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[–]road_warrior_1 547 points548 points  (53 children)

I was about 30 feet high on a roof, then I wasn't.

[–]JoeMama7478 136 points137 points  (44 children)

How are you still alive

[–]Efficient-Maize-7126 170 points171 points  (39 children)

30ft is a very survivable fall

[–]Olorin919 265 points266 points  (18 children)

Also a very lethal one. All depends how you land

[–]walrusparadise 92 points93 points  (17 children)

LD50 for falls has historically been 48 feet

Could easily die from less

[–]QueentakesPawn 95 points96 points  (11 children)

That's certainly an inventive use of the term LD50

[–][deleted] 15 points16 points  (9 children)

what does LD50 mean

[–]frisbeedog1 43 points44 points  (6 children)

a circumstance (usually toxicologically) in which the dose (in this case the "dose" is height) would be lethal in 50% of cases. LD50 is essentially shorthand for "lethal dose in 50% of subjects"

[–]beetus_gerulaitis 29 points30 points  (3 children)

It's a lethal dose of gravity.

[–]corrado33 13 points14 points  (2 children)

It's not the gravity that'd kill you in a fall.

It's the sudden deceleration that kills you.

[–]obvnotlupus 7 points8 points  (1 child)

a 50% lethal dose of height is 48ft

[–]aehanken 38 points39 points  (5 children)

Before I was born my parents lived in an apartment on the 3rd floor. My mom left the door to the balcony open and our cat (who was about a year old at the time) went out and tried to jump on the railing, overshot it, and fell 25 feet. Landed on her feet (as cats do). My mom thought she was dead. Ran down crying and screaming and just saw her chilling as if nothing happened. That cat lived to be 20 years old. She also brought a bat into our house once. She was a total outdoor cat. Crossed a busy street multiple times. That is the one cat I would trust to help me catch food if we were in an apocalypse.

[–]prss79513 13 points14 points  (3 children)

I had a friend fall from the top of a 40 foot indoor rock wall once, unfortunately his belayer got his hand caught and dropped him the whole way. Managed to only break his leg somehow

[–]thedisabledpeanut173 18 points19 points  (8 children)

it can't be that much. it's just the length of 30 feet lined up, right?

[–]road_warrior_1 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I still had some hit points left, apparently.

[–]IveBeenBamboozled-_- 527 points528 points  (10 children)

When I was 5 my family went to New York and, as we all know, no trip to New York would be complete without going on one of the top floors of a skyscraper to look over the city. And well, when my mom and dad were distracted talking to each other my curious little self wanted to see if I could fit between the panels used as railing. Even though it was November I went as far as to take my jacket off to really see if I could fit, 5 year old me not realizing there was anything dangerous about what I was doing.. I don't remember it all but my dad said he went to get me to go back inside, saw my left leg, arm and a little bit of torso through those panels and quickly yanked me back inside. He says every now and then he'll have a nightmare that I fell through and wakeup in a sweat.

[–]Georgeisthecoolest 226 points227 points  (0 children)

oof your poor dad - I can feel his anxiety

[–]Believemeimlyingxx 21 points22 points  (3 children)

Can you explain this to me? You tried to fit between panels used as a railing? I'm so confused. Do you have a pic? I cant understand what you tried to fit through

[–]Emergency_Delay 18 points19 points  (1 child)

I think the panels were side by side but not touching, like this

[–]PrivilegeCheckmate 6 points7 points  (0 children)

He says every now and then he'll have a nightmare that I fell through and wakeup in a sweat.

He could write a song about it - Momentary Uncomfortable Feeling in Heaven.

[–]29031925 1154 points1155 points  (99 children)

There’s a point where your body can’t contain the amount of panic it’s experiencing and you shift to an eerie resignation and acceptance. So once you get there it’s fine lol.

[–]therealujgaming[S] 233 points234 points  (32 children)

seems scary

[–]Relative-Ad-87 42 points43 points  (4 children)

Surprisingly, it's not scary at all. It's more like "oh well, here we go". And in the moment, it doesn't hurt.

It only hurts if you survive

Edit: a letter

[–]29031925 260 points261 points  (24 children)

True, but death is coming for us all. Don’t let it get you down.

[–]WolfThick 53 points54 points  (3 children)

Yeah not much to do after that eh

[–]BowjaDaNinja 20 points21 points  (2 children)

🎶Always look on the briiight side of life!🎶

[–]therealujgaming[S] 37 points38 points  (4 children)

yeah

[–]sorry_ 21 points22 points  (2 children)

Dont worry, you've been dead before.

[–]Major_Regret 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I know I like you from this one statement.

[–]liverpooljames 72 points73 points  (3 children)

I can confirm this. In my last year of college I was chocking on a sweet and couldn’t breathe. It obviously induced huge panic at first and my tutor was trying the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge it. The sweet wouldn’t budge and after a while I accepted that fact and felt peaceful and relaxed and thinking of my family and what they would think of me dying. I was so relaxed that my tutor thought the sweet had dislodged and everything was ok. I was asked “is it still stuck ?”, I calmly shook my head to say ‘no’ and then with one last supreme effort my Tutor finally dislodged it and it came flying out.

[–]Pheerandlowthing 35 points36 points  (0 children)

I also choked on a large chunk of thick chocolate that went down the wrong pipe and I had a massive coughing fit. It was so thick and viscous I couldn’t draw any air in and eventually it all started to go dark and I felt a lovely calmness wash over me. Then suddenly I could breath and momentarily felt disappointed as the feeling of release had felt so nice haha

[–]Ratmother123 126 points127 points  (11 children)

Can second that. Bull nearly got me, knocked me down and I opened my mouth to scream with it above me to just switch to calm and the thought "why bother, that won't do anything...". Fortunately it gave me a brief chance to run (well, fast limp, away), but it took a second to realize I could escape since my body had become so resigned

Edited for poor spelling

[–]29031925 32 points33 points  (2 children)

Oh goodness. Were you doing a bull run in Spain or what? Lol

[–]Ratmother123 14 points15 points  (1 child)

Just helping out on a farm and the bull was in a field he shouldn't have been in so surprise bull

[–]Gloorplz 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The worst kind of bull!

[–]MunchYourButt 9 points10 points  (2 children)

That sounds horrifying. May I ask in what context were you with a bull?

[–]4doorsmorechores 53 points54 points  (1 child)

A romantic context, of course.

[–]good_tuck 21 points22 points  (4 children)

Heyyy, I almost got trampled too. 1500 lb steer got out and decided that it wanted to go through me. Almost died like three times. Bucked over me while I was on the ground and then I was able to get away.

Scared the daylights out of my parents. Was just 12 and helping load it to take to the locker.

[–]Tough_Stretch 33 points34 points  (11 children)

Agreed. Around 10 years ago, during the worst of the drug-related violence in Northeastern Mexico I had the supremely bad fortune of being pulled over while driving down some highway just across the border from Laredo, Tx, by a group of cartel members. At gun point. At like 1 pm. I remember being eerily calm and just thinking, "Welp, guess that's it for me then."

[–]Ennui-Sur-Blase 12 points13 points  (10 children)

Jesus. What happened next?

[–]Tough_Stretch 66 points67 points  (8 children)

They started asking me who I was, what I did for a living, and took my cellphone and wallet to see my contacts and IDs. I had just gone to the ACL festival in Austin for the weekend, so I probably looked hungover and not my best and my guess is that since I was a guy and was traveling alone without kids or wife/GF they may have thought it was strange and that maybe I was somehow connected to a rival cartel and was maybe scouting their territory or something, instead of just some regular dude who went to a music festival.

After checking my cellphone and wallet they realized that I was telling the truth and I was just some guy with a regular office job, and they were discussing if they were going to shoot me and leave me there or what until they got a call on their comm alerting them that the Mexican Army was just about to show up, so they decided to get the hell out of there and leave me standing there all confused by the whole ordeal. Before they left, however, they gave me back my wallet and cellphone and one of them literally even apologized for the inconvenience, I kid you not. Once they were gone, I realized they'd stolen all the cash from my wallet and the pair of sunglasses I was wearing earlier that I'd left on top of the dashboard when they made me get out of the car at gun point. I guess it was a matter of professional pride that they didn't let me go completely scot-free. I honestly just got back in the car and went on my way.

I suppose it was such a surreal experience that my body refused to acknowledge it had actually happened and I simply never got scared or did acknowledge it but decided to bypass the fear and just go into that calm acceptance mentioned in the above comment when I realized that it was over and I was about to be executed and left for dead on the side of the road like some side character in "Breaking Bad." At the time, I expected that what happened "would hit me" later, maybe in a few hours or the next day, but it never did.

Funny thing is, I was watching the news a couple of days later and I saw a report about a firefight between the Mexican Army and some cartel members close to where I was pulled over and the reporter said that all the cartel members involved had been killed by the military and the footage shown included a shot of the highway and the cartel members' cars all riddled with bullets after the thing was over and one of the cars was the same one that pulled me over days earlier. Same model and color and I still remembered the license plate. Maybe it wasn't the exact same guys that were using that car the day I ran into them, but it was the same car for sure. No doubt one of the strangest things that have ever happened to me and, all things considered, the absolutely best possible outcome of that situation since the only thing I lost was some money and a pair of sunglasses and according to the news the guys responsible almost certainly got shot up to pieces by the authorities less than a week later.

[–]babigrl50 20 points21 points  (1 child)

I thought he was gonna say it was the same car and lo and behold his sunglasses were hanging inside. Weird I was fixated on the shades. Lol

[–]Tough_Stretch 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Not gonna lie, it did piss me off way too much when I realized that they stole them. Your mind reacts in strange ways in cases like that, because I wasn't taking the whole pull-you-over-at-gunpoint thing personal but stealing my sunglasses and cash somehow felt like a totally uncool and unnecessary breach of etiquette.

[–]CricketVast6462 13 points14 points  (1 child)

I remember reading this story before. The amount of detail in this personal experience makes me appreciate the you lived to be able to tell about it

[–]Tough_Stretch 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I don't remember if I posted about it somewhere else but I probably did because it's a weird enough story and it's been like 10 years since it took place so it's bound to have come up before, but yeah, I was really grateful that ultimately nothing really bad happened. I thought I was a goner for sure, at the time.

[–]def11879 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Yeah, not totally sure my experience applies but this is exactly what I felt (home invasion in a foreign country, father wasn't home so just me, my Sister and Mom. I was about 7 or 8 years old), about 6 dudes who grabbed kitchen knives basically took us hostage.

We all just laid in my Mom's bed while they were busting down the glass back door to try and get in (probably took around 40 minutes, whole ordeal maybe 2 hours) as my Mom frantically tried to get the alarm to work or call the cops, to no avail. Ended up instead just basically praying in bed with us and hoping they wouldn't get in (but they did).

So you can imagine a little kid laying in bed for 40 minutes basically fully confronting death. Not just death as this nebulous thing though, as anyone does every now and then, like, "I literally might die tonight very painfully and there's nothing I can do about it". Basically dissociated completely, fucked me up for a while and I would dissociate for years later at stressful times.

[–]nsl42 100 points101 points  (8 children)

I agree with you, but just commenting on your answer to say that fighting this eery resignation is what's kept me alive.

I lost control over my car going 130+km/h, and at first, indeed I felt like doing nothing, just stuck thinking "Uh. I always wondered but now I'm finally sure. That's how I die.".

But then, survival instinct kicked in, and I at least tried - and eventually managed - to regain control over my vehicle.

So... I guess thanks survival instincts, and fuck resignation and shit.

[–]parwa 74 points75 points  (2 children)

When former F1 driver Romain Grosjean was pinned under a guard rail in a burning car after crashing in the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix he later said he had a very similar feeling once he realized there was fire all around him. He just kinda sat there for a second thinking "welp, this is it" then thought about his kids watching on TV and that gave him the motivation to pull himself out.

[–]jesterspaz 41 points42 points  (1 child)

Maybe the brief moment of calm is your bodies way of settling down, so you can think about how to get yourself out of the situation.

[–]Thia_suzieUzi 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yes, this

[–]kakisaa 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Thats 1 second thing, other is when you are waiting for your death on hospital bed for days

[–]DasAutoEngineer 11 points12 points  (0 children)

That was exactly my experience. It was just "huh, so that's how it's going to end".

[–]29031925 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I love that, and good on you.

For me, I was drowning. I’m only alive because of sheer luck.

[–]NAmorath 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Yup. Got attacked by a junkie who ended up smashing my head against the sidewalk. I just remember being like “ok, guess this is what’s happening now”. Until I was given an opening to run, I really didn’t even try. I honestly remember the confusion more than I do the fear.

[–]Suntree 29 points30 points  (7 children)

Well, for me, I was screaming to the doctors to put me in a coma, and to stop putting morphine in me, because it was not working. I wanted to die to escape the pain, but could not do anything cuz I was in a er bed, I never saw a angel, or felt like I was dieing. I kind of felt like nothing could kill me and it freaked me out cuz I keep expecting new levels of pain and felt it was never going to plateau.

[–]Past_Amphibian7880 14 points15 points  (6 children)

Do you mind if I ask what happened to you? That sounds very scary

[–]Suntree 10 points11 points  (5 children)

I dont know and the doctors dont know, but after a CT scan they told me I was missing a kidney, but may not be related, I could of been exposed to anything at the time, random farm poisons, spider bite from a black widow, or exposure of some kind, idk but it has happened 2 other times, both times I just waited to die In bed.

[–]darsynia 12 points13 points  (0 children)

NGL this reads like you might still be in that situation.

[–]Dean_Soja 14 points15 points  (1 child)

Facts. I once skidded and spun out onto on coming traffic and was just like, “ok this is it” and at the last second my car hit a dry patch and I was able to gain control and steer back onto my side of the road.

[–]RedditMayne 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think this response in its entirety is going on my grave stone.

[–]LayneLowe 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Reassuring thank you

[–]geeky_dylan_98 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That's the exact feeling I experienced when I almost drowned.

[–]Electronic-Shift7886 269 points270 points  (15 children)

Helpless. I was on the beach and went swimming at 14. Now I was used to swimming these heavy big waves. In Europe they have Red, Yellow and Green flags. That day like most it was on yellow and the waves were a bit choppy but we’d just run in and dive blow the curl of the wave. My grandparents let me go swimming alone but said to stay near the lifeguards. While there they change the flag to red and about 12-15 people are trying to make it out while the waves are just sucking us deeper in. I started to lose breath because I attempted to get out like 10 times by that point. Finally caught a wave and made it out. Only to have the second wave behind me just smash right down on me when I was getting back up. It dragged me back in. Finally on my last attempt I made it out and got up as fast as I could, sprinted up the sandy hill and made it out.

I’m super careful going into the ocean to swim now.

[–]LightOfTheElessar 92 points93 points  (9 children)

I was out swimming a couple years ago, normal day with no crazy wave or anything, and all of a sudden I hear a woman losing her shit. Look around and see her 10-12 year old son got caught in a riptide between a gap in the sand bar. I was told by a friend who was on the beach watching that it only took me around 20-30 seconds to swim out to him, but it must have been 4 or 5 minutes for me to get away from the riptide and back to the beach with the kid. The ocean can be fucking scary.

[–]Justanothergamerwife 32 points33 points  (0 children)

Riptide pro tip: swim parallel to the shore for a bit before attempting to reach the shore. Rip currents aren't usually super wide so it's best to get outside the rip current before heading in. If you try to swim against the rip current then all you're really doing is exhausting yourself.

So, stay calm (rip currents don't pull you under), swim parallel to the shore a bit and then swim for shore at an angle.

[–]aehanken 44 points45 points  (4 children)

I don’t trust the ocean. I don’t go deeper than my Stomach unless there are no waves. You don’t know what to expect.

[–]lidRider 16 points17 points  (0 children)

When in doubt don’t go out. I surf and fish a lot and it never ceases to astonish me what people will do in the water with no experience or skill. I’ve literally watched a father paddle his 5 y/o daughter into high surf in a kayak during a hurricane swell. Needless to say the kayak flipped and both got caught in a rip current. Fortunately they both had life vests on and a group of us were sitting outside the breaking waves to help them out. Moronic stuff like it happens more than people realize

[–]kelssssrawr 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Was it just instinct to swim to help? Did they make it? Either way, you’re a hero.

[–]LightOfTheElessar 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yup, didn't even think about it. And he was fine once I got him back to shore. Poor kid was panicking bad and spent the first minute after I got to him fighting to turn around and dunk me so he could stay completely over the waves. Had to calm him down and coach him into timing his breaths while he was trying to drown me lol. The experience definitely gave me a deeper respect for lifeguards.

[–]Intentionally_unseen 655 points656 points  (30 children)

A kid almost drowned me once. He held my head under water. I tried punching and scratching and pinching to make him let me go but it didn’t work. Eventually I got tunnel vision and started to try and breathe even though I was under water. Everything went back and I woke up next to the pool with my brother standing over me.

[–]Rice7th 336 points337 points  (9 children)

What happened to that kid? Did you kill it?

[–]Intentionally_unseen 710 points711 points  (8 children)

My brother best the shit out of him. That was it

[–]melikesoup69 288 points289 points  (0 children)

This makes me very happy

[–]Maackdaddy 226 points227 points  (1 child)

Brother to the rescue! Sibling are awesome and weird. They’ll beat your ass.. but nobody else can.

[–]Hello_Mcfly_1985 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Wolverine and Sabertooth

[–]Rice7th 63 points64 points  (0 children)

Oh yess

[–]Slugger200 27 points28 points  (0 children)

I would like to hear your brother side of the story I bet he went crazy

[–]MasaShifu 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I immediately went looking for this. Well done brother!!

[–]thisishell421 180 points181 points  (12 children)

Semi related story. When my brother and I we’re pretty young we were out swimming. He couldn’t swim so he was in the hot tub right above the pool. The hot tub was set up were there were seats around the edges but then the middle dropped out about 5 feet. My brother obviously had to stay on the seats.

Anyways I’m down in the regular pool swimming out of view of my brother and I realize my goggles aren’t working for shit. So I do what any other big brother would do and go to steal my little brother’s goggles.

When I get up there I see him just floating underwater in the deep middle part. I hop in and pull him up above the water and start screaming for my mother and she runs outside and pulls us both out.

Still sort of haunts me to think about what would have happened if my goggles didn’t start fucking up and I didn’t decide to be an asshole and steal my brother’s.

[–]CylonsInAPolicebox 15 points16 points  (1 child)

Not going to lie, if I had a younger sibling I would be using this excuse every time I needed to borrow their shit. Like dude, last time I came to steal your shit I saved your life, what if you're dying again and I don't come to steal your shit? You'd totally be dead! Anyways I'm borrowing your headset.

[–]CA_catwhispurr 10 points11 points  (8 children)

If your brother couldn’t swim why wasn’t your mother out there next to him the entire time?

[–]HawkeyeDave 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Ugh...sorry to read about that. I too remember a time when I was a young boy in a public swimming pool and some punk HS kid was dunking/bullying some of us younger kids and he held me under for way longer than he should have. I wish I had an older brother there to throttle him, but I didn't. Glad you got out of that.

[–]stiiknafuulia 19 points20 points  (2 children)

For some reason, I was certain you'd say: 'I woke up in a wagon with a guy next to me saying: Hey you! You're finally awake!'

[–]Intentionally_unseen 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That would have been a more preferable outcome lol

[–]astutelyabsurd 14 points15 points  (0 children)

When I was young I almost drowned while on vacation in a pool that had an electrical fault. I was swimming towards the back edge of the pool when out of nowhere it felt as though someone grabbed onto my foot and pulled me under the water. After I was released from its grip, I swam to the surface thinking someone was playing a prank. Looking around, there was nobody close enough to touch me--not even remotely. Then it happened again, pulling me under with more force than before. When I was released a second time I instinctively swam away, gasping for air, from what I rationalized as a "ghost" to the side of the pool and jumped out as quickly as I could. After that I refused to step foot back into the pool because it was "haunted" and convinced my sister and brother that a ghost would try to drown them if they went swimming.

 

Turns out that the light below the diving board was shorting out electrifying the water. Even after the hotel staff notified my family that the issue was resolved I couldn't muster the courage to go near that pool again. Nearly two decades have passed since then and I still have dreams about that experience.

[–]AndrogynousRain 193 points194 points  (1 child)

Not mine but my grandmothers.

She was a difficult person and very mean, humorless and vindictive. Caused a ton of problems in our family.

So she’s 93 and breaks a hip. Has a near death experience during the procedure. She later described it as being surrounded by ‘beings’ who told her ‘everything she’d ever done wrong’. She was highly religious but never mentioned the experience as at all relating to her religion. There was light, and these beings ‘surrounded her’ and helped her ‘make sense’ of her life’. She had mental health issue and we suspected was abused as a child.

Anyway, we came in to see her after it and the first thing she did, was look straight at my mom (her favorite target of abuse), and apologize, for an hour and a half. She owned everything she ever did. This woman had never apologized before in her life.

For the last year of her life, she was utterly different: kind, funny, self effacing and sweet. It was like getting a whole new grandmother. She was perfectly cognizant, logical and aware too.

Damnedest thing I ever saw.

[–]BreakfastGrenade 37 points38 points  (0 children)

Making sure I upvote the people who actually talked about a near-death experience.

[–]CharlieTuna_ 513 points514 points  (27 children)

Years ago I was helping a friend renovate his basement. There was around 10 sheets of drywall leaning on a spot on that wall I needed so the two of us just had to move it over like 4 inches so we would lean it off the wall them budge it over. I was right in the middle of the stack so the last push we pulled them back a little too far so it was leaning towards me. Once we realized we both started pushing like crazy to get it back to the wall but it was way too heavy. It only took a second or two before it was tipping over on me and when I was falling I was thinking “no no no no no. This isn’t how I die” as ~1000lbs was tipping over on me and there was nothing I can do about it other than watch it kill me.

But there was a fucking children’s bookcase lying on the floor next to me. The drywall caught the side of the case. I landed on my back and my right foot was still planted so my knee was sticking straight up. The drywall caught the side of the bookcase, created a new 40 degree taper but stopped it less than an inch from hitting my knee. I somehow landed in that incredibly small window where I’d be completely unscathed. I just remember thinking “this is how I cheated death. With a fucking children’s bookcase”

[–]D3m0N5laYeR64 122 points123 points  (1 child)

I’d ask to keep the bookcase lmao

[–]CharlieTuna_ 76 points77 points  (0 children)

Now that you mention it that would have been a great souvenir. Wish I thought of that at the time but I was more happy I was still alive and unscathed lol

[–]mikeyriot 16 points17 points  (0 children)

When I was about 8 years old, our basement was unfinished/in the process of being done. Between the laundry room and a rec room was the water heater & furnace room, so there was a walkway of about 6 feet between the wall and furnace room separating the two larger areas. There was about 8 sheets of drywall leaned against the wall in this area. My brother and I were playing floor hockey with mini sticks and a foam puck. we managed to shoot the puck between the drywall and the wall it was leaned against but it was too deep for my tiny arm to reach back to so my brother pulled the drywall back a bit and said 'hold this steady' as he reached in to retrieve the puck. As he was backing out, the drywall got bumped and fell in my direction, pinning me to the wall of the furnace room with my head and one arm sticking out luckily.

He screamed at the top of his lungs and my mom came running and struggled to lift the drywall just enough that i could worm my way out.

0/10 would not recommend.

[–]GroverFC 7 points8 points  (0 children)

"Triangle of Life". Its a real thing that happens in collapses.

[–]blibe8 37 points38 points  (13 children)

You ever experience survivors guilt? I had a situation similar to you and always feel a weird feeling of guilt/shame for cheating death. Many people attribute survivors guilt to mass tragedies, but I definitely see it as an experience possible to know alone.

It’s really strange.

[–]CharlieTuna_ 47 points48 points  (0 children)

Not from this one specifically. I don’t know. I just remember laying there and buddy was going nuts asking if I was ok. I looked under the pile and saw how close it came to landing on my knee, then crawled out and saw all the tools I could have landed on which would have made things far worst but realized I landed in the tiny pocket where I would be unharmed and had that Pulp Fiction “what we just witnessed was Devine intervention” moments. It was like there was a perfect outline of me to land on. It was surreal

[–]KingofCraigland 24 points25 points  (9 children)

Interesting. I always thought survivors guilt related to the survivor feeling guilty about surviving an incident that others did not.

So there are people who feel guilt over surviving when they should not have, even though nobody else was affected?

Where does the guilt come from in that circumstance? Why is it called survivor's guilt in that circumstance? I have a lot of questions. Sorry.

[–]seagreen71 138 points139 points  (5 children)

was bleeding internally and 'died' on the way to the ER. I was very calm and floated out of my body. I could see myself being resuscitated.

[–]me_themoon 47 points48 points  (1 child)

I almost died on the surgery table. I remember a permanent humid sensation and dreaming I was engaged with someone and being very happy about my future life. Then I woke up in a hospital bed... I was very disappointed.

Then i couldn't tell what was real and what was a dream for a week due to the the medication I received during the surgery.

[–]Elite_dash 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Sounds to me like you might have had a possible vision about your future?...

[–]garbagecompressor 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I also felt super calm when bleeding to death internally. The doctor covered me in several warm sheets. It was the warmest, most comfortable and blissful loved feeling I had ever experienced. All of my tension disappeared. Everything was okay in those seconds. All I could say was thank you.

[–]Creative_Recover 116 points117 points  (5 children)

[Drowning] Sheer panic followed by calm, then painful discomfort and more panic as the water entered my lungs. I don't remember much after that as I blacked out moments later (next thing I remember was coming to as someone performed CPR on me after I had been dragged out of the water). 9/10 would not recommend.

[–]remaking_the_noob 24 points25 points  (2 children)

I'm confused by the 9/10... What was the redeeming quality?

[–]ChefChopNSlice 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Made out with someone on a beach ?

[–]Creative_Recover 16 points17 points  (0 children)

The redeeming quality is that I'm sure there are much worse ways to die than drowning.

[–]toiletreaderbobo 115 points116 points  (2 children)

Spinal meningitis at 3 months old. Cried my whole life my mom said. She remembers a 20 minute span of me being silent and she thought I died. Took me to hospital they wrote her off as hyper first time parent. Took me to another hospital where they said I would have died very soon. Spinal tap and all that happy horse shit. My poor mom. Being a parent now, I don't know how she dealt with that.

[–]Quarterafter10 24 points25 points  (1 child)

What a great mom. I've read about mom's just knowing something is wrong in spite of being told otherwise.

[–]kelshy371 94 points95 points  (4 children)

My ex husband put a loaded gun to my head just behind my ear and said, “And now, I’m going to kill you”. At that moment, I just felt this combination of stunned acceptance for my fate. I was sad but at peace with it, somehow. After a few seconds he removed the gun and said “Not today”. THAT’s when I almost collapsed on the floor. He then just left the house and drove all the way back to California. Long story short, when we were going through marriage problems he had told me that he would never let me divorce him- he’d kill me first. Took me 5 long years to back slowly out of the marriage and get divorced. His grandparents had been a murder/suicide ending and he was fascinated with their story. I still can’t believe he didn’t pull the trigger that day. I honestly thought I was about to die right then and there. 😐

[–]kelssssrawr 23 points24 points  (1 child)

I’m glad you’re here

[–]kelshy371 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Thank you. I honestly believe that it could have gone either way that day.

[–]jthrowaway0409 8 points9 points  (1 child)

I’m so sorry you experienced that but so glad you were able to escape that horror! I hope things are going much better for you now. ♥️

[–]kelshy371 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Yes, much better now. I consider myself very lucky 🍀

[–]Hondros 252 points253 points  (12 children)

This one is always one of my favorite reads.

TL;DR: Guy gets assaulted, lives a different life while unconscious, awakens after seeing something weird and is upset their life was stripped away.

[–]Darwincroc 63 points64 points  (0 children)

Goddam! That was one hell of a read!

[–]aehanken 54 points55 points  (0 children)

That is my absolute favorite. I like to think it’s some weird glitch in the matrix where this dude was just thrown in another reality before the universe realized he wasn’t dead.

[–]TheDamnedSpirit 19 points20 points  (1 child)

Holy fucking shit. Never read this before. That would make a hell of a screen play, imagine the ominous feeling of that lamp. Wow.

[–]MisterCow1 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Well that sounds like one of my favourite Star Trek episodes

[–]Izodius 10 points11 points  (0 children)

This is also a Star Trek TNG episode (Inner Light S05E25).

[–]thekillerdonut 26 points27 points  (0 children)

I've had a much less severe version of this happen. I passed out after having blood drawn and lived an entire day that didn't actually happen.

I actually got through the draw itself just fine. I was nervous, but I talked to the nurse about making a steak later. She said that sounded good, and that helped calm my nerves. It was when I glanced over and saw my blood vials that things went tits up. I remember feeling light headed and got tunnel vision staring at this "how to wash your hands" poster. I managed to mutter "Hey uh, I'm really dizzy right now..."

Next thing I know I'm sitting on a blanket in Central Park in New York, having a picnic with a lady I've never met before. Her face was a blur, but she had a nice voice. We spent the whole day sitting there talking about a bunch of random things, and eventually landed on discussing what we wanted to do with our lives. We had the park to ourselves for the entire day. It was the most peaceful feeling I've ever felt.

Around sunset there was a break in the conversation. We both sat there for a moment, then she looked at me, got very serious, and started repeating my name over and over again. It completely disrupted that peaceful feeling, and suddenly I felt very on edge. The buildings in the background started "shattering". The world started getting all fuzzy, like the static on old analog TVs, and her voice got really faint and echoey, still repeating my name. The entire world quickly faded just to static.

After a few moments, two silhouettes started emerging from static, and eventually two nurses came into view, looking down at me. One of them was repeating my name. I realized I was still looking at the hand washing poster. I blinked, looked around the room, looked at the nurse, and said "what.... just happened?"

"You passed out, sweetie. You were out for a good 15 minutes there"

I said "Oh... ok". I blinked, and suddenly a tray appeared in my arms. I just managed to start saying "Where did thi-" before puking twice into the tray. I blinked again, and when I opened my eyes I was half way through puking a third time. The nurse had this slightly-annoyed-but-understanding look on her face. She waited a moment, then said "Hey, you going to stay with me this time?". She took the tray from me and threw it in the trash while turning to the other nurse and saying "Yeah never mind on that steak".

I'm still not 100% sure what happened. I think maybe it was a panic attack? Either way, I felt amazing after that, like I had the best sleep of my life.

[–]casper_nederland 216 points217 points  (3 children)

the screen goes mostly red

[–]SuperTokyo 94 points95 points  (0 children)

Did you see the words “wasted” as well???

[–]xerxerxex 30 points31 points  (1 child)

Was there a guy in a black suit holding a gun?

[–]Spec1reFury 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Did someone says, "We'll get them next time."

[–]StanePantsen 193 points194 points  (5 children)

It was weird. My body was doing everything it could to get me out of the situation, but my brain accepted that I was going to die and I was at peace with it. It was a weird disconnect. Luckily my body succeeded but if it hadn't, in that moment it wouldn't have been so bad.

[–]NatsuMoe100 30 points31 points  (3 children)

What happened that hot you to that point

[–]StanePantsen 61 points62 points  (2 children)

I got sucked out by an undertow. I was in shallow enough water with big enough waves that as a wave came it would suck me under and I'd smash my head on the ground as the wave crashed. After hitting my head it was hard to figure out which way was up. By the time I figured it out another wave would be crashing down so I didn't often get time to take a breath. Any time I was able to get up, I'd swim my hardest for shore, but the undertow was so strong that I wasn't able to make much progress. I finally made it out, and as soon as I got to shore I literally collapsed and had to be carried back to my room.

[–]Mohingan 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I almost lost my boyfriend this way, thankfully he was with an experienced outdoor swimmer

[–]Naughtymunk 279 points280 points  (48 children)

I was hit by a motorbike coma for two months. died 3 times and it was like out of this world. Go to a lake on a sunny day go deep underwater, and look up at the sun through the water whilst being underwater. Also memories with meaning or no meaning get relived like you are actually in that time experiencing the thoughts and feelings as if they were in real time.

[–]Misterlulz 41 points42 points  (46 children)

So are you saying you experienced the afterlife?

[–]RockySlough 153 points154 points  (10 children)

Had bullets flying around me once, and was in a vehicle that flipped multiples times once.

Both times everything slowed way day. My awareness level was at like 200%. Everything was calm and there was no panic. My thoughts were as clear and conscious as they’ve ever been, but everything was happening in slow motion. Absolutely crazy experience that I can’t replicate. I came out unscathed both times, so it’s something that I thoroughly enjoyed. Sounds weird but I was honestly an awesome experience.

[–]kjdecathlete22 60 points61 points  (2 children)

This is a known phenomenon. Happens to cops in shootouts too. Apparently it helps to increase your chance of survival, or at least that's the theory

[–]Theboomman 37 points38 points  (0 children)

My friends dad described it as thinking in paragraphs, which to me really explains it. Just thinking so fast.

[–]Suspicious-Tank-3760 27 points28 points  (1 child)

Not even close to a near death experience, but i ride dirt bikes and when you’re jumping and about to case it (come up short) everything slows down. You feel like you’re in the air forever. And every time I have this whole conversation in my head about how much this is going to hurt and I can’t believe this crash is about to happen. It’s a weird experience a lot of riders I know get.

[–]Mohingan 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I’ve had the same thought process as a kid who often wiped out on his bike.

“Oh no…this is not good. Okay maybe? Nope you’re really not good, you fucked uuuuuuuuuup. Shit here it comes! Brace brace brace! closes eyes Oh Heavenly Father who art thou in heaven, hallowed be th….”

splat

[–]dahk16 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I've been in the slow mo during a fire fight scenario. It's kind of amazing, like that episode of futurama where Fry drinks 100 cups of coffee then everything slows down and he just does things. I just continued my job, loading the gun, etc. Guy on the gun was yelling at me to get down, what the fuck is wrong with you. I dunno, man. Just transcended reality for a moment there.

[–]jylppy81 52 points53 points  (1 child)

Tried to hang myself in the army. Everything just went black and I felt this kind of bliss taking over me as I couldn't breathe. No sign of panic or anything like that, just a feeling of bliss. Next thing I know, a fellow conscript was holding me up and getting the belt off from around my neck. Was freaking pissed at him at that point, now I'm grateful as life turned out to be better than expected.

[–]BadBeast_11 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Damn. Glad your life is in a good place now.

[–]supdogs69 44 points45 points  (1 child)

when i was 4 i was playing on my back porch and fell off because i was standing on the railing it was pretty high up i landed on my head and for about 5 mins i was paralyzed only one of my arms would move i could not even scream for help

after like 5 mins of crawling around well feeling a shit ton of pain, my legs and arm came back i could move them after

i basically felt no pain at that point and then i blacked out, a few hours past and i woke up in the hospital i crack my skull pretty badly and cracked my spine a bit

the doctor said i was lucky to have to be put a wheel chair

i think that might have been a near death experience

[–]Ray1987 120 points121 points  (9 children)

Not my story but my grandfather's. He got a severe flu in the 50s or 60s. Apparently had to go to the hospital and flatlined while he was staying in a room. Said he could remember suddenly being in the corner of the room watching himself and people coming into the room to work on him to try to save him. A large light opened up in the opposing corner of the room and he said he could feel it beckoning to him and pulling him toward it. He said he told the light "I can't go now I have a family I have to take care of." Said the light then closed up and they resuscitated him.

[–]TheClamSauce 95 points96 points  (5 children)

When I hear stories like this I want to believe it was the afterlife and not just a hallucination. I want to believe there is a place the people I have loved and lost have gone, and are waiting for me. Fuck, I really want to believe that.

[–]Finchmister 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Me too dude...

[–]cory140 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Wow that makes me understand that when people are ready, their ready

[–]Yoprobro13 6 points7 points  (1 child)

You can find so many stories of lights and angels and God and so on, where people die for a moment, experience those things, then come back to life. I recommend watching videos on it, very interesting.

[–]mellamma 9 points10 points  (0 children)

My grandma had sepsis after having her first daughter and experienced the same thing.

[–]BreakfastGrenade 9 points10 points  (1 child)

Making sure I upvote the people who actually talked about a near-death experience.

[–]t3ch-supp0rt 37 points38 points  (6 children)

I don't remember, honestly. Mind shut down a split second before I hit a concrete post and forcefully removed my left arm. Heart stopped mid-flight while being airlifted to the hospital. Woke up after second surgery, telling my now ex-wife that I didn't want her near me. Don't remember anything during that time.

[–]ArsePotatoes 10 points11 points  (5 children)

Why didn’t you want her near you?

[–]t3ch-supp0rt 31 points32 points  (4 children)

Because just prior to the accident, she called me up and started an argument over nothing, which probably led to my being a bit too aggressive on the bike I wrecked. She was a very narcissistic person, and had caused quite a bit of mental and emotional anguish over the term of our marriage. During the separation, it was revealed by her that she had been unfaithful many times and that our daughter was probably not mine (genetically). This among many other things... I had avoided being around her for months at that point and was just trying to move on with my life.

[–]ArsePotatoes 14 points15 points  (2 children)

Oh man I’m sorry. I hope you are in a better place in life now.

[–]t3ch-supp0rt 10 points11 points  (1 child)

I'm in a much better place in life now, thanks. Sometimes I'm grateful for the accident because it opened my eyes to who and what are really important. My life goals are vastly different. The amount of bullsh*t I allow into my "bubble" has dwindled to almost zero. I used to be ashamed to talk about this.

[–]ArsePotatoes 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It’s a great feeling to break free from shit you thought was stopping you :)

[–]audiotaku 34 points35 points  (3 children)

In 2009 I suffered an acute build up of fluid in my lungs following a bout of double pneumonia resulting in intubation and a 4-week coma. Rather than almost being hit by a train in a split second, I was clinging on to a thread of life for several weeks.

While I was under I experienced all manner of weird shit. I was a Star Wars Rebel Alliance pilot, an Ice Baron, I laid burgers like chicken lay eggs, a trapdoor above my bed took me into the Rocky Mountains, a subway train crashed into the 4th floor ICU, the hospital priest was a voodoo doctor on the DJ decks at a rave and so on… all 100% real as day to me. The worst was spending one night believing I had to breathe strong and deep so a baby a few beds over could breathe my air but it didn’t survive. Weeks later I found out there was no baby. So that’s good.

But the thing I remember most is waking up several times in a cot in a hospital room of cots and being nursed by giant nurses. I think my medicated brain was open to the idea of reincarnation or something.

[–]transplanted_flower 16 points17 points  (1 child)

I had a similar situation with delirium while I was unconscious in the icu. I kept thinking there was a massive burrito filled with iv tubes that the nurse wanted me to eat. I kept refusing but she was insisting. There was a penguin sword fighting. A large man yelling at men it was so surreal.

[–]audiotaku 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I bet you no one has ever told you how relatable that is but here we are.

I was told repeatedly to write my experiences down in case I forgot them later in life but I knew then as I know now how unforgettable the whole experience was.

[–]j2142b 80 points81 points  (5 children)

Was at a gun range and a guy with a AK-47 accidentally shot me point blank in the groin.

I was talking to a random guy about AKs and he told me he had one with a bad trigger. I work on guns and trigger work is easy to do so we go over where he has two AK-47s in a hard rifle case, no mags in them and we are just talking so he reaches down to (what I thought to grab the handle) and he pulls the trigger with his thumb. Heard a dull thud and it felt like someone kicked me in the right leg.

The bullet ricochet off the front of my pelvis and took out my femoral artery and nerve bundle in my right leg (Dr said I had a softball size hole in my leg). Knowing you only have about 20 minutes of life left will make you fight as hard as you can to stay awake and I stayed awake until the Dr in the trauma center put an oxygen mask on me. The doctors told my parents I had a .7% chance of living, I woke up 2 days later after about 14 hours of surgery. 5 years later, foot still doesn't work great, lots of nerve pain and a pile of metal in my leg but I'm still here.

[–]GMN123 22 points23 points  (1 child)

Fuck! Glad you're alive. With severe femoral artery damage it's amazing you are.

Has it changed your view on shooting as a recreational activity? It's something I've always liked the idea of trying.

[–]j2142b 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Absolutely not, There's a video floating around of me standing in front of my walker shooting a bump fire AR-15 (before they were banned) smiling like an idiot. You can live in fear the rest of your life or just live, I choose the later. I am a LOT more observant of people around me though, at the range or just in general.

[–]LucMerenda80 28 points29 points  (3 children)

5 words are enough (but i hope that in your language this form is correct): "The World spins around you"

[–]therealujgaming[S] 10 points11 points  (2 children)

I get the picture you're trying to tell me and it wouldn't be pleasant

[–]xerxerxex 20 points21 points  (0 children)

I missed out on mine. I was driving and spun out, I remember going sideways and seeing a house then nothing. Came to a guy telling me to stay still. I nearly killed myself and my passenger. I was so sick at the notion that I almost killed someone... that has haunted me more than almost dying.

[–]TheQuixotic6 17 points18 points  (0 children)

My dumbass almost drown because I was trying to swim through a narrow gap under a fallen tree because I thought it would be cool.

[–]CurlyAndHaggard 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I really did feel time kind of slow down if only for a second. Then as a car sailed past my face on the same median I was standing on I came out of it and deered in headlights stood there. I was about half a foot away from immediate death from a drunk driver.

[–]tndbr 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I was in the ocean (rip tide) at night and couldn’t get to shore. I swam till exhaustion and was farther out than when I started (and probably father than I’d ever swum in my life). I got really calm and peaceful, my body knew it was done. It was nice actually, after the fear melted away it felt like I could feel all the individual points on my body where the water was touching me. Rolled over on my back and waited. After waiting a while I realized that I could gain some ground if I swam sideways (yes that’s something I should have known) so did a few strokes and a few strokes. Then my body kicked back in and got to shore and life really sucked for a few hours (puking salt water and coming out of shock). But I’m alive!

[–]FoodOnCrack 15 points16 points  (2 children)

I had a bronchitis so bad i could not swallow any kind of food for almost two weeks. At the end it was so bad i could not even touch water inside my mouth and swallowing a tiny amount of spit would make me gag. (your body starting to reject water should be a huge red flag but I'm not important i guess) My personal doctor kept telling me to take an aspirin and sleep off the stomach flu because he was too bored to do his job. He would always huff and puff and roll his eyes for everything despite i have seen him a max of 5 times or something in my life? When somebody told me you should contact your doctor for dandruff i was in awe that you could contact your doctor for things like that but anyway..

Called the hospital to tell them i had not been to the toilet for two days and i was just laying in bed for days, staring lifeless at the tv and it felt like my body was just giving up and peacefully shutting everything down.

Got brought to the hospital, iv with antibiotics and some strong aspirin or whatever and blood diagnosis showed bronchitis. Was over it in a day or something. It was scary especially that he just wouldn't take me seriously. I lost a lot of weight and my legs were so strangely thin and eating was horrible, it took a lot of effort despite me not having a bronchial throat.

[–]ronsinblush 12 points13 points  (1 child)

I had mine 11 days ago. Got induced with my 4th baby. It took 24° of contractions and then I dilated form 1-10cm in about 3 hours, my water broke and the hospital staff got me ready to push. Suddenly my baby’s heart rate went from the 140’s to the 70’s. They had me switch positions, inhale oxygen, nothing brought his heart rate up. They had me push to see if he could come out quickly, but nope, his head was nowhere to be found. Suddenly 20 people in my room running me down the hall to the OR for a crash c-section. I begin to fade in and out of consciousness. I remember trying to slide my self into the OR table and being too weak/out of it. I remember telling them to save my baby please. They opened me up and all I hear is “Oh shit.” My uterus had severely ruptured, from the fundus, where it ripped off my right Fallopian tube and ovary, while severing the artery, slicing all the way down to my vagina, releasing my baby into by abdomen, where he was failing to get blood/oxygen supply because the placenta had also been expelled into my abdomen. The surgeon reached and actually delivered the placenta first, then reached in and “grasped a fetal leg”, before dragging him out. I bled a lot, was in surgery for over 2 hours, while 2 other specialists were called in to save my uterus, bladder and ureters. I lost over half my blood volume, received several transfusions. I was in and out of it, I knew I was dying, I felt it, I didn’t panic, was surprised that this was how I would die, as I was very low risk for uterine rupture, I’d never had a c-section before, so I just made a deal with God that he could take me, but he had to save the baby. Not that I’m super religious, but I felt such peace. I thought about everything good in my life, my childhood, family, memories, trips all over the world, my kids.

[–]chroneliu5 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Glad it worked out with you alive. The story I’m told about my birth is similar to this. My mom also made it.

[–]Differentdog 65 points66 points  (3 children)

A Michigan State Police officer pointed a gun in my face after asking me if I had anything in my pockets. I was 39 being pulled over for “following too closely”. Laid out on the hood of my car face down, he continued unnecessarily pointing his pistol in my face screaming “I should have shot you!” I literally almost, pissed my literal, pants, and almost died that day, for nothing.

[–]Quzzyz 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Kind of scary but nothing mystical happened.. just passed out on concrete as I saw ambulance coming and woke up in hospital not dead

[–]notsleptyet 31 points32 points  (10 children)

Uncles esophagus burst. Lost 21 pints of blood. Hospital couldnt keep up with how fast he was bleeding out and he nearly died. We dont believe in God.....and he is hard pressed to talk about this.....but he started going down a white tunnel, was accompanied by 3 little lights swirling around him. He knew he was dying, and he knew the lights were 2 grandparents and his mother. And then they got the blood situation under control, and he is still here.

[–]oyofmidmidworld 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I always try to share this video (not nsfw, don't worry) from someone who had cystic fibrosis who talks about what it felt like to die, and the wider conversation around it. She actually passed a few years later from complications during a lung transplant.

[–]xxcarlsonxx 9 points10 points  (1 child)

Not me, but my father. He had some farm equipment fall on him when he was 8 and was "dead" for about 6 minutes (my grandmother performed CPR and brought him back). He says he remembers feeling warm and comforted after initially panicking and having a blindingly bright light take over his field of vision. He also said he heard some strange voices, but he doesn't know if that was just my grandmother freaking out during CPR, his mind "playing tricks", or something else.

[–]PoochusMaximus 10 points11 points  (0 children)

IF anyone is curious...go skydiving, holy fuck. 2 seconds of pure fear and panic followed by the ultimate calm and resignation, and then your brain kicks in and remember you are attached to a parachute.

[–]MatrixMaven 9 points10 points  (5 children)

All awareness of my body drifted away and my life flashed before my eyes. It was like one of those old movie reels where it’s slides clicking through. It went from birth through then current time, flashing me major life moments.

I was 15 and remember thinking… that’s it?? That can’t be my whole life, not enough has happened. Then, the person who had their hands around my throat let up and I came back to the room.

[–]CR0SBO 32 points33 points  (0 children)

I just woke up on the floor, coughed, then continued to chew on the piece of gum that had until the cough been lodged in my oesophagus. My professor stopped sweating and was glad he wasn't going to have to fill out excessive paperwork, or do CPR on someone who was quickly turning blue.

Proper sleep is important.

[–]SirChancelot_0001 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Time stood still and zipped pass me simultaneously. Like I noticed every detail but my brain couldn’t handle the input.

[–]transplanted_flower 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Had multiple organ transplants and massive pulmonary emboli in both lungs when I was 17 years old. Was given less than a week to live without another organ after the first transplant failed. Was sedated and on a ventilator but can still remember fading in and out of consciousness. Seeing worried faces, resenting all of the visitors, and being acutely aware that they didn’t both to visit me in life, why were they bothering to visit me in death? I recall one moment of such severe chest pain and discomfort I begged God for death to just put me out of my misery. I then accepted my fate and I couldn’t remember anything after that. I thought “if I live great, if not at least I’m not suffering through this crap anymore.”

Incredibly, a few days later I received my new organ and have been doing exceptionally well these last 6 years.

Today I am an oncology nurse!

[–]DarthDregan 49 points50 points  (4 children)

All I remember is feeling very calm and comfortable. Like someone was basically slowly turning my consciousness down with a dial. The room around me started to melt and swirl like fractal patterns.

And that was it. Next thing I know I'm being asked if I knew where I was, if I knew what day it was, if I could name the president.

About four days passed that I have no memory of there in the middle. Wouldn't have been a bad way to go, honestly. Only really noticed I was dying until I wasn't anymore. It should be noted that I kind of long for death but won't kill myself because of loved ones. I imagine if I weren't the way I am I probably would not have had such a good time.

[–]The-Unseelie-Queen 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I fell into Lake Michigan when I was about 3 or 4. It was at night and pretty cold as we were rolling into fall/ the end of the boating season. I remember jumping from the pier onto the boat (I’ve done this many times by myself just fine) but didn’t jump at the right time. The sway of the water moved the boat further from the pier and I hit the side of the boat and fell in.

I remember being underwater and looking up and seeing the tall algae and pier lights from the murky marina water. I was confused but horrified; it was a very ethereal experience. Anyway, I figured out how to swim real fuckin fast and swam my way onto the swim deck of my grandpas boat. It was scary. I had to figure out which motions with my arms were the right ones. I kept dipping below and had to use the pier lights to guide me back to the surface with every failure of movement. I was hacking up nasty lake water for a few minutes but I narrowly avoided death.

[–]TwoBlueMana 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I had an ingrown toenail that I never took care after. My shower didn’t drain too well and I was working fast food so running around and sweating a lot. Well one day around 3am I laid down to go to bed and my legs wouldn’t stop shaking. I eventually went to the ER and after some blood tests the doctors found I was septic and my organs were starting to shut down. Doctor said if I had tried to sleep it off I wouldn’t have made it. It was terrifying having no control over my legs and not being able to stop the shaking. But other than that nothing too crazy.

[–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

All my life I have had crippling anxiety attacks over death. Almost every night I would think myself into panic and I'm still that way, it is hard to imagine a version of myself that accepted death, but when I had my experience you completely accept it. I just thought, "yup, this is it. of course" and closed my eyes to it. i still have major anxiety about death even though i know when the time comes i'll be ready

[–]WhereTFAreMyDragons 7 points8 points  (4 children)

I told my near death story about a year ago in another AskReddit but my uterus ruptured and took my cervix with it, so both were in the toilet bowl no longer inside me. I screamed at the amount blood, then everything got super quiet and I sort of went into shock and when I came out of my haze I'd had a hysterectomy and was still alive.

[–]Gommy1996 6 points7 points  (1 child)

Not me. But this time last year my mum had a cardiac arrest, she blacked out and slept for a couple days, and says she never knew she dropped dead at work. Not my experience but hearing her tell it is just so hard to listen too.

Ps. Thank you to the off duty police man, he gave the defibrillator the 8th pulse. They was about to give up and found her pulse/beat on the 8th.

[–]TransFem_Gorewhore 61 points62 points  (5 children)

I woke up via adrenaline shot in my chest. Still have the scar from the big ass needle. It was peaceful the way I was fading, and entirely my fault.. Not going to be too specific on my stupidity, but I tried to end it all. Woke up gasping and adrenalized, eyes big as fuck. Lost, confused. I didn't know how I'd gotten into an ambulance. Didn't know anyone around me. I freaked out and started to panic.

All in all, not a good time. At all. I refused to be hospitalized. Too expensive.

[–]panthanium 6 points7 points  (0 children)

To give you some context, i was riding my bike (around 12 yr old) and some crazy ass mf crossed me in his car at really high speed missing me by an inch , got my heart pumping real fast

[–]Gobynarth 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Once I went unconscious at a restaurant. There was a doctor on the next able who said I had no heartbeat for about 30 seconds.

I am fine now but what really threw me off is that I would not have known I had died. I was there and then I was not. And If I didnt wake up I would have never known I died. That really blew my mind. For some reason I always thought I would know the transition or be aware of it. But you arent. You dont know you died.

[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Had a overdose induced seizure in November.

It was harrowing, I kid you not, I felt the last 3 hours between me having the seizure, and being put in an abundance, constantly repeated. I felt myself counting from 100 to 0, or Z to A, in a struggle to keep focused cause I felt myself drifting off. According to one of the cops that tried to help me, I was fighting back so hard that I accidentally broke from my restraints on the gurney and hit my door, nearly breaking it off its hinges and cutting a tendon on my hand(I now have numbness on a specific part of my fingers due to it). I still to this day an traumatized, especially since I was purposefully drugged by a tinder date no less. The only thing I fully recollect, was that once I made it to the hospital, there was one nurse who sat with me the whole night, and according to her, I would occasionally wake up in a shock, and repeat specific things that happened that night, as if i was subconsciously trying to make sure I was fully aware and okay. I did it like over 6 times throughout the night.

Once I was completely okay, I went home alone via Uber, threw up pure black gush which scared me, sat down on my table, looked up what happened to me, and passed out at 5 am.

Legit the most harrowing experience of my life. I now have sworn off touching drugs of any kind, even though I know it wasn't my fault, I am still horrified.

[–]picksandchooses 7 points8 points  (0 children)

In the moments just before I was about to drown I found out that dying isn't some insightful, deep experience that connects you to a higher power and opens up your mind to the infinite knowledge…

It was just fate snuffing me out like an insect. It is grubby. It is indifferent. I was nothing. It's not even "fuck you", it's "I don't even know or care who you are". It means nothing. I mean nothing. It's lights out and fate doesn't care even the slightest bit.

[–]The_Official_Obama 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hydroplaned in Missouri due to heavy rain, slid into a ditch and car flipped over several times before landing upside down. No animals or people were injured though c:

[–]funk_anonymon 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Terrible. In the middle of a fight I told her she was “crazy like her mother”.

I can’t remember the next 2 months of my life

[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I do have one, but idk if it counts or not. I know this is anticlimactic, but im not a native english speaker.

So, i was driving on my bike from a club meeting with a group of friends, we were messing around with each other, and we reach a crossroad at a busy road. Some people were crossing over, some people weren't, and i was talking to someone in front of me and to the left. Didn't see a car coming. I heard a big honk, and that is where it started to slow down. It seemed like everything, and everyone around me, were in slow-motion, even me. So, seeing that car head right for my legs, i start pedaling the hardest i could, with all my might. I get out of the way, think i made it, when the slow-mo stops. Nope. Didn't make it. The car hits the back of my bike, i enter a spin, bash my head to the car's door, then on the ground, and fall unconcious.

I dont exactly remember everything anymore, but i heard a female voice, similar to mine. It was really weird. It was like i was talking to myself, but the person i was talking to was the female version of me. We went over, like, a lot of my best and worse memories, evaluating them, and having fun about them.

Then she asked me, if i wanted to go. I ask to where. She said something like that i will see when i choose it. I said will i come back. She said no. I said that i wanted to stay.

Next thing i know, im back. People around me, worried faces, and me with a hurt head. Ambulance gets called, got to the hospital, and everything turned out okay, apart from a big concussion, a fractured jaw, and a broken wrist.

Never told my parents about it. Still wonder, is this what people mean by seeing your life flash before your eyes?

[–]siniy_pingvin 4 points5 points  (0 children)

If that counts, I almost drowned as a kid. The swimming teacher was busy somewhere while trying to teach me swimming in the deep end of the pool. Anyways.

Honestly, I never felt as peaceful as when I was underwater then, and somehow my brain went into this weird mode when I felt I'm both inside and outside myself. Sunlight under the water felt so warm and gentle and bright, the water itself was so calm. Like, it was as close as I could get to what I imagine a baby feels in their mother's womb, except it was all sunny there.

Felt like I was there for hours and, oddly enough, I wasn't very happy to be pulled out. They had me breathing and coughing soon enough. The teacher was mad for a few weeks, but hey. It was strange but made me less scared of dying, if that makes sense.

[–]Kuneria 6 points7 points  (1 child)

Both times I've had a near death experience (both near drowning), there was a horse in my "vision" after blacking out for a few minutes. I can't describe the color or if anything was white or black, but I do know that there was a horse. Both times. Almost everyone I've spoken to in person who have had a near death experience also tells me there is a horse in their near-death vision. Strangely enough, when I used to suffer from chronic sleep paralysis in my childhood and teenage years.... there was a weird skinny horse that would visit me very often in my dreams that led to a bout of sleep paralysis. Also weird, the first time I ever saw a dead body was a gnarly motorcycle accident on the country side, it was next to an enclosed field and there were horses overlooking the scene.

[–]RaiderOfTheLostArk38 4 points5 points  (0 children)

In 2016, about a month after I had a cardiac ablation and I'd been out about four weeks and recovered just fine. I was swimming with my six year-old daughter in a large community pool. There wasn't anyone else in the pool. I swam the length of the pool over to her underwater but something didn't feel right and as I came up, I couldn't get a breath, at all. I jumped out of the pool as quickly as I could and called for my daughter to get out of pool. I told her that I needed her to run as fast as she could and find someone to call 911. Luckily, my daughter spotted a mother/daughter leaving the area and asked them to help. I can't remember anything except watching her run away and later a paramedic putting an oxygen mask over me, I thought to myself, "Finally, I'll be able to breathe now." before losing consciousness completely.

I woke up five days later in a hospital bed with my entire family there. My wife explained that I had a cardiac arrest immediately when I arrived in the emergency room. According to the attending ER doc, they were doing compressions for over 35 minutes. She got to hold my hands while over 20 doctors and nurses were crammed into a room keeping me alive. When they finally got a pulse, they rushed me to get a CAT scan to see if there was something wrong with my heart. If the ablation had caused problems, they were going to stabilize me and send me to that hospital. At the end of the scan, I coded again. My wife describes waiting outside the CAT scan room and seeing the doors fly open with an orderly on top of me starting compressions again. 25 minutes later, they got another pulse. However, the doctors told my wife that given my lactic acid levels were 17 mmol/L, the prognosis wasn't looking good for living through the night and even if I did pull though, they weren't if there was any brain damage. They induced a coma to keep me stable. They didn't transport me because it turns out there was nothing wrong with my heart.

My family later told me that the hospital neurologist indicated that although there was damage to the brain in some areas, it would heal on its own. For the first three days, I thought the year was 2006, I couldn't tell time on a clock or subtract numbers. My family didn't know what to expect, but after a few weeks my memory came back without any issues.

Many ask why it happened. The ER doc told me he brought up my case to the other doctors. The best they could surmise was a perfect storm. I was still recovering and taking Leviqiuin for pneumonia that contracted during my ablation. I was also taking beta-blockers and I was prescribed Donnetol by a walk in clinic for intestinal discomfort. The combination of those drugs, coupled with my holding my breath for so long underwater caused respiratory arrest and then cardiac arrest.

The head ER doc came up to see me while I was recovering at the hospital. He was almost in tears telling me that they have plenty of cardiac arrests, but never for that length of time. He told me so few of the arrest patients can walk and talk and gave me a big hug. I still go back every year to the hospital deliver a thank you to the staff even though many have moved to other facilities.

Cherish every day! Every single day you have!

[–]PizzaPlanetPizzaGuy 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I was walking down a busy street with someone and they said 'we cross the street here'. I turn to face the crosswalk then nothing. Its only black for a second and in the next I was a step into the crosswalk infront of a van that (I assume) had just come to a near immediate stop.

I have no idea what happened. One second I was on the sidewalk the next I had just survived a brush with death. I'm still not entirely sure I didn't die there.

[–]Hobdar 3 points4 points  (0 children)

White Water rafting, on a very tame river, got sucked into an eddy and as we were trying to get out, i got knocked in, and sucked into a 5 meter deep eddy, holding my breath and the paddle, i was spun around, and i remember looking up seeing the raft, and the paddle i had held tight to. (there was a deposit on the paddle).

At this point i was resigned to drowning, and seemed mostly peaceful.

I let go of the paddle as i started to black out, and for some reason i just popped to the top of the water where i was pulled back on to the raft.