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People Share Their Craziest 'I Should Have Died But Didn't' Stories

Whoah. That should have killed me. Am I alive right now?

Close calls are scary. They really put your entire life into perspective, since it could have ended in this moment.

When you're on the other side of one of these, how do you feel? Grateful? Depressed? Scared? All of the above?


u/Kelvin_Inman asked:

What is your "...and I should have died, but didn't." story?

Here are those stories.



Sanguine Savior

Giphy

Got blood poisoning as a kid the red line was almost to my heart if my aunt hadn't of seen my infected finger and popped it then told my mom to take me to the docs .... doc said less than 24 hours it would have reached my heart. I was 5, my mom is legally blind so she would never have seen it.

Tygress83

Aaaaaand We're Back

At 6 I was in the back seat of my dads trans-am. Turning left, a truck ran a red light and hit us going 80 mph. The back hatch of our car broke all over me and I was ejected out of the car where I landed on my head in the middle of the highway. I was pronounced dead but the emt somehow revived me. Had a grandmal seizure for 45 minutes in the hospital until I eventually went into a coma for 4 days. Woke up and couldn't walk or talk. Broke 3 ribs and my hip. Spent a month in the hospital.

I'm 24 now and you'd never know I went through that. I do have seizures now and short term memory loss but other than that I'm doing well!

sassymegn

Havin' The Shivers

Had a windsurfing accident, was blown 8+ miles out to sea with only the board. Was supposed to be a hard freeze that late November evening. About 45 minutes before dark, I heard the coast guard vessel looking for me. I had already resigned myself to death, as only one other person knew I was out there, and as far as I knew he had gotten himself into the same situation. Its really amazing how calm you get and how the fear of death leaves when you've become sure that its going to happen. Or it could have been the hypothermia...

mskitesurf

You Gotta Better Chance Of Being Struck...Hey Wait A Sec

I was struck by lightning when I was 15 while hiking in the mountains between North Carolina and Tennessee. It started hailing afterward, I couldn't move but my friends pulled me under a tree and wrapped me in an aluminum blanket because I was going hypothermic in July. The hail pelted holes in the blanket, the hail above us on the mountain melted and ran down where we were laying, soaking us, and thunder rumbled all around for half an hour or more, threatening. I don't think I'll ever hear thunder and not shudder. Also, I haven't seen the color black ("black's not a color" shut up) since then, believe I am permanently flash-burned. At night or when I close my eyes, I see a million dots of faint colored light like static. Anyway. I survived. It happened 14 years ago.

Pierce1940

In The Nick Of Time

I went to the hospital after several days of the worst fatigue I've ever experienced.

I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and a temporary condition called diabetic ketoacidosis, and I was told it was a miracle I brought myself to the hospital because I was mere hours away from a diabetic coma and possibly death.

frankramblings

The River Don't Flow For You

Myself, another guide, and eight 10-year-old campers were stuck in a class 5 rapid for about two minutes. The current underneath was pushing the raft so that it was at nearly a 90 degree angle. I was holding on to as many campers as I could, finally and thankfully we broke out of the rapid.

The other boats had turned around and other staff were already getting ready for a rescue mission.

If our raft had flipped around on to us, there would have been a very high chance we would have gotten stuck circulating in the rapid with the current under the raft, ultimately drowning.

lenerz

Who Would Have Known?

I'm quite an athletic person, always doing some kind of sport. When I was 20, I started feeling exhausted all the time. My heart would start pounding like crazy when I only so much as stood up and it felt like I had a stone resting on my chest.

Stupid me thought it was a cold, because I was young and fit and couldn't possibly have anything serious.

I ran around like that for three weeks, forcing myself to do sport, even went hiking when I visited my dad. He was shocked because I could barley walk without panting, so he brought me to a doctor. Turned out I had a massive pulmonary embolism (thanks, birth control) the doctor was surprised I was still alive.

mrs_robot2208

This Is Why We DON'T Play Near Train Tracks

I was riding a dirtbike, and attempting to jump a set of railroad tracks. I was running about 45-50 mph, and coming from behind a factory. There was a train coming straight thru at speed, and I didn't see it in time. It knocked me over 100 feet down the line. I came to rest with my right leg and arm up against the rail. Took the train over a mile to get stopped, and I didn't lose any body parts. :) That was over 30 years ago. I have pain that reminds me every day, but I've been blessed, as it hasn't stopped me from doing the things I enjoy.

wyliethecoyote641

I'm Stumped

I was skipping school and walking back to my house. My step dad happened to be in the back garage getting some tools for work and would have seen me if I took the usual route home. I knew he would leave soon so I thought i would just hop the neighbors fence so he wouldn't see me go into the house.

As I jumped the fence my shoe lace got caught and i fell face first to the ground. When I looked up there was a tree stump two inches from my face. If i would have fell on it I would have broken my neck and died.

I'm still convinced in a parallel universe I died that day.

wing3d

Just Call Me Beth March

Giphy

On the last day of first grade, near the end of the day, our teacher walked us around to tour the second grade rooms and meet the second grade teachers. As a little nerd, I was STOKED. But, I was also running a fever so high that I was drenched in sweat. Just before we were set to check out the classrooms, I finally admitted to my teacher that I wasn't feeling well. She took one look at my sweaty little face and red, rashy arms and shipped me off to the nurse.

I fell asleep on the nurses cot and woke up to my mom helping me out to the car. We went to the pediatrician, who, seeing my fever hit 103 and my dark red full body rash, for some reason told my mom it was the flu and sent us packing.

After a day at home, my fever hit 104 and my mom plunged me into a bathtub full of ice. When that did basically nothing and my fever hit 106, she took me to the hospital.

At the hospital they took me back immediately, a nurse hoisted me up on the counter and stabbed two IVs in, while another nurse told my mom if she had waited another 10 minutes to bring me in I would have likely died.

I spent a week in the hospital pumped to the brim with fluids. So pumped, in fact, that the skin on my ears burst and my face swelled to an unrecognizable blob.

Was it the flu, you ask? It was scarlet fever. Maybe the full body, dark red rash should've piqued the pediatricians interest but I guess not 🙄

tiny_butt_toucher

Run The Plank

I was a pretty quiet and coward kid so I mostly kept it to myself in every situation but one summer when I was 10, my cousins and sibling were jumping to the sea from the pier and they also cheered me to do the same. It was all fun and games, everyone was having fun and I decided to just jump one last time before leaving. I was pretty hyped by how brave I was.

So, I started to run on the pier for a final epic jump towards the sea while everyone was distracted and well, I slipped. My head hit the pier's edge hard and knocked me out as I slipped into the sea. Apparently my dad noticed that I was gone after awhile, quickly jumped to the water and pulled me out and I remember waking up puking everywhere... I don't know how was it but according to everyone there, I looked like I was already dead.

I survived and here I am!

purinnie

110 In The Shade

I was driving from North Alabama to Nashville (about 2 hours away if you drive fast), it was almost midnight when I left. About halfway there I fell asleep behind the wheel. I have no clue how long I was out but I woke up right before I slammed into the back of a semi. Was wide awake for the rest of the drive. I really should have died cause falling alseep cause me to speed up to 110ish.

shelby_renee89

The Ice You Skate Is Gettin' Pretty Thin

Giphy

I was hit in the head on accident with an aluminum baseball bat. In shockingly sober antics my friends and I were pitching chunks of ice to be shattered by a batter. I set one up on a tee but did not back away far enough and was caught on the backswing. Once my brain felt swollen and I started bleeding I knew immediately what happened and focused on remembering as much as possible and playing little brain teasers in my head because I read somewhere that brain activity during a trauma can protect against permanent damage. I was driven to the hospital and got a CT scan where I was by God's grace pronounced not even concussed. Just a chunk of flesh missing in my forehead. I still however don't like baseball bats now and I hate to watch them swing.

BurnQuest

Sporty And Speedy

Head on collision on the freeway. A sporty car that I kept seeing speeding and weaving in and out of traffic ended up hitting my back bumper turning me 180 degrees and getting hit by a v8 dodge right after. My car (v4 sentra) was crushed. I did break and shatter a few body parts but I should be dead or at least not able to walk.

Alex_c666

Phantom Vibrate Saved Me

Walking home from the store at 10pm one night, I walked down the iron stairs and was about to step out from behind a cement wall, into the ally, ( short cut I take all the time), when my phone vibrated. I paused mid step to fish it out of my pocket. At the exact second, (didn't even have time to pull my phone out), a car blew by doing 50 or so through the ally, about a foot from me. I felt the wind on my face as it sped by! ( didn't hear a THING!) Had my phone not vibrated I would not be here now.

Oddly when I checked later, (after I could move again!), there were no missed calls or texts.

Safeguard63

Well This Time, It Was

Waited about four hours to go the hospital during a massive widow maker heart attack. I've had panic attacks for years and been so embarrassed going to the ER over nothing. I was in a ton of pain starting in my stomach and then into back and up in chest. I thought it was just bad stomach pain that spread and my panic was making it worse. The funny and sad thing about it was I've panicked a million that I was having a heart attack and the one time I wasn't thinking that, it was a heart attack. I just thought at 39 there'd be no way I could be having one.

indiesnobs

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.