Driving anywhere is a scary situation for me. Unless it's an empty city. Everyone acts like we're in Mad Max: Thunderdome.
50 Seconds
Prayer GIFGiphy"I worked at a credit union and got robbed. He jumped the counter and robbed me first then the other 3 people working. Scariest 50 seconds of my life." ~ green_eyedblonde_
The Doctor is in...
"Three months ago I went to the doctor for bloating and constipation. The symptoms had been coming and going over the previous two months and then finally getting progressively worse in the last couple weeks. One CT scan later, I learned I have advanced ovarian cancer. Terrifying statistics regarding prognosis. Living with gratitude everyday that I have access to excellent care and tons of loving support from family, friends, and neighbors." ~ thismagicalbeauty
Emergency Stomach Pain
"My wife was 30+ weeks pregnant when her stomach began to hurt to the point she really couldn’t talk. It was extremely intense pain. The hospital (one of the best in the world) had a difficult time figuring out what it was so they sent her down to imaging. By the time she came back to the room, they realized my wife and the baby were really starting to struggle."
"They did an emergency C section and realized most of my wife’s intestines were black and dead. It ended up being intestinal malrotation - My wife was apparently born with her intestines not fully anchored and supported so they were more prone to twist."
"We had no idea.Our baby passed away and my wife almost did. That was scary, still is. Especially if she gets a stomach ache it’s difficult not to think of the worst case scenario. Also losing a child is 'scary' so I guess I got two for this question - yay me." ~ SmokyToots37
'knew a guy'
"Was already on the worst date of my life with a barely coherent guy who smelled like he hadn’t showered in a week. I was dropping him off at his bike after a glass of wine at a fancy wine bar where he 'knew a guy' who wasn’t working that night, so guess who has two thumbs and paid for both drinks? 👍👍 this guy."
"Suddenly dude yells 'LOOK OUT!' and I slam the brakes. I missed getting demolished by inches by a speeding SUV blasting through a stop sign and across an arterial road at 70+ mph. I later found out that it crashed into someone’s house shortly thereafter. Anyways I was shaking like a leaf after that, that guy saved both our lives. Wish I could say it was a meet cute but I never saw him again." ~ SasquatchIsMyHomie
Head Gear
Lets Go GIF by MacklemoreGiphy"Getting hit by a car at 45mph and I was on a push bike no helmet or anything, and had a head on collision with it, massive head and brain injury, died once, brought back and here I am. The lesson is, always wear a helmet when on a bike." ~ MrBreaker187
Always have a helmet. Always be prepared. Well, as prepared as possible.
Get Down!
Oh My God Omg GIF by AudibleGiphy"Being in a store when a tornado went directly over the store without touching down. I'll never forget that noise." ~ DeathSpiral321
Rustle
"I was in bed when I heard a rustle. Looked around. Saw nothing. Lay back down. Heard a louder rustle. Looked around. Looked under the bed. Lay back down with my heart in my throat. Something large landed on my face and chest… it was the stupid poster over my bed. To this day I’m proud I didn’t soil myself." ~ hootyowlscissors
On the Intercoastal...
"I was snorkeling on the outside of an intercoastal in South Florida. I had no real experience doing it before. There's a big wall of rocks separating the area we were snorkeling and jet skiing in from ships and boats entering and exiting the intercoastal. We climbed up on the rocks for fun and I had to take off my flippers to do so."
"I jumped into the intercoastal area and without my flippers on, I was instantly sucked out into the middle of the intercoastal as a cruise ship was coming through. The details about how close I was to getting hit and exactly how much danger I was in are a bit blurry. But I absolutely thought to myself I could die right now. My friends dad swooped in on his jet ski and saved me." ~ ClockNo4364
Outside the Restroom...
"Back in university I went to the restroom. When I came out there was this guy I’d never seen before waiting in the hall by the women’s restroom. He started talking to me as if he knew me and kept asking for help on a specific assignment. I kept telling him that I wasn’t in that class while trying to get away."
"Every time I took a step to the side to walk past him he would block me and walk towards me, cornering me back into the bathroom with every step. Even though it was broad daylight, I was terrified and I could tell by his demeanor that something wasn’t right."
"My back was to the bathroom door when he began to pull something out of his backpack. I never saw what it was because at that very moment another guy walked past and asked if everything was alright and the first guy left very quickly." ~pocky-town
Oh Hell No!
"One I was about to have a shower and looked in the mirror then I saw that absolute massive huntsman in the reflection. Like so big I could see each of its eyes from decently far away." ~ a_singular_fish
See, I always knew spiders were minions of the devil. Them and palmetto bugs.
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When I was in college my friends and I were constantly out galavanting, and of course, liquor was involved. One night on the way home from the most fabulous club I thought it was a great idea I drive because... wait for it... "I was the least drunk!" Perfect reasoning right?
Without a Scratch...
thank god singing GIF by WE tvGiphy"I survived a car crash that wrecked my car."
"Rolled twice, landed upside down, learned the hard way that I didn't have airbags (or at least they didn't deploy). Did have my seatbelt on though, that probably saved me. Paramedic said he hadn't seen a wreckage like that and have it end well. Not even a hairline fracture."
200 Stitches
"Not me, but my mom before I was born. She was riding in a convertible with a friend of hers. They came to an intersection and the friend wasn't paying attention and lost control of the vehicle. There was a big rig going through the intersection and they went right under the trailer. My mom ducked, the driver didn't not."
"Driver was decapitated, my mom was lucky and only ended up with a scalp full of glass and some serious psychological trauma. She had to get over 200 stitches in her scalp But nothing else significant. I think about it all the time and think how close I came to never being born at all."
- Laszerus
"dude let's climb it!"
"I had an idiot friend and we were hiking. We got to this waterfall and he goes "dude let's climb it!" I said no freaking way. He says "well I'm gonna do it and if I fall and die it's on you for not coming." So I climbed it with him. Got stuck halfway up on a slick a** rock. Pinched a nerve in my shoulder, so my right arm was useless. I thought I was certain to slip off the rock to my doom, but we managed to get me unstuck. That was the beginning of the end for that friendship."
Point Break
"I went out for a surf on a stormy day and thought to myself, "no one else is out, those idiots." Before being held down by 2 waves after eating it on the first wave of the set. First wave of the session. Was thrown down and held under and while being tossed around my leg rope wrapped around both my legs and one of my arms so I was probably being held at around 5ft under with only one arm free while my board tombstoned (board tip is barely visible at the surface but floats vertical like...a tombstone)."
"Finally managed to catch a breath between sets before taking another 3 or 4 on the head and for sure just thought... well this is it. No ones out, fishermen will find my body or my board. Managed to get my other arm free and got to shore very quickly and then avoided the ocean for a few days even though the waves were absolutely perfect. There's a reason no one was out, everyone else was 10 minutes down the road at another beach where the waves were smaller and cleaner."
Both Sides Now
Giphy"Tire popped going over a two lane road with steep drops on both sides."
"My car jerked to the side hard, and my car went sideways. Half my car hung over the side and luckily it's low so it bottomed out. I climbed into the back seat and jumped out the back door. Some dude in a truck pulled me out and I drove on a flat to the other side and swapped my tire out."
That all sounds about right...
And so when my besties and I were driving along the road we got lost in conversation, about boys. Like you do when you're blitzed and should be paying attention to the road, like many others...
Jump!
jim carrey falling GIFGiphy"Parachute deployed but failed to open. That was one of those moments, then training kicked in. Cut away failed chute, deploy secondary. But for a brief moment life was about to be over in my mind."
Games
"When I was a kid I was playing hide and seek with my siblings and I got the brilliant idea to hide in the trunk of the car. I meant to leave the trunk barely open so that it didn't latch but accidentally closed it too far and it latched. Mind you this was before they put handles in cars to open trunks from the inside so I was legitimately stuck."
"It was almost completely dark so I started seriously freaking out and I thought I was going to die, so I started yelling for help as loud as I could and was kicking at the back seat thinking maybe I could break the latch that keeps the seat from folding."
"I was probably only in there for about 5 minutes before someone heard me and let me out but it felt like an eternity. To this day I firmly believe it was because of this incident that I developed some minor claustrophobia. I still have serious fears about being in small, cramped and dark areas."
A Terrible Choice
"I was driving down a highway, doing 65 MPH, and suddenly my car started to shake. I tapped the brakes in reflex and my entire car flipped 180 degrees. I'm now facing oncoming traffic, including a semi truck. I was so close I couldn't see the driver compartment."
"I screamed and jerked the wheel, bringing me in front of a sedan with two people screaming as they watched me appear out of nowhere. I kept screaming and floored the gas pedal. Made it to the side of the road and cried for a long time. I had blown a rear tire. Hitting the brakes was a terrible terrible choice."
At least 90...
"I was driving home from college on one of those highways with only one lane in either direction and no shoulder. A guy in the oncoming lane didn't see me as I was in a small car. He thought he could pass 4 18 wheelers in one go and pulled into my lane going at least 90. There was no where for me to go. He flew off into the ditch to avoid hitting me head on, likely did severe damage to his car, but I lived!"
On the Gauley
Rafting Raft GIF by Kern River OutfittersGiphy"Went white water rafting on the Gauley river and my raft flipped on pillow rock (one of the most famous class v rapids). Scariest moment of my life but, other than unexpectedly swallowing some water and almost vomiting, I came out completely unharmed."
See... everybody needs to pay attention more. That's the lesson.
Just like my friends and I. When we were not paying attention, and in all of our drunken glory, we hit the medium and flew across lanes. We plowed into a fence and did two... TWO 360 turns. We thought we were dead! We literally flew! But we all lived. And what I remember most is my friend Kate screaming... "TELL MY MOTHER I LOVED HER!!"
Be better people!
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I can't recall a specific time, because I've lost track of the amount of times, that my gut has informed me that danger was ahead. The funny thing is that danger seems so simple. Maybe that's why we're not always satisfied to trust the siren. But these people can explain why we should.
to the hospital...
sick emergency room GIF by Brimstone (The Grindhouse Radio, Hound Comics)GiphyHad a weird feeling something was seriously wrong with me when I stood up and almost passed out at a big football game.
We left the stadium and went to the ER. Turns out my appendix was ruptured and I needed surgery ASAP. I had been having stomach pain prior to this but brushed it off as digestion problems. Good thing I went!
The Agreement
Few years ago went on a trip to Cuba and Mexico. Last minute decided to stay longer in Havana despite mess that Hurricane Irma has left behind (few days without electricity was actually oddly amazing). We were supposed to be flying to Mexico City. Our Mexico City Airbnb building collapsed during an earthquake. There was no logical reason behind our decision about staying. I just proposed it and my partner agreed. Crazy.
Jeepney
I was travelling in the Philippines in Northern Luzon (that's the part always hit hard by typhoons). It was just the beginning of rainy season.
I was in Banaue and was planning to go up north to Sagada the next day, Saturday. The lonely planet writes about this route as "The scariest road in the world", it's solid mountain on one side, and deep deep deep on the other.
There was a Jeepney scheduled in the morning and one in the afternoon.
Everyone who knows me knows, that I'm not a morning person and if there is a later option, I'm definitely taking this one. On a whim the night before I decided to leave earlier and take the 8am Jeep. Super out of character for me and I'm still not sure why I did it.
A few days later, on another bus, I chatted with this nice lady and she asked me what places in the Philippines I've been to so far. And she says OMG have you heard about the Jeepney accident on Saturday afternoon on the road from Banaue to Sagada??
So apparently the Jeepney I planned to take came upon a mountain slide lost control and went down the side of the mountain. 10 people died, no one survived.
Glass...
choking i love lucy GIF by HULUGiphyI was drinking and felt something stick in the back of my throat.
I almost forced it down because it was really far back and awkward to cough up, but I decided to spit it out anyways.
It was a shard of glass from the bottle I was drinking out of. It still creeps me out to think about even years later because I REALLY was just going to swallow it.
In Canada...
While fishing on a large lake in Canada, we were a little more than halfway across when the wind really started picking up and a storm started rolling in. I had the choice to turn back, or head to an island with a bay.
I decided to head for the bay and just as we reached the calmer water we looked behind us and the storm had gotten worse.
We were in an aluminium boat, and if we had chosen to head back, 3 of us would have drowned, no doubt in my mind. We were already taking on water and were completely drenched when we beached on the island.
Once the storm abated, we made the journey back and it still took 4 hours in high wind for a normally half hour boat trip. Warming up in the truck was the best feeling in the world after that.
Yeah, that is either a ton of miracles, coincidences or truth. Luck does seem to play a hand in survival, but luck is also intuitive. And why is it the stomach seems to know before the brain.
Don't Jump!!
When I was 18 I left for some missions group thing for my gap year, this took place on an island in central America. Earlier that night, everyone had been swimming off the dock, but I didn't want to because of all the jellyfish. As this a group of guys fresh out of high school, this decision earned me the title of "huge sissy".
Later that night, I go back down to the docks, just thinking about stuff. Because I want to be alone, obviously I creeped out of the house without telling anyone. I see the water and think "While no one is around to judge me, I should get over my fear, quit being a sissy, and jump in the water." But for some reason I hesitate, and shine my flashlight on the spot I want to jump to.
There's this weird, clear, worm looking thing I've never seen before. It's not exactly swimming, it's like twitching erratically and gently moving with the water. I'm wondering what the hell it is, when I look around more and see a box jelly with a missing tentacle, and the tentacles look exactly like the "worm."
The box jellies there weren't like the kinds in Australia where you get hit and you're dead, but these were apparently bad enough to send you into shock with the pain, and if I had been in water, with no one else around to find me, there's a very good chance I would've drowned if I just jumped in without checking.
Going 85...
Was driving at the speed limit of 70mph on a highway that I drove daily to go home from work. This particular day, there was an event downtown that had the traffic completely stopped for miles. There was an S bend in the road though, so you couldn't tell until you were nearly on top of it.
I tried to brake, but nothing happened. My brain broke and I kept slamming on the brake pedal, but nothing was happening, and I was in the left lane of a four lane highway with very little time to spare before I nearly hit the wall of cars in front of me. Left shoulder of the road was barely wide enough for a bike, and cars were coming up the on-ramp on the right side.
I noticed a small gap in between the cars on the on-ramp, but it was in front of me, so I actually sped up to sneak through that gap and onto the grass beside the highway. At one point, I was over 85mph knowing I had no brakes in order to get through that gap. I barely made it, and eventually slowed to a stop on the grass. I called my friends to come help, and when they showed up 45 minutes later, I was still clutching the steering wheel with white knuckles and staring straight ahead. It's a miracle that I walked away without a scratch.
Just Run
I was walking with a friend back to his house and I had that "something don't feel right". I noticed some dudes walking around in Hoodies all with their hands in their pockets. Now I'm ain't an idiot I know what's gonna happen. It took some time trying to subtly convince my friend to walk a different path but we eventually did and got to his house. Literally next morning on the news a massive gang shoot-out happened on the same street we were passing leaving 4 people dead.
Skip Dinner
Say Word Lol GIF by Desus & MeroGiphyMid-1990s. Traveled to northern New Jersey with a friend from college. It was his hometown. We had plans to visit New York city and see a former roommate who graduated the year before (friend 2).
Well, apparently Friend 2 dabbled in low-level organized crime since his last years in college. We had some knowledge of this but were not involved. He invited us to a an associate's house with plans to go out afterward. We declined. Not our scene. In fact, both of us had applied to law school. I planned to pursue a career in federal law enforcement thereafter. We both wanted distance from that nonsense.
We tried the following day to reach our friend 2 for a low-key lunch before heading out of town. No answer. Well, local police found his body two days later, along with 2 other bodies, at the house to which he invited us. He was murdered at the meeting/social situation. Could have been us too.
I knew that was bad news.
What have we learned? We're more in tune than we believe. How could we not be? We're all connected. And we're connected to the unknown. The body is on alert. Follow the signals.
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Miracle
Wake Up Coffee GIF by good-morningGiphyI knocked a cup of coffee off my counter and caught it and no coffee spilled out of it.
5 in 1
One time when I was a teenager I was playing pool with friends. The pizza arrived or whatever and I took one last shot just as everyone was leaving and sank like five balls. It was the single best move I have ever made in any game I have ever played, but no one saw it and there was no way to take credit for it without sounding like a liar.
Let me just go...
Was doing a service call at an equestrian farm. I went to the bathroom in the barn to take a leak, the door was slightly ajar and the light was off. I pushed open the door and hit the light only to see a goat dressed in a fleece vest eating toilet paper off the roll. He gave me this look like to say "wtf are you looking at?" I turned off the light and left.
It's Heath
heath ledger art GIF by Tech NoirGiphyHeath Ledger was sitting in my seat on an airplane when I was about 13 on a family holiday. I knew him only from 10 Things I Hate About You at the time and it was my FAVOURITE FILM EVER. He was in the right seat but on the wrong plane and jumped up and ran across the tarmac - a simpler time in a small airport in Spain. No one ever believes me!
Tricky
I miss playing pool in bars. One time me and two friends met a couple of haggard lookin' biker dudes and asked if they wanted to play a game. One guy took a trick shot and imagine the white ball, 8 ball, and whatever ball he was sinking in a straight line in that order.
Dude managed to make the white ball jump and skip the 8 ball and perfectly sink the colored one. Looking back at it it's probably a really common trick shot, but to us young twenty somethings it was pretty awesome.
Sorry Colin!
Definitely a lot better than my people wouldn't believe celeb story.
Was in a bookstore once and my friend being a huge Doctor Who fan was looking at some Doctor Who books in the Sci fi section while I looked at Star Wars books.
I came around the bookcase to see what he was looking at and I started saying how boring Doctor Who is. I then started roasting particular actors who had played the Doctor.
Especially Colin Baker. I was ripping into this guy and how crap of an actor he is and over acted everything and was just the worst Doctor ever.
My friend and I both looked up and standing where I had been standing 5 minutes before with this huge grin on his face was Colin freaking Baker.
Light It Up
One of those things in life that the odds are so high of ever happening... Once I was partying with friends we were on a bender day 2... all the lights off in a dark basement... 1 friend asked us for a lighter... we couldn't see him just the dark... my cousin without trying threw it and it landed perfectly in said friends hand! It was unbelievable! Never would happen again in a lifetime.
birds arms GIFSmall World
My ex (American, met him in the US) and my other ex (Dutch, met him three years later in Argentina) work at the same office in Amsterdam. They are colleagues. I found out cause I saw a fb post in which they were at the same office (2 years after me and Dutchie broke up). And I still live in Argentina!
Also, some years ago, I was in a relationship with a guy. We lived together in a tiny apartment. The relationship ended in a terrible way. Four years later, I started dating another guy. He takes me to his house. It was the apartment I used to share with my ex.
And let me tell you, Buenos Aires is a HUGE city.
Ninja Ink
ninja GIF by haydiroket (Mert Keskin)GiphyI once threw the inside of a pen at least 9ft clear across a room and skewered a fly that was annoying me. Legit I felt like a ninja and have no way to prove it to anyone. Not gonna lie It's probably my peak and it's all been down hill ever since.
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