What is the closest to death you have come?

[Major Tom]

Some friends and I caravaned up to Virginia City to see Haley's comet, so I was about 20. Unfortunatley, the sky was too cloudy, so we turned around and drove back. Another guy and I ended up racing down the hill. Lots of curves, very little guardrail. I went around a corner at about 60 MPH and hit black ice. I was headed for the edge of the highway, about to careen down a cliff. Next thing I know, I'm on the other side of the road, backed into an embankment. Don't know how it happened, but I should have dived off the cliff. I still get antsy on curvy roads.

I remember seeing a motorcycle lying on it's side about 20 years ago on the mountain road between Virginia City and Reno with no rider in sight. The edge of the road was a sheer drop.

 

[Major Tom]

Yet another motorcycle story here. About 15 years ago I was on Franklin westbound and stationary, at a stop light at the intersection of Franklin and Cahuenga in Hollywood. I was in between 2 lanes of traffic. When the light turned green I took off (too) quickly. A driver heading south on Cahuenga ran the red light and smashed into the side of a car which was heading east on Franklin. I jammed my brakes on so hard that I came off the bike, which landed on my leg. Luckily, the bike stopped before I hit the car but only just - it was a few feet in front of me. Another split second and I would have been toast.

A day or two later I saw a dead motorcyclist lying covered in a sheet on Sunset Blvd. Promptly freaked out and bought a Volvo.

 

[treypar]

I was scuba diving in the Florida keys. Upon driving home, I started getting dizzy which made me finally stop in Miami and check into a hotel. It got worse and finally I went to the hospital where I was immediately diagnosed with decompression sickness. At midnight I was sent by ambulance to the decompression chamber and spent 12 hours in there with a doctor. The doctor said that if I had not stopped and kept driving I would have probably died.

 

[BTravlin]

I was a volunteer cop for nine and a half years. So pick a day...any day, and there you go.

I've heard of rent-a-cops but what's a volunteer cop?

 

[RunningBum]

Ruptured appendix, stayed at home 2.5 days thinking it was a stomach flu. It ruptured in the middle of the night and flu was going around so I didn't realize the pain had come on suddenly. Later I read somewhere that the mortality rate for someone who went untreated that long was something like 20-30%.

Another time, I was skiing in upstate NY after only skiing in Colorado before, and didn't know how icy slopes could get. I lost an edge while going fast, and saw that I was headed towards a large snow making pipe and I remember it flashing through my mind that it would probably kill me. I managed to turn downhill some more, going faster but missing the pipe, and the next thing I saw was a fence post that I'd hit with my leg. I had time to think--broken leg--no death--take it. I hit right under the knee cap and only burst the sac, and the only break was the fence post. I was able to ski down and even made another run, because I was 25 and stubborn.

 

[bbbamI]

I've heard of rent-a-cops but what's a volunteer cop?

One that doesn't get paid......



It was a PR attempt from the police dept to start a citizen's police academy years ago. I went to the first one and loved it. I decided to be a volunteer cop...but after several years volunteering at the PD and at the court it was time for me to say bye bye...

 

[FIREd]

My dad nearly killed me. Several times.

My dad has a degenerative condition which seriously limits his field of vision. His peripheral vision is OK, but he can't see in front of him. And things get even dicier in low light conditions. My dad basically refused to admit he had a problem for years and kept on driving his car. He was a real danger to himself and others.

One night he gave us the ride of our lives. He was a bit tipsy from a party. The mountain road was dark and sinuous. A 100 ft. drop on the right and incoming traffic on the left. The car swerving erratically left and right. My sister and I screaming in the back. Him telling us to shut the f*** up. I still don't know how we made it alive. Soon after we took his license and car keys away.

 

[Surfdaddy]

2007. Perfectly healthy one day. Woke up next day with a urinary tract burning. Called the urologist, he prescribed an antibiotic over the phone. Took it and symptoms went away in 24 hrs, but over next few days started to have fevers. Was surfing internet at 6pm a couple days later, feeling ok, started getting chills, went to bed. Wife came in 2 hrs later and I had 105, shivering violently. She called 911. I awoke in ER, they were packing ice around me. I didn't remember how I got there (I had fire/ambulance take me). 105 fever, heart rate 160, bp 90/40 and falling. I was in bad shape but I was aware enough that I KNEW it was bad. I was in septic shock. Four days in ICU including a bout of pneumonia and trouble breathing. Scared the crap out of me. This has a 50% mortality rate.

I'm a lot less up tight about money than I used to be, and I appreciate every day. It changes you.

 

[Lisa99]

My dad nearly killed me. Several times.

My dad has a degenerative condition which seriously limits his field of vision. His peripheral vision is OK, but he can't see in front of him. And things get even dicier in low light conditions. My dad basically refused to admit he had a problem for years and kept on driving his car. He was a real danger to himself and others.

One night he gave us the ride of our lives. He was a bit tipsy from a party. The mountain road was dark and sinuous. A 100 ft. drop on the right and incoming traffic on the left. The car swerving erratically left and right. My sister and I screaming in the back. Him telling us to shut the f*** up. I still don't know how we made it alive. Soon after we took his license and car keys away.

WOW! scary situation incredibly well written. I could see myself in that backseat scared to death!

 

[BUM]

P.F.C. to death more than once. Nuff said.

 

[LightningDawg]

Low Sick...

1996. Critically ill with fluid around my lungs and heart.
Had to go to emergency surgery to drain the fluid from the pericardium.
Still on medication to this day....

 

[donheff]

Lots of motorcycle mishaps which is why I won't get one now even though I like them. Mine was in 1969. I was coming out of a 35 mile zone and when it kicked up to 65 the car ahead of me kept going slow. I saw a clear stretch in the left lane and goosed it around the car. Turns out he was going slow because the car in front of him was going slow because a couple of teen age girls in front of him were looking for their turn. They found it just before I came flying up (probably around 55 by then). I tried to bypass them but didn't make it. I broadsided the girls (scaring the hell out of them) and flew over their hood and off down the highway. No helmet, of course, but luckily I tucked me head to my chest and just slid along on my back. Ended up with a lot of cuts a bruises and a destroyed leather jacket but nothing serious. I was in a bit of shock - when the ambulance arrived I kept telling the guys to rurn off the ignition so the battery wouldn't drain on my wrecked bike.

 

[obgyn65]

Once during my teenage years I nearly fell into a ravine, actually had a foot in it. I guess I never fully recovered since I have recurrent dreams about this incident, possibly the result of PTSD. Just writing these lines gives me the goosebumps... I am a survivor ~

 

[Meadbh]

I almost drowned when I was about 9 years old. My friend's family invited me to go with them for a day at the beach. Trouble was, the beach they chose was one they didn't know, and it has a major undercurrent. We were swimming close to the shore and suddenly we were a long way from the beach and out of our depth. We swam frantically but could not make any headway. Luckily people on the beach heard our cries for help and several adults rushed in to pull us to safety. I never went under but I was very rattled. I never told my parents about this incident.

 

[Lakedog]

Like others, have had mishaps involving motorcycles and autos, but some of my closest calls were work related -- on large wildland fires had several but the two that I have no trouble recalling are:

-- Working at night, a large tree (snag) fell on me resulting in several injuries (fractured vertebrae, spinal cord contusion, fractured ribs, broken arm requiring plates/screws, other minor injuries) - fairly long recovery period. Felt very lucky to survive this one. After a couple of years, I was close to normal and could run/exercise again but even now I have occasional neck issues if I lift heavy objects or turn my head too quickly.

-- On another incident in CA, winds changed suddenly causing erratic fire activity which cut off escape routes, but having radio contact and the good fortune of air tankers and large helos working the fire, got retardant drops on us just in time.

 

[BTravlin]

One that doesn't get paid......



It was a PR attempt from the police dept to start a citizen's police academy years ago. I went to the first one and loved it. I decided to be a volunteer cop...but after several years volunteering at the PD and at the court it was time for me to say bye bye...

Interesting, had never heard of such a program.

 

[Westernskies]

Despite a lot of stupid incidents when I was a teenager involving cars, motorcycles, and/or alcohol, my closest brush with the great beyond was probably a construction accident in the early 1990's. I got hit in the face by a 12-ton hydraulic jack that came off a post while lifting a house, knocked me out cold for ~45 minutes. (working by myself...) I woke up in a puddle of blood, one lens of my glasses shattered, glass shards driven into my eye and eye socket, one eyelid torn in half, skull fractured in a couple of places. I was 45 miles from town, no phone, so I drove myself to the hospital. Luckily the ER doc knew there was a good plastic surgeon at the hospital that night, so I have very little evidence of the accident today-though I ended up with 97 stitches. Incredibly, my eye was OK once all the glass fragments were removed.
No apparent brain damage, either (YMMV)

 

[W2R]

Good heavens, WS!! You are so lucky that the doctors were able to put you back together after that frightful accident. I'm glad you weren't blinded.

 

[Alan]

The closest I came to death was as a new born baby. I had a blood disease and had multiple blood transfusions to completely flush out and replace my blood. My Dad loves to tell the story of visiting the hospital and being unable to see me because of the quanity of sh*t I'd kicked all over the incubator

Consequently I became a blood donor as soon as I could at age 18, and my blood type was O= (rhesus negative and CMV negative) which is the type they use for new born babies. I thought this was particularly important and used to give 2 or 3 times a year until the BSE issue became an issue and in the USA I was unable to give blood.

 

[Moscyn]

Had one serious car accident, a few surgeries due to illness and many mishaps but I don't think I was ever close to death. Maybe the time I fell into the sea (don't know how to swim then and still don't know how now) and there was no one around. I just grabbed on to the side of the cliff wall and crawled my way out. First time I fell back in and managed to grab on to something and second time I managed to climb out. If I had just fallen and not grabbed onto anything, I would have drowned.

 

[Koolau]

Related elsewhere in the forum, most of my closest calls have been aircraft related. The paperweight in front of me as I type this is a valve lifter assembly from a 108 Lycoming engine that used to be attached to a Piper Colt. The valve lifter is the largest piece of engine I could find after we got the plane on the ground. (Actually, getting a plane on the ground is easy. Walking away, not so much.)

Below the top of the Washington monument, coming into Washington Natl. (Now Reagan) our plane performed a violent 60 degree turn which our pilot later described as a "missed approach". I was wondering if it was a missed approach into the back of a 747 or some such. Actually don't know how close this was. Maybe it was no big deal. Didn't feel so at the time.

On final into SLC UT, plane dropped about 1000 ft on final. Passenger's hands flew over our heads (kind of looked like the wave!) Wasn't as upset as you might think - until I overheard some airline employees on the ground an hour later saying "We almost lost 201 (or whatever our flight no. was)". Then I started to shake.

Nice peaceful balloon ride (my first - still my only) suddenly felt a puff of wind which isn't supposed to happen. Suddenly, from just ready to land near the chase vehicle, we were zipping 20 mph the opposite direction toward a forest. We were out of fuel and would be on the ground in less than a minute. The pilot took the only chance to drop the ballon 20-25 feet over power lines into the last clearing before the trees. Pilot ended up on top of me and I on top of DW and she on top of the propane tanks. The ooooOOOOhhhhhhwweeeeh factor is that this occurred about half a mile from the Colt forced landing some 20 years earlier. Can you spell Bermuda triangle?

 

[Ronstar]

The closest I came to death was probably a couple of years ago when I fell through the ice while ice skating on the lake behind our house. I fell in about a half mile from home - luckily only about 30 feet from shore. I made it shore by using my arms to break the ice and then had a rough time time climbing up the bank because I broke my ankle in the fall. The walk / crawl home took about an hour in which I turned into a human icicle. They had to keep me in the hospital ER for some time to thaw me out.

 

[Walt34]

Gee, where do I start?

At three weeks of age I underwent surgery for a blocked esophagus. It's routine now, but then it had a 50% survival rate.

At age 5 I ran out onto the street without looking and got nailed by a car. Fortunately the driver saw me coming and braked and turned the car so I got hit broadside by the fender or door. No injuries but it probably scared him just as much as me.

At 17 I was being stupid on a motorcycle and got a real good case of road rash but nothing serious. I looked like a mummy when I came out of the ER. But I still remember thinking "This is it" when I saw the concrete roadway coming up to meet me. Helmet? Those were for football players....

And I was a police officer for 29 years, 18 of them on the road. Too many to list there, suffice it to say that about once or twice a year somebody tried to kill me. Which is why, when I'm down about something, I'm still happy I can walk across the room and get myself a glass of water. I know a lot of people who can't. Funny though, it didn't really sink in how lucky I am until after I retired.

Maybe I should go splurge on that new camera after all....

 

[Nodak]

No really bad instances for me, rolled a car once about 30 years ago but walked away without a scratch. I guess the closest I ever came was having whooping cough at about 2 months old, doctors told my parents I probably wouldn't make it. Glad they were wrong.

 

[deserat]

Wow - lots of scary stories here - hmm, I've had some interesting experiences, but can't remember many 'near death' ones. Perhaps the one time I went swimming in the Gulf of Mexico (or was it the Pacific?) and a large wave fell on top of me, forcing me down to the bottom of the beach floor at the time and then pulling me back out to sea, scraping me along the way - I remember things really slowed down and I wondered if I would ever pop up....weird - you really do see your life pass by you - all of your sensory inputs go on full open, possibly causing that slowing down feeling....

I thought I was adventurous, but compared to some of you all.....