrows then we hear someone yell out in the covered shooting area.”

“I look up and see the semi special needs kid holding a arrow at full draw and lets go. Hits the kid standing 5 feet from me in the arm. Its chaos every ones running around and screaming. The kid with an arrow stick out of him is just standing there in shock. next year there was no more archery training.” streetmitch

camp archery GIF by Capital District YMCAGiphy

“...the reason we were in the woods was so that he wouldn't find us at the cabin.”

​“I was about 12 and I was at sleep-away camp and the councilors took us on a hike into the woods for a night. When it came time to go to bed, of course none of us were actually falling asleep and we overheard the councilors talking about the police looking for someone.”

“We later learned one of the kids was in the middle of a serious custody battle and that the dad was planning on taking the kid and that the reason we were in the woods was so that he wouldn't find us at the cabin. No idea if it was actually dangerous, but looking back it definitely is unsettling.” atlantis_airlines

Tornado warning...

“Stayed at a week-long camp in the early 80s, our cabins were a mix of old (lumber, built in the 40s or 50s) and new (cinder block from the 70s). A series of storms hit one night and my (old) cabin was shaking like a ship at sea.”

“A camp director banged on our door and told us to grab a sleeping bag, a pillow, a jacket and our shoes, and we hiked (mostly in the dark) to the Rec center basement. Tornado sirens were blaring and we could hear (but not see) trees crashing in the woods around us. We made it and hunkered down thru the storms, but that walk was the longest half mile of my life.” bladel

That had to hurt...

​“During scout camp I had a tree branch fall on my head. I was under tree when I heard a cracking noises above me. I could tell it wasn't safe so I attempted to move somewhere safer, and I guess the universe had it out for me because I only made it about four feet before the branch landed squarely on my head. Luckily it wasn't that big and was soft from being rotten so it didn't cause any major damage, did hurt like heck though and put me in a lot of shock.” saneolo

Dark figures at Camp Howard...

“I was about 10 years old. I went to a summer-camp in Oregon named Camp Howard. (Since some people have called my stories into question in the past, here's their web page: https://www.cyocamphoward.org/home )”

“This was summer 1994. The camp is a Catholic Youth Camp, but really feels more like every traditional summer-camp you might see in movies. Sneaking out in the middle of the night to go skinny-dipping, over-the-top camp-fire horror stories, all manner of activities, it was a blast.”

“This story concerns said late-night skinny dipping. 4 of us boys really hit it off. Nothing erotic, just as a disclaimer here, just that we all had similar thoughts and comfort about being nude around one another. Our cabin was near the old pool, dating back to ww2.”

“It was concrete, old, and mostly still and moving water. They had a proper lake, but none of us felt comfortable walking that far in the dark. They also had a brand-new swimming pool, but that was fenced off and had a security buoy that would screech if something disturbed it too much.”

“It was about 2 weeks into my stay (Howard offered longer blocks back then), when my new ‘camp besties’ decided some midnight skinny-dipping was in order. For the purposes of the story, I'm going to name then Sean, John, and Eric. Sean was like me in both looks and attitude.”

“Both loved pretty much the exact same things. John and Eric were quite friendly and open-minded, but our interests were a bit off outside of swimming without clothing. John loved country-music, horseback riding, and model building (I'm not), and Eric was into hardcore-Gangsta-Rap, Basketball, and DC Comics (I'm not). Sean could've been my brother.”

“Both of us were raised in very nurturing and progressive families, we both loved the same music, video games, comics, books, the work. And, both of us had discovered we were gay at an early age, so there was also that going for us.”

“The 4 of us snuck out like ninjas in the night (I was skinny as a rail back then, and quite adept at sneaking), and my eyes have always been exceptional in anything other than total darkness. Meaning no light particles at all. So, I didn't really need a flashlight, though we took one just to be safe. Our plan was to go, strip, swim, then get out and walk the trails just a little in the buff to air-dry, then return to our beds unnoticed.”

We made it to the pool, undetected. We chucked our clothes and began to swim. Sean and I sat next to one another, and were talking about boys we liked back home. Eric and John were in the middle of a 'who can hold their breath the longest' contest."

Sean was telling me about this boy in class he was sweet on, but was too afraid to ask him out or anything. I said we're still 10, lets worry about dating in high school. He agreed, worried that there might be some law or something he'd be breaking anyway."

“It was very shortly afterward that Sean put his hand on my chest, hard. I want to re-state, this wasn't a romantic advance, it's that 'oh my god' kind of slap to the chest. Much like a parent would to prevent someone from walking into danger.“

"'Oh my god. Someone's out there.' Sean shivered. (Note, the water was cold, but not freezing. It was still around 80°F outside, so I figured if I wasn't shivering then everyone else should be fine, right?) 'Where?' I asked. Sean pointed and even grabbed my chin to point me in that direction."

He was right. Even in the dark, at around say the 6-foot to 6 and a half foot height were a pair of eyes and a shadowy shape of a man. The eyes, behaved much like a cat's when it reflects light, that animal like yellow-green in the dark, yet it was at the height of a man."

Sean and I whisper to John and Eric to get over to us. They do, and we show them the shadow. John damn near screamed, but just did that sudden squeak and slapped his hands over his mouth. Eric uttered an obscenity, and wondered if it was a counselor on night patrol.”

“We asked, why wouldn't they have said anything then. Shine a flashlight, yelled ‘hey you kids!’ or something. Eric insinuated something fairly dark, that I won't repeat, but the irony of telling Eric that his argument didn't hold water isn't lost on me. Sean asked what we should do.”

“I said, we grab our clothes, and run. We hold hands so nobody gets lost, and we book it. I said I'd take the lead since my nightvision is the best. We get close to our cabins, throw our cloths back on, climb back into the cabin and get into bed.”

Turns out generations of kids have seen this same apparition.

They agreed. I counted to 3, and we ran. We grabbed our clothes. I hadn't thought to put our sandals back on, so, let me tell you running on that trail hurt for days after. We ran, looking over our shoulder.”

The figure seemed to be following, but still getting further and further away. We made it to the ‘rally point’, got dressed, and climbed into the cabin. We slipped back into our bunks, and no one was the wiser. Every now and again, while walking to camp-fire, we'd swear we'd catch glimpses of the figure.”

All summer long, it was this eerie presence. My counselor one night sat the 4 of us down. He noticed a drastic change in our moods/behaviors. We said we'd tell but we don't want to get in trouble. He said he wouldn't, on the contingent we fess up.”

“We told him the whole thing. We admitted to sneaking out, the skinny dipping, and the shadow-figure. At first, he laughed. He told us that he started going to Howard back in the 70's, and sneaking out to skinny dip was practically tradition among young boys - and we shouldn't do it, but he said it was really a no-harm-no-foul instance.”

“His expression darkened, and he confessed that as far back as 1978, the last year he attended as a youth, he also saw the same figure. He told us that he told his counselor roughly the exact same story. He and a much larger group of boys had snuck out for a skinny-dip, when they also saw the figure.”

“My counselor said, that his counselor told roughly the exact same story from when he was a camper there. In the end, we've learned that as far back as the 1960's, this phantom has appeared near the upper pool, very late at night.” Damionstjames

Good old-fashioned Bible camp yep...

“I grew up going to Baptist church and school. Summer camps were the church camp. One night while we were in the small amphitheater around the campfire (I think I have that camp photo bear the beginning of my post history), listening to some riling sermon, some girl started whispering to others that she saw the devil coming up out of the flames.”

As it spread through the kids (8-12 yr olds) girls started crying and screaming, and group hysteria took over and I still remember everyone running as a giant panicked mob across the camp grounds, back to the cabins, passing the farm area where the devil was now slaughtering pigs that we heard squealing.”

It was ~40 years ago and I remember it like it was yesterday. I drove up to the camp last summer with my dog to look around. It's all exactly as I remember it. Church camp. Good times.reubal

Fire Burn GIF by Burger RecordsGiphy

“...watching them try to shake her limp body awake...”

My girl scout troop went camping one year, and stayed in the same area as another troop. I went with 3 girls from the other troop to go hang out in the woods by the lake next to camp. I was sitting under a tree reading, and the other 3 were climbing up this big tree that had fallen sideways.”

“They'd gotten up on this huge branch, and one girl wanted to keep going while the other 2 wanted to stop. So she started trying to climb over the other two. I heard a scream, and looked over just in time to see the girl who'd been climbing over falling out of the tree, straight on her back.”

“She hit hard and didn't move when she landed. We all scrambled over to her, and she wasn't moving or responding. The other two kept insisting that she's a prankster and must be faking. When she finally came to and started crying, they finally realized how serious this was. She miraculously didn't break anything and only had a concussion, but I will never be able to forget watching them try to shake her limp body awake and thinking that I had watched someone die.” JeSiusShortie522

People are f**ked up."

Stayed at a YMCA camp in the Texas Hill Country (Kerrville) in the 1970's. In high school I worked one of those jobs cleaning tables at the picnic court in the local mall. An obese man came to the mall one day and he knew my boss. I told my boss that I recognized same obese guy from when I was at summer camp.”

“When this guy found out I remembered him, we reminisced for a few minutes. He then asked me if I wanted to go with him to Vegas and make some good money. I politely declined.”

“I realized right there and then that when I was at summer camp with my friends that we were surrounded by pedophiles. They were eventually arrested a few years later. People are f**ked up.” EK92409

walked in the girls cabin and watched them sleep...”

This happened when I was 10, my parents sent me to summer camp when I got on the bus going to the campsite our camp counselor was like a old dude in his late 40s , one night I decided to go the the restrooms to pee while I was walking by the girls cabins I noticed that the counselor walked in the girls cabin and watched them sleep for 15 mins and walked out, he saw me and said ‘dont tell anyone’ I ran back to out cabin.”

The next night I saw the counselor walked back to his cabin and I noticed that he left his bag outside, curious I peeked through the window to make sure his asleep and he is, I opened the bag only to see girls underwear, when I got home from summercamp I told my parent of what happened and they called the cops to start an investigation it turns out that the man was a child pedophile and rapist. I was left traumatized for 7 years after that incident.” Crying_Child_2015

Encounter with a brown recluse...

My trip to a local two week summer camp. Everyone had bunk beds. So, the guy I was going to be sharing the bed with and I decided to play Rock Paper Scissors for the top bunk. He beat me. Well, fast forward to the next evening and he got bit by a Brown Recluse on his hand.”

“His skin had become necrotic (turning black and beginning to fall off) around the bite and he was taken away in an ambulance. I never found out if he ended up being okay. I also slept in a different cabin after that. F**k Brown Recluses.” ComcastDirect

Arson and a machete at church camp...​

Church camp I think freshman or sophomore year of high school. One of the other church pastor's grandson and a couple of his friends were attending that year and they were a little troubled. Started out with small pranks, knocking on doors at 1AM, toothpaste on handles etc. All in good fun we thought But then they caught the carpet outside our door on fire, somehow cut the power in the dorms we were in, and on the last night they began wander the halls in scream masks holding machetes.”

They got reported and rooms were searched. The friends of the grandson pretty much flipped on him immediately and in his room were the machetes and a loaded gun amongst party favors. He booked it and was on the run the entire night. Cops found him the next morning looking like he'd been sleeping in a thornbush.” FleetRiskSoultions

Creepy counselers...

“A grown a**, like 30+ yo male counselor standing in our cabin in total darkness and observing us quietly for like 20 minutes ‘waiting for us to fall asleep’ because we ‘were making noise after the curfew’. The thing is we were quiet before he went into our cabin, just had our lights on for late reading/brushing teeth etc.”

We were 13 yo girls back then, and we started arguing with him so he finally left but after that I slept with a heavy flashlight under my pillow for a few days in case he decided to get closer to us. I'm not sure why we didn't say anything to other camp counsellors, it was recently that I recalled this memory and realised how creepy he was” swietlistosc

If one thing is for certain after reading these accounts, parents really need to research and review camps before sending the kids away. Yikes!

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.