We're all human.
Reddit user, u/RonTheChicken, wanted to hear the harrowing tale when they asked:
What's the closest you've been to dying?
The worst part about most of these stories is how quickly they can come about. You're living your life, not thinking of death, when suddenly you're forced to immediately ponder how you're going to make it out alive.
A Story Worth Being Told
"Right after I was born I wasn't breathing at all. I obviously don't remember what happened but I slowly started breathing more and more and my mom finally got to hold me 8 hours after being born.'"
"I couldve only lived a few minutes if I wouldn't started breathing."
Why Would You Need To...Oh, You Were Underwater
"Do you know how difficult it is to open the door on a submerged car? Cuz I do. Not fun, wouldn't recommend."
Boy, Those Rocks Are Coming Up Awfully Fast...
"Me and the gymnastics team of my country decided to go on a trip to Greece with our gfs/bfs. One day we saw a cliff diving spot and me and the boys decided to go there as our gfs were at the shops shopping. So there was a big cliff like 20 metres tall and people were jumping off from it into the sea. So us being the daredevilish gymnasts we were we went to jump off too. So by that.te we all jumped like 4 times to get the hang of it and then we started flipping and doing tricks off of it. So there was this guy in front of us that wasn't a gymnast that decided to do a flip."
"Clearly he hadn't done that before because with the trojectory he had he was gonna land short of the sea into the rocks and die. So I was next to him in the line to jump so when I saw him getting the wrong trojectory I said in my head "ok all or nothing" so I jumped almost a second later and because I wasn't flipping like him I went down faster and because I aimed at the sea in front I pushed him and me in the air to the sea. In the end we both landed in the sea and I saved him from going on the rocks. We could have both died but it was way worth it. That's the closest I've been to dying and trust me I have done extreme stuff before."
Life is a roll of the dice sometimes, and even when the window of desired result is small, you somehow still hit the double 6s. These people made it out when there should have been no reasonable way for them to survive.
A Welcome Failure
"Stepped in two trip-wire IED's that failed to detonate."
"Had a guy face me with a PKM and cut loose at about 30-40 meters. He missed with all 40-50 rds, no idea how, I was in the ball open."
Okay, Brag.
"Which time?
-Heat stroke in june 2007 iraq with 112 degree core temp.
-Heat exhaustion 2008 with 106 core temp.
-IED blast 2012 Afghanistan."
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Already In A Lucky Space
"During giving birth a large blood vessel rupured causing a big bleeding. But I was in hospital anyways and the doctors rushed for medication and stiches and everything was fine, I never lost consciousness or needed a transfusion."
Dragged Away From Shore
"I was in Taiwan for holidays, and went swimming in the sea. A big wave toppled me over and brought me a few meters from the coast. The waves were too strong for me to go back to the beach, and I started to have trouble staying on the surface and breathing. Luckily my friend was a good swimmer and was able to get me back to shore. The whole thing lasted a few minutes but I definitely thought I was going to die there, barely 5 meters away [from] safe ground."
Seeing Your Fate In Another Headline
"When I was being an idiot in the middle of the night and crashed my car going well over 100mph. Hit multiple polls and rolled my car. Walked away with a small bruise from the seat belt. Two people died in a nearby city a week later in an almost identical crash."
Fortunately, these stories are all about people almost dying, narrowly escaping death's grasp when the fingers were just about to close around their necks.
Or when death forgot to turn the water off.
Wait, You Couldn't Get...Okay...
"Spontaneous pneumothorax. Twice. 2nd time I didn't want have surgery my left lung completely collapsed chest filled with blood plasma and air started to crush my right lung. My heart beat went da dum bloop da dum bloop in stead of the the normal da dum da dum because it would pop air bubbles when it would beat."
"I was a senior in highschool. Only reason I went to the doctor the 2nd time was because I had this gorgeous girl over and couldn't get fully hard because I wasn't getting enough air and she kept commenting on how odd my heart beat was. Haha"
So Soon Ago...
"few hours ago, i turned on the water heater in the bathroom to take a shower and went outside to grab something, and suddenly it exploded, the whole house shook and my ears were immediately blocked and my eyes hurt from the flash, i turned off the electric circuit just incase, and went to the bathroom just to find it completely broken and splashing water while wires were hanging out off it, i still can't process that i could've waited longer and just got electrocuted while burning with almost boiling hot water."
With Friends Like These...
"14 years old, went to my mates house to drink with his parents asleep upstairs. I remember having two drinks then nothing till I woke in the hospital. Turns out I'd been very drunk and sitting on the floor, I asked my mates for a glass of water and they gave me a glass of vodka which I drank entirely. I then was more drunk and wouldn't wake up so they poured glasses of water over me to try wake me, then dragged me into the bathroom next door into the bath and left me soaking wet in a freezing cold bathroom. Luckily his mum came downstairs and found me in their bath (not sure how long I was in there before she came down) they found me blue, shivering, soaking wet, and they couldn't wake me at all so they called an ambulance."
"They arrived and had to inject me with adrenaline to get me able to move into the ambulance, they then had to treat me for hyperthermia because of the freezing cold water. I was 30 minutes from death according to them, my three mates literally left me there to die in that bathroom. Safe to say I was grounded for a bit and didn't drink until much further down the line like I should've done in the first place. My mates came up with some story about us being out before we went to the house and that I must've taken drugs when they weren't there to see it so that they weren't the ones who caused the state I was in. I am no longer friends with these people..."
At Least You Have A Fun New Nickname?
"Went to the top of a mountain to ride some mountain bikes down it with my friends. There were some of their parents there to haul the bikes up there too. My brake pads were worn out so I was uncomfortable going down on it, so I was walking it down to the trailhead where I'd be ok."
"One of the parents said I'd be fine if I just pumped the brakes as I went down, so I did. I was nervous as I got on the seat, but I tried it nonetheless."
"Before I knew it I was going too fast to stop, because even though I was pumping the brakes, the pads were so worn and loose that it didn't matter. I must've been going about 30-40 mph before I sped past my group yelling, "I'M SPEEDY MAGEE."
"I noticed the start to the trailhead was on an incline, so I headed up the incline and fell off my bike in a controlled crash."
"I didn't notice until months later that I was so close to dying when my friend told me he thought I was going to die because we were on the edge of a cliff when all that happened."
"My tunnel vision prevented me from realizing how scary and dangerous it actually was."
Something To Live With Forever
"I traded duty days and the person that I traded with died that night with the rest of the crew."
"Do you ever feel guilty or bad about it?"
"He traded because he wanted to be off the next duty day for his young son's birthday. Yes, but I realize it's something that I had no power over."
