Pray you never find yourself in a situation like any of the people sharing their stories below.
Reddit user, u/teelurt87, wanted to hear about when you had to make the call when they asked:
The average person calls 911 twice in their lifetime. What crazy thing happened that made you call?
*fist pump in the air* Yeah!
Was driving between Prince George and McBride a few years back and, on a twisty bit of road, saw a plume of smoke deep in the bush.
Rang the wildfire hotline at the next mile marker and drove on.
Once we got home, we get a phone call saying a chopper had been dispatched, found a baby fire trying to get big, and was able to put it out.
The child in me is still excited that I made a phone call and got a helicopter launched.
Simply Asking For Directions
We saw an agitated guy run out onto a 4 lane street, throw himself down and roll on the ground. Called 911 to get him off the street and whatever help he needed... Turned out some a--hole taxi-driver pepper-sprayed him in the eye when he tried to get directions from him. (Ttaxi-driver said he was on break, so he didn't want to be disturbed while parked at the fricking train station).
The guy was completely blind and unaware he'd run onto the street. Also scared/wary of anyone approaching him because he couldn't establish whether we were there to help or continue the attack.
Probably would've been fine to call the non-emergency line in retrospect.. But we only found all of this out after the police and the ambulance had arrived.
Reactionary Citizens
Saw an old man get tboned in an intersection I was walking parallel to. His door got wedged shut, and he was bleeding badly by the time I got to him, called 911 and they ended up using the jaws of life to open his car up like a tuna can
They Should Always Believe You, No Matter Where You Are
My aunt was unconscious, 911 told me I was lying as my voice was still so soft when I was 18 and they thought I was a child and they asked for my aunt to come to the phone. Good thing my grandma came back from the shop and called for help.
999 for me...
A drug addict burst into my house wearing nothing but his underpants. He was ranting like a mad man. I ran at him and hit him so hard he flew back out through the door. I slammed the door shut, locked it and called the police
Right Place, Right Time
1- I was in my apartment one night when I heard people shooting right outside my window. I immediately call the police and set up a camera to maybe catch something. The camera ran for 8 hours. I stayed up for another 3 before sleeping in another room. In the morning I checked the camera. No cops showed up! There could've been some poor person in that back alley bleeding to death and no one came for them.
2- So this older gas station attendant was murdered by these three people. The local news showed the picture of them clearly. The next day, not 24 hours later, I went to a casino with my grandmother for the buffet, and who should be hanging out at the main entrance? The three murderers. Same clothes and everything and we were just a few blocks away from where it happened. I immediately called 911, they told me to call the Homicide department. I did, I got a f-cking machine telling me that homicide closes at 4pm! So I call 911 again and say that they need to get someone there because these three people are going to get away. Nothing. They didn't send anyone, they didn't do anything, they didn't care, I only hope that the family of the poor gas station attendant somehow got justice or closure, because the police certainly didn't provide it.
Lucky You. You're Above The Average.
I'm above average, I guess.
- An uncle had a stroke while visiting.
- Was a passenger in the car while the driver had a seizure (luckily while at a stop sign, so we just rolled through an intersection into a pole, at like 5mph).
- Witnessed a bicyclist get nailed by a vehicle.
- Witnessed a shark attack.
Right In Front Of You
Watched a guy have a heart attack right in front of me mid conversation at work.
He didn't make it.
A Harrowing Tale
Worked at a group home. Many of the kids were having a weekend back with their families. We had a couple of boys who... Well, it wasn't safe for them to have a weekend at home.
So we treated them like kings that weekend, since they were super bummed about everyone else getting to have a family weekend. We're on our way back from town when we get behind a vehicle going like, 30 below the speed limit.
It's a windy ozark road, so I chalk it up to some older folks uncomfortable with the steep shoulder and narrow road. But then they start weaving around, ALL over the road. They took blind turns in the lane of oncoming traffic. It was SCARY.
So we called 911 and reported a suspected drunk driver.
Well, there's not much out this way on the road other then our ranch, so I started to get the sick feeling that it was one of the group-home boys' parents. And then a head popped over the back seat and looked back at us, and I recognized the kid.
I'm on the phone with dispatch and I say "Good God, they've got one of our boys in the car!" She asks what I mean and I explain, which was pretty good because then they knew where the vehicle was headed, not just where it was.
I stopped at the ranch office to let the director know what was going on, just to see the parent driving off property again. Not even 10 seconds later a sheriff comes FLYING up the road. I ran out and pointed to the car that he'd just driven by, and he pulled the fastest u-turn I ever saw and took off after them.
I went up to the house and went to check on the kid, and he said they'd driven from a town 2 hours away like that. He was white as a sheet and said he was shocked they made it here alive.
She was arrested for her 9th DUI and driving with a suspended license.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
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