Thank you to CaptRawesome for sharing this very important story on Imgur.
It was 0700 on New Year's Day. I had just started my shift, finished loading up all of my gear, and grabbed my heavy cold weather gear from my locker.
It was cold (as it often is in this part of the country 'round January). I remember thinking it might be a slow day- with the weather and it being a holiday.
Unfortunately the dreadful dame, about which our tale is wrapped, had other ideas.
The call came out as an obstruction in the roadway that had caused a crash. A small pickup had struck something in the roadway and the driver had called 911. While en route, dispatch advised that the driver of the truck had called back and said that whatever was in the road might have caused multiple crashes - because they thought they could see another vehicle ahead of them on the interstate.
When I arrived, I found the caller sitting in her truck on the shoulder of a four lane interstate. Both of her driver's side tires were flat, and she had some decent body damage to the front of the truck as well.
The sun was just beginning to lap at the horizon - a tiny sliver of light. I couldn't see much in either direction of the interstate, outside the little illumination island that my car's emergency lights cast. I couldn't see what the caller had hit, but it was big enough to do some substantial damage to her little truck.
Up ahead I was able to make out the outline of another car. They'd probably also hit whatever it was in the road.
I make my way up to the second vehicle, and find it parked: no lights on, not running - just parked.
My keenly trained observation skills, carefully honed and perfected over several years of practice worked immediately to pick up on the fact that this car ain't quite right. Something is amiss. This, was Sherlock level deduction.
Three wheels make for a bad date, but it makes for a worse car. The front driver's side wheel and tire were totally gone. Not in the metaphorical "the wheel's totally trashed, and will need replacing."- kind of way.
Will this police officer figure it out? Continue to the next page to read what happened next.
No. It was gone in the literal "Did your car have four wheels when you left home this morning? Well what the hell happened since then??" -kind of way.
(What I will later discover, once the sun has risen, is that the wheel and tire had been gone a while. How long is "a while"? About 3/4 of a mile.)
I look in through the tinted driver's window of the car and I can make out a woman in her late twenties sitting there. Calmly. Hands in her lap, staring out the front windshield. The car isn't running, the radio isn't playing. She might as well have been Forrest Gump, sittin' on the bench waitin' for the bus.
Odd behavior for someone driving a 3-wheeled car, or so I thought.
I knock on the window several times and she finally turns, and looks surprised to see me. She stares - dumbfounded that anyone would be knocking on her car window at 0715 on New Year's Day. She stares. I stare back. She stares. I stare back.
After a while, I make the International sign for "Roll down the window, moron." After a hard-fought battle with the window-crank, Terry snatches victory from the jaws of defeat (the issue was seriously in doubt). She manages to roll her window down part of the way and my nose is immediately flooded with the stale smell of booze rolling out of the car. It didn't so much smell like she'd been drinking - but more like she swam in it.
Ms. Terry Wolfmeyer is schnackered.
"I'm parked in the lines." she slurs out.
"Yes, that's true. But why are you parked ON the Interstate?" I inquired. For she was indeed parked inside the lines, the lines that marked lane dividers.
"I has a flat tire...I'm just waiting on a ride..."
A flat tire? While I was busy trying to absorb the understatement of the day, I heard a soft sob.
I looked passed Terry to see a little girl of about four years old, seated on the front passenger seat. No seat belt, no car seat, no coat - shivering and crying. "Sweetheart, are you cold?" I asked the little one, and she nodded.
Continue to the next page to see what happened with Anna and this incredible police officer.
Not subtle, but probably effective.
My sergeant had arrived on scene after clearing the missing wheel from traffic, so it wouldn't cause anymore accidents. I waved him up and motioned toward the passenger seat. He looked through the window, and in an instant, his expression changed from curious bewilderment at the scene to Defcon 2 level of pissed off.
"Get out of the car." I told Terry. Another botched battle with the tricky car interior ensued. After a valiant show she managed to find the door release and try to get out. As she attempted to exit she was reminded of why step 1 is step 1, as her seat belt tossed her unceremoniously back into her seat. After decoding the riddle of the seat belt, Terry poured herself out of the driver's seat.
I rarely get angry at work. I've probably been angrier than I was that morning, but I sure can't remember when.
Terry stumbled, fumbled, and bungled her drunk ass through the field sobriety tests. They were more or less a formality after Terry sloppily announced: "I'm gonna tell you I'm drunk." I heard her the first time, and told her as such, but that didn't deter her from informing me three more times during anyway.
During the Walk and Turn test (walking the line), the instructions are to walk 9 steps down the line and 9 steps back. When she started, Terry was counting her steps out loud: "one...two...three..." just like she was supposed to. But she'd forgotten one important bit: I'll be damned if she didn't forget to move her feet. She was standing in place, but counting out loud. Sobriety test: Level Zen.
When she did finally move her feet to take a step she stumbled and nearly ate it right in the middle of the interstate.
Continue to the next page for the rest of this story.
This blitzed broad had piled her car into something hard, because along with the missing front wheel, the front end was fairly well destroyed. Not content to let one mistake derail this sequence of stupidity, she got her car back on the road and continued motoring right up until the wheel falls right off.
Terry doesn't know the meaning of defeat, (or Felony, or Child Abuse, or Rehab, for that matter) so she decided she was just gonna turn up the stereo to drown out that new noise and power through. She chugs right along leaving a nice silver gouge in the asphalt for about 3/4 mile. It worked, right up until the exposed rotor finally digs into the pavement and grinds this troubled train to a halt.
I walked over to where the little girl was staying warm in Sarj's car.
Poor little Anna was upset and crying because she had no idea where her mommy went. I made sure not to handcuff Terry in front of her little girl, which was a courtesy for Anna, not Terry.
I spoke with Anna for a few minutes, making sure she was starting to feel warmer (she was).
"Did something bad happen to your mommy's car today?" I asked her quietly.
"Yeah." she whispered
"Can you tell me about it?"
"Mommy's car hit a tree." Anna said slowly "it was scary."
Anna wasn't able to tell me much more, she was four - it's not like she could rattle off street names. She just remembered it was loud and she didn't like it.
Continue reading this incredible and heartbreaking story on the next page.
Unfortunately Anna was still about nine years from grasping just how horrible this whole situation was - and how mommy is the problem, not the solution. Right now, she just wanted her mommy. I went to the trunk of my car and grabbed something that I hoped might help.
I came back to Sarj's car and knelt down beside Anna.
"I've got a friend that wants to meet you. Would that be ok?"
She nodded.
I presented a soft stuffed penguin that I had been holding behind my back.
"This is Poppy. Poppy this is Anna. Poppy is very pleased to meet you, Anna. Would you like to hold him?"
She nodded.
I handed her Poppy and she gingerly held him and looked at me to gauge my reaction. I smiled.
"It's Ok, Sweetheart - he likes you. He likes hugs too. Do you like hugs?"
She nodded and hugged Poppy to her chest.
"Poppy has been riding with me in my Police Car for a while, and he's a great Penguin, I like him a lot. But he told me that sometimes it gets too cold in my car, and he would really like a nice warm home to go to. Would you like to take Poppy home?"
That little girl's eyes lit up and this gorgeous smile appeared on her face. Suddenly I wasn't cold anymore. I was simultaneously happy, and further enraged at Terry for terrifying this sweet little girl.
Anna nodded enthusiastically and said, "Yeah."
Anna and I talked for a few more minutes about what Poppy should eat, and where he would sleep (In her bed - of course; she informed me) and what kinds of things they would do together. It was adorable. If I wasn't legally prohibited from "SQUEE-ing" in uniform - I might have let out the manliest damn SQUEE the world has ever heard.
Meanwhile, Sarj was working on getting a hold of Terry's father.
Sarj gets an answer on the other end of the line from Terry's dad, we had clearly woken him up.
"Sir this is Sgt [name redacted]. Are you Terry's father?"
"Yes." Anna's grandpa doesn't seem fazed at all to be talking to the Police at 0700 hours on a Holiday morning.
"It's about your daughter."
"And...?" he asks.
"Well she's in some trouble..." Sarj tells him
"She's arrested, right?"Grandpa asks.
"Yes sir." Sarj replies.
"And...?" Grandpa asks.
Continue to the last page to see how this story ends.
"And she'll be going to [name of jail]."
"AND...?" Grandpa asks again, a little less patiently than before. Terry's dad still does not seem surprised that he's been awakened for what is clearly not breaking news about his daughter's [most recent] arrest. "I ain't bonding her dumb ass out." He announces.
"Well sir, she has Anna with her. Anna was in the car when Terry wrecked."
This got Grandpa's attention. This was a new development. Grandpa said he'd be right there, and true to his word - he came to pick up Anna in less than 10 minutes.
I don't think Anna and Grandpa got to see each other much under drunken Queen Terry's rule, because the hello hugs and the excitement between the two of them was electric, and it warmed my cold, angry heart.
I was truly very happy that we were able to locate a relative to come and pick her up, and one that seemed to genuinely care for her well being so much. I watched them hug and giggle for a few minutes before turning my attention back to Terry.
Terry would later blow a .159 BrAC Breath Alcohol Content*.
That's essentially DOUBLE the legal limit of alcohol in her body. It's not the highest BrAC I've ever seen, but it's definitely the highest I've ever seen in a driver transporting someone who wasn't old enough to make the conscious decision on whether or not to ride with a hammered drunk driver.
*Breath Alcohol Content is similar to Blood Alcohol Content, in that it measures the amount of alcohol in the blood, but through expelled breath rather than drawn blood. Due to the blood: breath ratio, the BAC is actually about 10-15% higher that the BrAC taken at the same time. So Terry's Blood Alcohol Content would have been closer to .180 mg/dL.
We never did find out what Terry hit in the beginning. There weren't any trees along that interstate for several miles back the way she'd come. She's so lucky she didn't hurt or kill Anna, since Anna wasn't buckled into a car seat in back.
I don't know what ended up happening as far as who Anna stayed with permanently. I know that Grandpa watched over her for a while because Terry stayed in jail for a bit. When she got out, Child Protective Services got involved in the mix as well. If nothing else - at least a few more people are looking out for Anna now, which ups her odds against mom, even if it is just a little bit.
Thanks for reading everyone.
Take care of yourselves and each other. And I don't mean to get all preachy, but please don't drink and drive. Even if you're not transporting an Anna, you're driving around other cars that are.
Share this story to spread this message. Sharing = caring.
Share this story to spread this message. Sharing = caring.
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.