Finding a corpse is not something that just happens every day. This unique brand of horror is ridiculously traumatic, and it leaves you in a very unwanted situation. What would you do if this happened to you?
u/NiqPat: People who have happened upon dead corpses randomly, what happened?
That's a hard thing to deal with.
On a drive to work early one morning I came down a hill to see a vehicle off in a field to my right. It was upside down and on fire so I immediately stopped and called 9-1-1.
As I was running up to the vehicle, I could see the driver still strapped in. He wasn't moving or screaming, so I could only assume he was already dead. I couldn't get to him because of the fire... I really struggled with that for a while.
That's awful.
GiphyWhen I was living in San Francisco there is a homeless person sprawled on the ground. I asked some passerby if we should call an ambulance and the guy at the store we were near said the homeless person did this all the time to get tips.
I got what I needed from down the street and on my way back I saw him being zipped up in a body bag by some paramedics.
A very crazy first day of work.
As a teenager in 1987 - I found a dead prostitute on my first day of work at a McDonalds. She had hung herself on the tall fence surrounding our dumpster / compactor area. I freaked and got my manager.
Horrible.
Happened at my elementary school party back around 1998. We were having a party at this teachers house with about 30 other kids and 4 other chaperones. There was a pool in the back that was about 8 feet deep. We were all jumping in and out of the pool and it was dark out. Eventually the teachers told us all to come inside because it was almost time to go home.
As were all getting out of the pool there was still someone at the bottom and wasn't moving. One of the chaperones jumped in and grabbed him. He was already dead. The whole school had a memorial for him and it was all honestly just a horrible time.
Always make sure to pay attention.
GiphyA guy at my university was walking to class with his earbuds in and his hood over his head - he walked right across train tracks lost in thought while other people were screaming at him that the train was coming. I was about two minutes behind and saw the immediate results of this guy not paying attention.
It's a weird feeling, the matter-of-fact nature of seeing a dead person. It's not like anything else changes. The train stopped, the people who saw it were horrified, and the police came. But before the end of the week, no one at the school was even talking about it.
Don't beat yourself up.
In my second year at university, my good friend at the time went missing for two days and after getting the warden to come with me and check his room, we found him dead, he had committed suicide in the two days I hadn't seen him.
What still haunts me is that me last message to him was "hey man, you still alive" in a joking way...safe to say I've never sent anyone a message like that again.
Terrifying.
As a teenager I went on a walk through the green belt behind my house. The woods had a peculiar smell but I was used to stumbling across dead animals on rare occasion so I didn't think anything of it. Clambered over a log and looked down to find I'd stepped in her hair. She'd been left on the hidden side of the log wrapped in a tarp and was well into the process of decomposition. No lips, eyes, etc.
Went home and called my mom in a fog of shock and she called the police. They didn't really believe me and were super casual while they walked me out to the spot so I could show them where she was. Their demeanors changed the instant they saw her and from there it was all a whirlwind.
She was my age. Murdered and dumped by one of my high school teachers. I testified as a witness to finding her (never really understood why they needed that) He went to prison but I think he might be out by now. I feel terrible for her family.
It didn't traumatize me but it gave me a lot to think about in regards to the value and shortness of life. I started saying "I love you" to my family members a lot more afterward.
GiphyI have been kayaking and found a man whose decomposition was at the burst stage.
Another time I was part of the recovery of a scuba diver who had been lost inside USS San Diego for about a month at approx 120fsw, his mask came off and eyeballs fell out as he was pushed through to me.
What an awful thing to see.
In my Junior year of high school my best friend and I were skipping school and walking around the woods by Murphy park in Park forest/Chicago Heights.
There was an older man sitting on a bench on the trail, briefcase, suit, etc.. He reached into the briefcase when he saw us, pulled out a revolver, shoved it in his mouth, and ended himself.
My friend and I sat there and freaked before we ran to his house over on Dogwood, and called the cops.
I don't know the story, all I know is I have never forgotten that smell since then.
Also, we didn't end up getting in trouble for skipping. So we had that going for us, which was nice.
Strange coincidence that this all culminated on Halloween 2017. A friend of mine living in East London noticed that a man from the flat overlooking her balcony was looking straight at her late at night. She brushed it off and finished her cigarette and went to bed.
The next evening when she was out there again she noticed the man still staring at her in the same spot. She told her housemate and they decided he was just some weirdo who liked looking out of his window. You get a lot of strange folk in London.
On the third day the man was still there, but his colour had changed and his lower jaw had dropped open. That's when they decided to call the police. The police entered the apartment block and broke into the flat. Turns out the man had rented the flat recently and had hung himself by the window by crouching with a thin rope around his neck.
The police commented to them how strange it was that he didn't leave a note behind and that he had done his laundry/neatly folded it up before killing himself.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
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.
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.