
Spooked People Share Their Animal Related Paranormal Experiences
[rebelmouse-image 18360346 is_animated_gif=Have you ever had a strange encounter with wildlife or other animals? These people have and they are sharing their spooky stories with us!
u/rmrgdr asks:
Hey Reddit, have you ever seen a mythological, spirit or ghost animal or a nature spirit or entity, or other spooky occurrences with animals, what's your experience?
The ghost dog
[rebelmouse-image 18360347 is_animated_gif=A couple of years ago I slept over at my sister's house in my baby niece's bedroom. At 02:38 am I was woken up by a small dog getting onto the bed with me and settling itself down to sleep. I reached out to touch it, it was really comforting but then I realised my sister's dog was downstairs and definitely not little. I reached for the dog again but it had vanished. Sister told me my niece woke up every night at about 3am and I've always wondered if it was the little dog.
when's the last time you had your eyes checked?
[rebelmouse-image 18360348 is_animated_gif=My grandma had a Welsh Corgi who lived to be 19. The week after they put him down, the next-door neighbor came over and was surprised that the dog, who was very protective, didn't bark when he knocked on the door. My grandpa told him that they had put the dog to sleep a week ago. The neighbor got really serious and said, "No way. I've seen him every day standing under the big tree in your front yard." We took this as a sign that he was still near us.
The phantom kangaroo
[rebelmouse-image 18360349 is_animated_gif=When I was living in Western NSW, I was out exploring the area when I saw a kangaroo with unusual markings - it had a white face.
A while later I mentioned what I'd seen at the local pub and everyone got quiet then quickly changed the subject. I find out later what I'd describe was considered a bad omen in the local dreamtime, and I totally believe it.
The walking coyote
[rebelmouse-image 18360351 is_animated_gif=One time I was hiking in southern Utah along a sandstone ridge, when I saw a pair of coyotes trotting along an adjacent ridge, maybe a hundred yards away. This could have been a trick of the light, confusing perspective, or me being tired, but I swear one of those guys suddenly stood up on his hind legs, looked around, and sauntered down the opposite side of the ridge and out of sight like a guy going for an evening walk. I just stood there for a few minutes thinking, "That was the weirdest f******* thing I've ever seen."
The hallucination is strong
[rebelmouse-image 18355940 is_animated_gif=In the hours before my dad died, he saw his pet dog from 40 years earlier, our cat that died 4 years earlier and even my pet rabbit that died 4 years ago. He sort of marvelled at it all, "Even the rabbit is jumping around, she probably shouldn't be in here."
That's a scary tradition
[rebelmouse-image 18345358 is_animated_gif=When my grandfather passed away we sat on his front porch later that night and 3 great horned owls flew over our heads. My mom busted up crying saying that when her sister passed away a great horned owl flew over like that, and when my grandmother passed away 2 owls flew over. I'm very curious if when my mother passed away the same will happen for me.
When it's a friendly ghost
[rebelmouse-image 18360352 is_animated_gif=Our black Chow, Padfield, was hit by a car just before Halloween. Halloween night I was listening to a podcast of spooky stories before walking downhill to my studio in the dark. The wind was blowing and clouds were skimming across the moon and the trees were tossing wildly. I got spooked since we lived way out in the country, plus Halloween plus spooky stories. I actually felt then saw Padfield come out of the moving shadows from the place he usually slept and walk me to my studio door. I told him thank you then went inside and told my husband that our dog had just walked with me down the hill. He said, "Sounds like he was making sure you were okay." We miss that sweet dog. He was a good boy.
The shadow people guardian
[rebelmouse-image 18360353 is_animated_gif=I used to live up in New Hampshire and for a brief period of time was having semi-frequent encounters with shadow people. At the time I had a job where I wouldn't leave work until about 1am and I lived in a densely wooded area. For a while it was bad enough that when I'd get home at night I'd be scared to get out of my car and walk to my front door. Then one night I was driving home and as I came around a big bend I looked up and at the edge of the tree line, looking right down at me, was a giant silver stag. When I say silver I truly mean it - not gray, not white - and it even shimmered ever so slightly. He was massive and beautiful and I immediately felt very calm and safe. I closed my eyes for a split second because I knew what I was looking at couldn't be real, and when I looked back he was gone.
I never saw another shadow person after seeing the silver stag and feeling that calmness come over me. Sometimes I wonder if he was some sort of guardian.
The cat man
[rebelmouse-image 18346400 is_animated_gif=I had 5 other people with me at the time it happened. We were camping in southern Ohio at a private camp grounds. It was about 11PM and we were walking to pool that was at the front of the site. When all of a sudden it looked like a large black cat (about the size of a mountain lion) was crossing the road about 60 yards in front of us. As it gets about half way across the road it stands up and walks (like a person) into the woods. We were all about 16 years old and freaked out. But being teenagers we wanted to see if we could spot it. So we all run toward the spot with flash lights, never going into the woods. We never saw anything again and I'd never seen anything like that before. My family has been going to the same place for over 40 years and has never experienced anything of the sort.
When your pet knows...
[rebelmouse-image 18346388 is_animated_gif=When I was a teenager, I went to a two day music festival, and while I was gone my mother decided that was a great time to have the dog I'd had my whole life put down. (She was really old, and I knew it was coming, but I wanted to be with her). So needless to say I was heartbroken, couldn't stop crying, and as I'm laying on my bed I feel this big whomp, just like when she'd decide it was bedtime. I could feel her curled up against my back, all warm, and I heard that huff she'd make when she got comfy. I put my hand behind me and I could feel her fur, and I calmed down and fell asleep. When I woke up, my dog was gone, but there was a big warm dent in the covers, like she'd just left.
Animal senses
[rebelmouse-image 18360354 is_animated_gif=Growing up we had horses. I lived in New England and we had lots of area to ride on a hill near us (the town called it a mountain, but they had delusions of adequacy). One time I was riding and my horse stopped suddenly and refused to move forward, he then moved around the area we were traveling, a little panicky. I looked and could barely make out the remains of an old stone wall and a few rotting posts. I later was talking to our local 'town historian' and he was telling me of the lost smallpox hospital up there (in 17th century New England, if you had smallpox, you were sent to a quarantined area - the 'hospital' - and if you recovered, you could come back). When he described the location, it fit. I took him up there later, and he found fallen stone grave markers where the horse shied. That horse was always nervous around cemeteries.
Old habits die hard
[rebelmouse-image 18359229 is_animated_gif=My cat used to run down the hallway at top speed and jump onto the bed every night when I would tell him it was bedtime. The day after he passed away I turned the kitchen lights off and told the dog it was bed time, then heard the cats collar bell and footsteps run down the hall.
The presence is real!
[rebelmouse-image 18360355 is_animated_gif=My girlfriend and I had just had her boxer put down after a lingering illness. I had a dream a few nights later of her dog coming into the kitchen and then leaving, and of me turning to my girlfriend and saying "did you see that?!" In the dream, she hadn't. I was asleep a few nights later and had a vivid dream of her dog coming into the room and jumping up onto the bed, then lying on my chest. I could feel his weight, and I struggled to come out of sleep so that I could see him. I managed to wrench my eyelids open (it's very hard for me to surface from this type of vivid dream), and i could see his silhouette against the dark of the room, before he slowly faded.
When you can't logically explain what happened
[rebelmouse-image 18353687 is_animated_gif=One morning my girlfriend and I were laying in her bed on a cold morning. We didn't have work or school that day because it had snowed. She lived out in the middle of nowhere, like no neighbor for a mile nowhere. Well I hear someone right outside the window say "get down, they're going to be able to see you if you don't get down." So of course this startled me and I turn around and see a guy and three dogs right outside walking toward the garage door. So I grab my handgun and go to meet them at the door and find out why they were there. So in those 10 seconds I get outside and no one was there. Right outside our window there were shoe prints and paw prints in the fresh snow. I tracked them down the back of the property and after about 100 yards or so there were only paw prints. I looked over to my left 10-15 yards there were very similar paw prints that looked like they had come from the forest towards the house. So I tracked those up to the house and then shoe prints appeared about 25 yards from the house. So I followed them to see if maybe they had gone out the front of the property but there were none. To this day I'm not really sure what happened or what was outside our window.
The zombie cat
[rebelmouse-image 18360356 is_animated_gif=In college, my roommate and I we're walking around town at like 2 am (not drinking, just..weird kids) and we passed a dead cat in the gutter. It was a calico, big brown spot on one side and an orange one on it's face. Rigor mortis had set in, and there was a kind of greasy smear coming from under the head. We guessed it had been mashed by a car.
We walk down to a park, wander around, and come back the same way. A car passes us, and in it's headlights we see a calico cat crossing the road away from us. We get back to the spot where the dead cat was, and it was gone. Same storefront, same street light, same greasy smear in the gutter. No cat.
Kitty in the dryer
[rebelmouse-image 18360357 is_animated_gif=A little over a month ago I had to put my cat down because she was suffering from an illness related to old age. The next day I was making my bed and I lifted up a blanket fresh out of the dryer (nice and warm) and my beloved kitty was under there. I saw her plain as day, blinked, and then she was gone.
The faries in Ireland are brutal!
[rebelmouse-image 18345368 is_animated_gif=Friend is Irish. Her uncle has a sheep farm out in the country. One day he was clearing new grazing areas and came across a fairy circle. He's not the superstitious type so he didn't think twice about destroying it. This is a big no-no in Ireland.
Every single one of his lambs came out stillborn that year. Every. Single. One. He respects the fairies now.
The cat that wanted attention
[rebelmouse-image 18358494 is_animated_gif=During my sleep paralysis episodes i used to see this cat in my room just doing normal cat stuff like scratching my furniture and laying around. I would see him pretty frequently too. One day he was scratching my nightstand, i tried to yell it him but couldn't. I always thought it was weird that i see the same cat everytime i have a sleep paralysis episode.
It could be true
[rebelmouse-image 18360358 is_animated_gif=My dad swears that back in the 70's when he was camping in the BC interior he saw a bigfoot that threw large rocks at their campsite. My dad also did lot of drugs in the 70's.
At least it was a friendly dog ghost
[rebelmouse-image 18348544 is_animated_gif=I've had a few strange animal-related experiences, but one that stands out for me was an encounter I had while staying at an inn. The innkeeper made no mention of any pets upon my arrival (usually innkeepers will warn you if a pet might be wandering into your room), but in the middle of the night I was awoken by the sensation of a dog licking my hand (I slept with my hand hanging over the edge of the bed). I opened my eyes to see a long-haired black dog standing right beside the bed. I love dogs, so it was quite heartwarming to me although unexpected, and I reached my hand further out to pet him. My hand passed right through his face as if he was nothing more than an apparition. The figure quickly faded out completely, and this startled me out of bed.
As the years go by, it's harder to imagine what life was like before the invention of the things we take for granted today. Things like cell phones that boast professional camera functions, ordering food online, and of course, social media.
Ask any 18-year-old what the world was like before social media came along, and they won't be able to answer. I barely remember that world!
Some people are worried about the way social media has overtaken the lives of children and wonder if we should place age restrictions on social media. Currently, most social media sites stipulate that users must be at least 13 years of age to register for an account.
Wondering if we should Redditor aussieredditooor asked:
"Would the world be a better place if we put a minimum age of 18 on social media, why/why not?"
The responses were quite mixed. Some people definitely thought the idea of placing an age restriction on social media was a winner.
"Facebook should go back to being just for college students. Once they opened up to everyone the world collectively became more dumb than it already was. There's that tweet that talks about parents warning children about the dangers of the internet, only to be the ones who should have taken heed of those words."
– ParticularBiscotti66
"Yes I’ve been suggesting this for a while. Social media is damaging for children. They should have a right to be kids and not worry about sh*tty insta posts. They also deserve to have some solitude after school and not be bullied through social media at home."
– Ionlypost1ce
"There’s more than just one problem and some of them absolutely involve kids. Cyberbullying, for example, is absolutely a kids problem just as much as an adult problem."
– Formo1287
"Abso-f*cking-lutley"
"It's ridiculously hard enough for adults to navigate the complexities of online communication, let alone children, adolescents, and teens... Whose BRAINS are still developing."
"Studies have shown for years that a rise in online communication is detrimental to interpersonal skills."
– Longjumping_Ad_1477
"Yes 10 year olds don't need to see all the garbage people be posting. Kids don't need to know all the drama and hate. They need to learn to be nice and respectful before coming to social media. Social media made me see thing that I will never forget."
– HornyDragons69
Others think the age restriction should go the other way. Instead of having a minimum age requirement, social media sites should institute a maximum age requirement.
"I think a maximum age would have a better effect honestly"
– VanillaThunder324
"Kids aren't the problem, they just laugh at memes and make dumb jokes the same as the rest of us."
"Put a maximum age like 65. Kick all the senior citizens off. They're the ones who promote violence, hate, etc."
– Yvaelle
"It would be a better place if we put a maximum age of 40 on social media."
– Albae87
"Only if we do a maximum age limit too. Both extremes of the age spectrum seem to make it a habit of posting the first vile thing that comes to their mind without a second thought as to whether it is factual or will cause hurt to others."
– jenni_anydots
Some people think social media should be done away with altogether.
"Getting rid of social media will make the world a better place."
– Deleted User
"Just get rid of social media all together and things would be a lot better in this world"
– Bout2Drop
"No. I think we should get rid of social media entirely, at least in its current forms. We need to get rid of all kinds of internet points, infinite scrolling, suggested content algorithms, targeted ads, and everything else that makes social media as addictive and divisive as it is. We need international laws about misinformation, hate speech, and encouraging violence, and if we can't make that happen then we should segregate it by country to lessen the chances of the real world being influenced by foreign trolls and the kind of memey BS that got Trump elected."
"We're better off interacting with the people in our local communities, and trying to change things in real life instead of complaining about them online and drawing validation from echo chambers on the internet. We can't live in a fantasy world forever, and we'll only dig ourselves into deeper holes if we try."
– NutSockMushroom
Most people agree that implementing an age restriction won't stop kids from using social media.
"Is that going to stop teens from going on their adults account? Not really. So it won’t help"
– Rude-Taco2140
"People won't magically understand how to use the internet safely once they become of age. Blocking children won't work. We need to be educating children on how to engage with the internet safely, how to set boundaries and how to follow them."
– BipedSnowman
"I signed up for MySpace at 11 or 12 when I think you had to be 13, most of my friends did the same. Same with Facebook when it had age limits back in the day. Hard to actually verify unless you have to put in your social security number or whatever equivalent other countries use for background checks which is a kinda dangerous slope."
– fenderdean13
"I mean, adult-only sites say "You can only view this content if youre 18+", do kids just be like "Oh ok I'll come back when Im 18"?"
– SurferSmith
However, it seems most people think an age restriction is a bad idea.
"I have only been over 18 for less than a year, so I’ll have to say no. I think that sheltering is one of the worst ways to teach safety. Also, I have learned about so many topics that I never would have without the internet."
– NiamhHA
A World Of Knowledge
"Blocking kids from social media would negatively impact minorities, disproportionately to non minorities. Many queer youth rely on the internet for support and advice to navigate the world safely."
– BipedSnowman
"As I used internet as a form of escapism as well, and it also helped me learn about my bisexuality and my ADHD."
– JesseAster
"I definitely found a lot of good help from online subgroups when I was younger. It’s tough bc there definitely is a lot of bad out there and it’s important we teach good Internet guidelines as a precautionary to avoid issues. I know my family was quite spoken on how I shouldn’t ever share any private info"
– foreveralonesolo
And that's the answer. Social media in and of itself isn't evil. In fact, sometimes, it's necessary. Between helping kids deal with their loneliness and depression, passing along important and truthful information, and just allowing ease of communication and teamwork, social media is a very good thing.
While the public's concerns are valid, getting rid of social media, or restricting who can and can't use it isn't the answer. Educating people on internet safety and what counts as helpful on social media, and what only causes harm, is the way to go.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
It's all our deepest fear to fall flat on our faces when there's a bunch of people around. No one wants to look the fool, and no one wants to look the fool especially when it happens before a group of people you're going to see every day for the forseeable future.
Embarrassing moments can come out of nowhere, but how you handle yourself in the aftermath is what matters. Laugh it off, shake it off, go with the chuckles, and let the people know you can't be hurt by it.
Well, unless you're any of the people in the stories below. Then I'd consider getting a new address and name.
Reddit user, Konke420xd, wanted to know when the shame was too much to handle when they asked:
"What is the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever witnessed?"
School seems like a good place to slip up and make a fool of yourself. Surely, everyone will treat it with care and kindness right?
Right?
"Oral," Not "Oral"
"I was a sophomore in HS (so around 16) taking the last leg of my county's sex ed class. It was a co-ed day, so our full gym class of about 30 kids was in the room. Topic was STD's. The teacher mentioned oral sex a few times and I guess which diseases can be spread through it. One guy who was always pretty quiet and shy raised his hand and said "I just don't really understand how you can get an STD from talking about sex..."
"It took everyone, including the teacher, a few seconds to understand, but some quiet laughter came from a few students. the teacher then of course had to explain as simply as she could that oral sex did not in fact mean talking about sex (I think the stupid bylaws of the program in our county didn't allow her to fully disclose what it was)."
"Anyway, we thought he was joking but as he heard the laughter from everyone after getting this explained to him, he slowly put his head down and covered his face for the next few minutes. Poor guy. I felt bad, but it was hard not to laugh. At least no one directly gave him sh-t for it afterward"
shlumpy_dumpyyyyy
Keep Your Preferences At Home
"Community college in Tampa, 2009. Spanish class. Shy goth girl walks to the front of the class and plugs in her USB drive to boot up her PPT and begin her presentation like the rest of us did. Except when she pluged it in, a file opened up and the most vile anime porn started playing. Everyone was mortified for her. It took her maybe 3-4 seconds to turn it off but the moment felt like forever. She said, "THIS IS MY BOYFRIEND'S DRIVE!" and ran out of the room crying. The teacher just moved on. The girl didn't show her face for a week. Just an absolutely insane moment."
grandpasmoochie
Triumph, Glory, Embarrassment
"At a pep rally to celebrate a sporting victory, a student insisted that he carry the school flag and run laps around the team. He tripped and fell onto the newly displayed trophy, immediately breaking it. This was on the front page of Reddit for a bit and I’m glad I witnessed it as my school’s claim to fame."
NathanialH0rnblower
When You Want To Stand Up To A Bully But Fail
"There was this kid in my high school that was taking karate classes. He decided he wanted to fight a kid that was bullying him after school in the town park. A sh-t ton of people went. He got all pumped up before the fight. Instantly, once the fight started, he began doing karate moves at the air. Once he reached the bully, the first thing he decided to do was a very flashy "spinning backhand"(?). He missed by a mile and was knocked out immediately. I felt really bad for him. He was always known for not being able to read situations very well and that, being his first normal fight, was just the absolute worst time to try that move out. Bullies suck. It was embarrassing for both of them."
meetmeinthebthrm
Public places seem like the perfect spot to get into all sorts of chicanery. After all, nobody is going to judge you for it on the internet.
Except, of course, that's exactly what we'll do.
To Be Fair, He Made The Right Call About His Idiocy
"Alright, so my husband and I were driving around the city and it was pouring outside. Absolutely pouring. We were about to pass the lightrail train tracks (going in both directions) when the crossing gates came down because the lightrail was approaching."
"One idiot in a van decided he could make it across before the gates came all the way down. He kept on driving, but he did not make it. Instead, his vehicle was now trapped between the gates."
"We could see from our car that this person was PANICKING. His life was flashing before his eyes. In his movie mind, the lightrail was about to crash into the van and drag it for dozens of yards before finally stopping... so he did what anyone would do. He violently pushed the door open and RAN in the pouring rain for his life."
"He was halfway down the street before he stopped, turned around, and noticed that the lightrail was patiently waiting for him to move the vehicle. The door was still open. My husband and I just about pissed ourselves laughing."
JoyceReardon
Keep Your Passions At Home
"I was watching a symphony orchestra concert at the Sydney Opera House one evening. The concert hall foyer has these huge glass windows beneath the sails that overlook the harbourside. The sun hadn't quite set yet, and every audience member that was exiting the hall could see this incredibly drunk middle aged couple having sex on a bench outside the hall."
cowbelljazz
When It's Not Just A Towel
"Was in a pool at a Euro beach resort. We’d been chatting with an old brit tourist, he got out of the pool and went to get changed poolside, using his towel to do the discrete swimming tog shuffle."
"Suddenly up steps an angry Frenchmam wanting HIS towel back..."
"Turns out our poor retired gent had grabbed the wrong towel. There ensued a desperate tug-of-towel as a very stroppy Frenchman attempted to rip his towel from this poor old guy who was butt naked and frantically trying to save his modesty."
"The old guy’s grandson saved the day, with an emergency towel transfer, but not before the whole pool complex had seen way too much hairy old British grandpa scrote."
Bigfoothobbit
We're Not As Cool As We Think
"I was at a food court and I got the brilliant idea to jump over a row of those plastic chairs and tables.. You know, the ones that are fixed to the floor."
"Foot got caught and I fell flat on my face. I stood up to 30 people clapping. One guy yelled asking for my autograph."
Niteryder007
Perhaps the lesson best learned from these following stories is to make sure you use the bathroom before you leave the house.
Otherwise, well...
Take It To The Dance Floor?
"I was on a high end cruise line at dinner. An older lady got up to go to the bathroom but missed and pooped herself in the dining room entrance. She left her panties there and continued on to the bathroom."
SimbaOne1988
Maybe We Should All Only Poop At Home...
"I used to work in nightclubs. I once witnessed a girl leaning against a wall, casually flirting with a guy and as she laughed she actually sh-t herself. She was wearing a white dress and there was no hiding what had happened. The smell actually cleared the whole level of the club. She ran out crying. We had to clean poo off the floor where she had been standing. I often wonder what she is doing now..."
Vaiken_Vox
I think the lesson we can take from all of these is anything you would normally do in private that, in the moment, feels right to do in public, don't. Just, don't.
Have you ever seen something so embarrassing you felt bad from the person? Tell us about it in the comments.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.
Not everyone is capable of mastering the art of conversation.
It takes skill to perpetuate a lively discussion while also being a respectful listener.
Some people are naturals at this.
Others, however, make up for their self-aware verbal shortcomings by overcompensating. Unfortunately, the ruse ends up exposing their insecurity, much to the delight of their amused audience.
Curious to hear examples of this, Redditor TheArchitect_7 asked:
"What’s a thing dumb people say that makes them think they sound smart?"

Some people just want reactions more than a back-and-forth interaction.
Attention-Seeker
"'You wouldn't understand.' Yeah, that's why I asked you for an explanation."
– Appropriate_Donkey18
Fancy Words
"I sometimes use big words that I don't really understand to make myself sound more ambidextrous."
– Alone_Ad1278
Looking At The Score
"The more someone emphasizes their IQ, the less smart I think they actually are."
– rmshilpi
Hackneyed Sayings
"Everything happens for a reason, nothing is actually 'free' as someone has to pay for it, both parties are the same, you may have book smarts, but I have street smarts, common sense isn't so common anymore, but that's how we've always done it!"
"An addition to the previous: 'We will send 40 billion to Ukraine, but we won't spend 40 billion to secure our schools!'"
– humorous_anecdote
Things can get wacky when dealing with someone who is cantankerous.
Futile Argument
"Something along the lines of 'You can’t prove it didn’t happen.'"
"A guy at work tried to pull this one on me. He believed one of those Animal Planet mockumentaries about a giant killer shark was real. When I told him it was all fiction and that there was no real proof of this kind of stuff, he tried to argue back about while he couldn’t prove it, I couldn’t disprove it either."
"There’s a saying about getting into an argument with a stupid person. This was my real world experience with it."
– WongoKnight
Status
"Do you know who I am?"
– FoxFourTwo
The Equivalent Of Winning
"Thinking that getting a reaction out of someone is the same thing as winning an argument."
– bcopes158
Please Define
"My friend once used the phrase 'By its very definition' while we were arguing about something...so I asked him what the definition actually was, while he fumbled with that a bit I told him to stop using weasel words."
– groovyinutah
No Kidding
"'it all depends on how you look at it.' yeah thats f'king obvious."
– psychpopnprogncore
We all love a good malaprop.
Or Intents
"For all intensive purposes"
– p38-lightning
It's Moot, Really
“Mute point”
"Cracks me up every time."
– Ed_The_Bloody
Sometimes, editing yourself a bit in discourse with those who are intellectually out of your league is better than trying to keep up with them in an attempt to win their favor by articulating something you know nothing about.
I would explain better, but you wouldn't understand.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
*The following article contains discussion of suicide/self-harm.
Positive memories stay with us forever that we can always revisit with a smile.
Witnessing a loved one receiving their diploma after years of dedicated studying, celebrating a sports victory with other teammates, or traveling to a dream destination with your significant other after months–even years–of careful planning.
But in addition to reveling in nostalgia, there are other life experiences we'd like to soon forget but have a difficult time shaking off.
Curious to hear about some of the more ominous events experienced by strangers online, Redditor IM_Not_A_Robot_10110 asked:
"What have you witnessed that will haunt you forever?"

What happens inside hospitals are full of trauma and heartache, even medical professionals have a hard time processing what they encounter.
The Pediatric Patient
"X-ray tech here, but I was a student at the time. Called to ER for trauma code. Only know it's a pediatric patient. The terror as I walk around the corner and see it's a little boy, same size as my son. We go to take an x-ray and he's making this high pitched shrill wheezing noise. They couldn't intubate enroute so we were doing a chest/neck to see what was going on. His neck was full of air."
"Come to find out the story later, he had tripped and fallen in school and his neck went square on a desk and he had broken his trachea. Believe he was stabilized & flown out. Never found out what happened after."
– ZephyrGrace
Calling Time Of Death
"ER nurse. This won’t haunt me in a bad way, but it’ll stick with me for sure. We were coding a middle aged lady we knew was going to die. We were pulling out the last ditch stuff hoping we’d get lucky, but everyone knew which way it was going."
"Family was there and in the room. When it was clear we had run through all the Hail Marys and it was time to call it, the husband spoke up for the first time. He had apparently been an EMT for a long time so he knew what he was looking at. He said he was going to do the final round of compressions."
"It was very respectfully done. He got up to do his 2 minutes, the nurses quietly started turning things off so there wouldn’t be continuous alarms, we called for a pulse check which the husband did, then we called time of death. He was thankful we let him do that and I was thankful to be a part of it."
– pause_and_consider
Missing Jaw
"Not me, but my roommates fiancé is a flight nurse. She told me this story around Easter."
"They showed up to a scene being told beforehand that there was a patient with a gun shot wound and bleeding bad but that’s all they were told. When they got there they found a woman who was sitting on the ambulance gurney completely lucid and looking around, completely missing her lower jaw. She said you could see down her throat and she looked like a zombie. Her lower jaw was hanging to the side by some tissue and when she looked about it swung around and dangled. She said the woman seemed relatively calm and when she tried to speak what was left of her tongue kinda moved but nothing but gurgles came out."
"It was not a suicide, her boyfriend accidentally discharged his firearm while they were in his car."
"She survived."
– New_Hand_Luke
AIDS Epidemic Era
"Retired RN. I was working in the PACU and helped another nurse take her patient to his room. As I was adjusting something by his head, he grabbed my hand and started crying. He kept saying I don’t want to die. He was barely 20. In an isolation room. I looked into his eyes and tried to comfort him as he sobbed. This was in the early days of the 'AIDS epidemic.' He died within a week. To this day I still see his eyes and hear him sobbing."
– Tkay906363
Traffic accidents can be some of the most gruesome scenes no one should ever have to witness.
Accident Victim
"I live next to a busy street, inbetween lanes is a tram station. Teenager wanted to cross and got run over by a tram. Well, partly run over, he ended up with his body squeezed in between the tram and the tram station wall, with his legs stuck under the tram. It took about 1,5 hours until they had the equipment to lift the tram to get him out of there. They managed to reanimate what was left of him but he died in the hospital."
– ir_blues
Dangerous Road
"It was Easter Sunday about 5 in the afternoon. I was driving home from the lake with a friend of mine on a country highway that’s pretty well traveled. It’s one of those single lane coming and single lane going where the speed limit is 70 roads. The intersections are far and few between so instead of an overpass it’s just a blinking yellow caution light. In what literally felt like the blink of an eye the car driving in front of me is struck on the drivers side door."
"The impact pushes both cars off to the road and onto the shoulder. I hit my brakes and was able to stop to help render aid. My friend and I get out of the car and run over to help. The drivers side door is crushed inward, driver has been pushed into the passenger side. It was a younger lady, maybe mid 30s. The impact pushed her out of her seat and into her daughter."
"You ever see movies where a dead body jump scares someone and it just stares at the with wide eyes and mouth agape….. yeah. The girl is ok but very confused. She has no visible injuries and is freely looking around so we unbuckled her and pulled her out of the car so she didn’t realize her mom was laying on her. As we do it I look at the mom and I can see a little life is left in her, so I said the only thing we could say. 'She’s alright.'”
"You could see the light in her eyes fade and she passes away. More cars stop and help out. As more people are here to help I start to realize that someone has been screaming, at me. In the back seat is her son. He must have been knocked unconscious and he’s now yelling, not out in pain but asking 'Is mom okay, is she okay?' I had no words for him, he was maybe 6. His sister was about 9. Thankfully about 4 of the cars that stopped were off duty first responders so they quickly took over for me. This was about 20 years ago, I was 17 at the time and I just saw a mom die in front of her 2 kids. I’m crying now thinking back on it and to this day I still refuse to ever take that road again."
"They finally build an actual stop light a couple years back. The area isn’t more crowded so I can only imagine what the motivation to improve that intersection was."
– Boothulu
Pedestrians
"I was designated driver at my friend's 30th birthday party. Had just dropped off my last friend and I was heading home. Little blue car zipped by me going maybe 10 over. Maybe a block ahead of me I see the speeding car hit two 20 yr olds who were running across the street. They were running to McDonald's across from the nightclub they were partying at and didn't wait for a red light. I'll never forget the girls blond hair in the bright headlights as she got hit. One thing that isn't ever correct in tv shows when people get hit by cars is how much damage it does to a human body. I distinctly remember his legs laying like 2m from his body. Both died right when paramedics got there."
– SuchAGeoNerd
PTSD
"Getting hit by a car really is ugly. My girlfriend accidentally stepped on the street while we were having a minor disagreement and bam she was gone in a moment. I have ptsd, I can still see all the blood, her trying to breathe and the moment she gave up."
– More-Masterpiece-561
You never know when a friend or acquaintance is going through an extremely rough time–even though they present themselves differently in public.
All we could ever be as fellow humans is to always be compassionate.
Prolonged Guilt
"I found my roommates body in our apartment when I was in college. He had suffocated himself with a helium tank and a plastic bag over his head. That fucked me up pretty good, especially because I knew he was struggling with his mental health. He was cutting himself too, he tried to hide it but I noticed. And I didn’t say a word, i didn’t offer a helping hand. I could have done something to help him, but I didn’t. That guilt is still there, 10 years down the line."
– Jon__Snuh
What The Taxi Driver Witnessed
"I was driving Taxi once and I picked up someone who said he thinks he just saw a dead body. Said someone had jumped from the top of the parking garage. There was already an ambulance and what not on the scene. I remember briefly thinking of my friend Willzo, but dismissed it, I didn’t even think he was depressed like that. I found it odd that I would even consider such a thing out of nowhere. But I dismissed the thought and went about my work night. Couple days later I got a call from a mutual friend. 'Hey buddy, did you hear about Will? He jumped off the parking garage a few days ago.'”
– Everywhere-Danger
These Redditors' stories are a lot to take in.
However, they are good reminders about the brevity of life and how we should always strive towards being the best versions of ourselves while we're still alive.
Because you never know when you or someone close to you will have their last breath.
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/
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.