I've lost count of the number of times I've been left SHOOKETH to the core of my being. Of course being scared seems to be structured into my DNA. I can be thrown off by a mild noise at night. And I faint at the sight of blood, mine or yours.
RIP
Acds2 Look Away GIF by Anime Crimes DivisionGiphy"My brother losing consciousness and falling down the stairs. He lay on the floor with his eyes open and blood coming out of his ear. He was fine after one day at the hospital, but I sure as hell thought I just witnessed the death of my brother."
The Long Driveway
"My dad and grandma waiting for me at the top of our driveway when I got off the bus coming home from kindergarten. My mother had breast cancer and the moment I saw them waiting there together, I knew she was dead. We had a long driveway to begin with but that day it felt like it took an eternity to climb. I knew what they were going to say but I still dreaded hearing it. I've never felt that kind of terror since."
The Blackout
"This happened just this past weekend."
"Came home to find my brother blacked out and when he came to he could barely stand, walk, was in an altered mental state talking like he was drunk. He hadn't eaten or drank anything but water in 3 days and had been sleeping pretty much around the clock. Turns out he's diabetic now and was experiencing Diabetic Ketoacidosis."
"Spent the weekend in the ICU. He blacked out because he was so dehydrated that his heart couldn't properly pump blood and his blood pressure was bottoming out while his heart rate was skyrocketing. His blood glucose was sky high. He's doing better now thankfully. But I thought I was watching my big brother, my best friend, die right in front of me at the time."
- kat4190
In Class
Scared Breaking Bad GIF by davidsaracinoGiphy"A 4th grade student of mine had a seizure, it was just awful and terrifying."
Oh yeah, those people should be thankful I was not around. That is a whole messy lot trauma. Having to be a witness to or a survivor of frightful experiences can leave you changed for life. Let's try to go on...
Pleading
Not Safe For Work No GIFGiphy"Another convict begging the co's not to let him die as he nearly bled out after having his throat cut from ear to ear. It was the begging that I can't forget. I had seen someone killed before and it didn't effect me nearly as much."
Up in Smoke
"The Black Saturday bushfires."
"We were in a small town where my grandmother lived helping her pack up to get to safety. The fire was moving so fast we had maybe 1 minute to move if they sounded the warning to leave. Watching the horizon change colour from black to a dark orange to a full wall of flames in a matter of minutes is freaking intense."
"The trees exploded from the intensity of the heat making these dull popping sounds amongst what sounded like rain from ash and embers falling everywhere. It's worth noting that the town is nestled amongst a bunch of hills in dense bushland with treacherous terrain and we were almost completely surrounded. Every hill glowed for hours."
Last Breathes...
"Finding this young dude after he'd been stabbed like 7 times and trying to comfort him. I knew the guy was going to die and I think he did too. About a year of sleepless nights and a moderate case of PTSD later I've come to terms with what happened."
Best Excuses For Late Assignments That Were Actually True | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Oh Mom
"Seeing my sweet kind terrified mother crying out for death as she dealt with a huge tumor in her esophagus that prevented her from swallowing, after having had brain surgery to remove another tumor, to help with quality of life. I hate cancer."
Pulse Check
"I watched a girl get hit by a car and stopped to help. The panic I had when the guy who got there first said there was no pulse. Lucky in that case he just didn't know how to take a pulse. But 18 months later and I still wonder how she's doing. It's like the old Chinese/Buddhist proverb "if you save a life, you're responsible for it" only I can see how you'd still feel it even if you couldn't do anything."
Terror Cycle
"I survived a plane crash. It was far and away the scariest thing I've ever witnessed. Second behind that was watching a van full of people wrap around a bridge underpass pillar (the driver fell asleep behind the wheel). 6 of the 7 people died - the 7th person was laying in the back seat sleeping and avoided being crushed."
"Strangely enough, about 5 years after that accident, I was in Basic for the Army and met a girl that lived a few hours north of me. She KNEW the people who were killed and their funerals were in her high school gym. It's a small world, folks."
loop time GIFLife Saver
"Finding my husband in a full cardiac arrest. Thankfully I found him very quickly and was able to commence CPR and save his life. There is a slim chance of survival for cardiac arrest so I'm grateful it happened a couple of minutes after I got home. Most terrifying moment of my life."
In the Air
"I was a receptionist at a trucking company. I was sitting the front desk and all of a sudden there was the loudest sound ever and as I looked out the window I saw a small building fly up in the air. Found out later that a welder and his helper had tried to weld something and there was an explosion. They both died. That was pretty sad."
Remaining Scars
"I've seen my brother and another guy get blown up in a natural gas fire. Soaked/emerged in natural gas liquids and ignited Prob 70% skin/ hands looked like shredded white latex gloves with blood dripping from the tears. Lots of hospital time. Remaining scars are relatively Insignificant."
Up in Smoke
Sad GIF by PokémonGiphy"Watching 3000 houses go up in flames about a mile east of me. I had the cats in carriers in the car, ready to go west."
Hearts
"Someone already covered 9/11, so I'll add one that's more existential fear: seeing my dad in recovery after heart surgery. It was only then I really realized how mortal and vulnerable he was, and that he wasn't going to be around forever."
- Athrynne
"I remember walking into the hospital room after my dad had his quadruple bypass surgery. Seeing him unconscious with a ventilator down his throat made me feel so helpless."
PB+J
"When my son was 18 months old I fed him PB+J for the first time for lunch and my wife said he'd already had some at daycare. I laid him down for a nap a short time later like usual after lunch. About 45 minutes later he woke up crying and I could tell he was in pain. I rushed to the room to find him completely swollen. I instantly knew he was allergic to peanuts. I did a 10 minute drive to the hospital in less than 5 minutes."
"The whole time I was thinking his throat would close and I would have to watch my baby boy die in the back seat. I got him there and everything ended up being fine as they treated him instantly. Thankfully his reaction to peanuts, so far, has only ever been a surface reaction and no throat closing. He's 11 now and to this day I've never experienced anything more scary."
Door Issues
"Bus doors closing on me with my mother on the other side as a child and seeing her chase the bus down to get me out. It's not that my mother wasn't watching me, I just found a coin on the ground and of course me being a kid I picked it up and the moron bus driver was too impatient to wait for me to leave, it was literally a 6 second window between my mother getting off and the doors shutting. Thank goodness she made enough noise outside for him to stop and let me out".
Through the Crosswalk...
"I saw a guy on a bike get hit by a car. Guy blew through a crosswalk on his bike when he wasn't supposed to, car came to a stop and bumped him. Car was going maybe 2 miles an hour, but the dude still got flown a good 6 feet. You don't really think about how big and heavy cars are until you see something like that. Anyway, dude got up, shaky as all hell, waved at the car, then pedaled off. Nuts to see."
I would never be able to leave home after seeing things like that, heck just reading it is giving me anxiety. This is why therapy and Xanax are a must have for survival. Good luck out there. The clock is ticking for us all.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.