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I was drowning once in the rip tide at a local beach we frequented in Panama where I grew up. This was early 70s. My friend grabbed me by the hair and yanked me out.
In another incident, enroute to the same beach, a sand truck hit the VW van a bunch of us were in. I'd traded seats with another girl who was killed in that crash.
I'd imagine I'd have some extremely intense survivor's guilt had I been in your shoes
Yes. When I was a toddler, my biological parents almost killed me. They didn't succeed because a social worker that was working with the family had stopped by for an announced visit. She did the visit, left, but something in her gut told her that all was not as it seemed. So, she called the police and they all came back to the home.
I'm not going to go into further details, but the police found me and thankfully, that was the last day I ever lived with the biological parents, and they went to jail.
I remember one scene in my mind from that day. I remember scenes (like a second or two of 'video playback' memories) in my mind, to this day, from the time I was a year old. The only reason I know any of that day's events and the other 'snapshots' in time, is because the information was given to me when I was 21 and requested every last record available.
So sorry to hear of this 3Ws. Thank God for that social worker. Did you ever reconnect with her?
First time I was 19. Got off work around 5 pm. and drove all night with my girlfriend from Colorado Springs to Phoenix area.
Got within 1/2 mile to her Uncle's house, fell asleep at the wheel and ran into a telephone pole. Spent 6 months in hospital.
Ankle surgery, knee surgery, hip surgery, swollen brain (medically induced coma for about 3 weeks, and plastic surgery on my face. Girlfriend fared no better. On the bright side, I was in the Army and they covered all my medical expenses.
Ever since then I became a very very safe driver. Frequent breaks on road trips and no more 12 hour days.
Second time ( I was 23), I went with a partying buddy to pick up some party supplies. While we were in this apartment two guys busted in and all hell broke loose. Luckily, I was behind the door, and in the initial chaos I just ducked out and no one was the wiser. My partying buddy got shot in the leg. No one died, but two people got shot. The shooters accepted a plea deal
and that was that.
Think the Pulp Fiction scene where Jackson and Travolta's characters showed up, except I scurried out the door before the madness started.
As a teen during the summer of 1976, I twice stared down the barrel of a gun. A 3rd gun incident occurred in 1977. I recall responding differently during each incident.
The first time I stared down a gun, I ran as fast as possible and managed to dodge the would-be shooter. During the 2nd incident, despite being 16, I remained calm and mentally prepared to fight the adult in front of me if necessary. Luckily, the guy had second thoughts and put his gun away. This gave me enough time to leave unscathed. During the 3rd incident, a gun was aimed at someone else, but I was in the line of sight. This was nothing more than being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
I got electrically shocked in my 20s as I prepared to crawl through a pipe tunnel which connected two industrial workspaces. The shock was enough to contract my muscles which made it difficult to release the steel pipe which accidentally made contact with a broken incandescent lightbulb on drop cord. I used my bodyweight to dislodge my contracted hands from the steel pipe.
I had two bad car accidents which totaled the vehicles. I did not have broken bones but was concussed for 3 days. A Doctor diagnosed me with Post Concussion Syndrome.
As if this wasn't enough, in October of 2022, a Moderna booster vaccine I received caused blood clots which travelled through my heart and got stuck in my lungs. Doctors said I was extremely lucky the clots did not stop my heart or end up in my brain.
I never gave any of this much thought. But looking back, having escaped death 7 times, I guess I am one lucky guy.
First time I was 19. Got off work around 5 pm. and drove all night with my girlfriend from Colorado Springs to Phoenix area.
Got within 1/2 mile to her Uncle's house, fell asleep at the wheel and ran into a telephone pole. Spent 6 months in hospital.
Ankle surgery, knee surgery, hip surgery, swollen brain (medically induced coma for about 3 weeks, and plastic surgery on my face. Girlfriend fared no better. On the bright side, I was in the Army and they covered all my medical expenses.
Ever since then I became a very very safe driver. Frequent breaks on road trips and no more 12 hour days.
Second time ( I was 23), I went with a partying buddy to pick up some party supplies. While we were in this apartment two guys busted in and all hell broke loose. Luckily, I was behind the door, and in the initial chaos I just ducked out and no one was the wiser. My partying buddy got shot in the leg. No one died, but two people got shot. The shooters accepted a plea deal
and that was that.
Think the Pulp Fiction scene where Jackson and Travolta's characters showed up, except I scurried out the door before the madness started.
You poor thing. That was a heck of a price to pay for doing something stupid at 19. The stupid thing I did at 19 was get married . I had a car accident at 16 that should have killed me. I hit black ice and spun out into a ditch. If I had not gone backwards into the ditch I would have been gone that night. The centrifugal force pushed me back against the car seat instead of into the steering wheel. Seat belts were not really a thing back in 1978. I don't remember if I was using one (I kind of doubt it). I didn't start paying close attention to seat belts until I was ticketed back in 2003 and was sent to a scared straight thing...
When I was 8, I badly fractured my arm falling off of my bike. Repairing it required surgery, and during the surgery I went into cardiac arrest. I was "dead" for a brief time with no heartbeat, until the doctors got my heart beating again.
After I woke up from the anthesia, before anyone told me what had happened, I told my mother that I had been floating near the ceiling in the operating room and watching the doctor and nurses frantically trying to revive me. I described a young doctor who ran into the room to help (it turned out that there was a doctor matching this description helping to revive me). Although I was watching what was happening, I felt calm and detached.
I don't know whether it was just a dream, the effects of anathesia, or reality, but this "memory" has stayed vivid in my mind for 62 years and I think about it often.
Eventually, I guess I'll find out whether it was real or not.
My friend's older brother stood on my back and held me down at the bottom of their swimming pool, jumping on me and knocking all the air out of me. That was the first time I remember almost dying. Another time, my panic stricken friend kept trying to climb me like a ladder in a very deep water pit and every time I would get my head above water, I'd go back down under. I remember everything going black and then throwing up on the shore. I don't know what happened in between.
I had a botched surgery and a very bad surgeon who damaged my diaphragm and my stomach. I kept asking him for help, but he sent me home in abject misery. My stomach was twisted, I couldn't eat, could barely breathe... finally another surgeon helped me and saved me from dying.
I'm not overly scared of the prospect of dying. It's much more painful to witness a loved one's suffering, in my opinion.
I had a few close calls when I was young and immortal but that had no impact. Later I had a drug overdose during back surgery and survived but shook it off. Now in my 70s I reflect on those and count my blessings. I had an experience a few years ago that would have been "death by misadventure", so I have toned down some of my stunts. I managed to give myself a concussion last September so that added to my cautious attitude.
I don't know if this is on topic. As far as how experience described below changed me, keep in mind I was ten years old at the time. Mostly, I really loved Sunday school and was nervous I would be unable to attend were I to die. As time went on, the main change was to increase my tendency to believe in G-d.
Books such as When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold S. Kushner, takes the position that G-d is a friend and a support, but since Biblical times has not made a practice in intervening in human affairs. As a Reform Jew, that is essentially what I believe. A phone call with a close friend, Norman, now gives me my doubts.
On December 2, 1967 I was playing ice hockey with Norman and a few other friends. We were ten. That mild day followed an unusually early cold snap. We frankly and obviously should not have been skating. I fell through the ice in the pond. My head dipped under water a few times. What I knew at the time, after I woke up in the hospital, was that my friend's 15 year old brother (maybe 16), Fred and his friend Jay found a greens' rope on the golf course. Jay tied a rope around his waste and Fred guided from the shore, pulling both the rescuer and myself from the icy drink. I did not know that Norman was similarly rescued, since he went in after me as well. I survived and learned a lot about being careful and, as discussed above, about G-d.
What I did not know at the time was that Jay and Fred just "happened upon us." They were not scheduled to be there but just appeared. Being older, stronger and more mature they sprang into action. I always assumed they were skating on the pond, though not with us because normally 16 year olds don't play with 10 year olds. The potential "Hashem" involvement is obvious. My (step)sister wrote, in response to my email of the story, "(r)egarding your question, maybe G-d only intervenes when able to accomplish something doable." I like her analysis.
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Have you ever almost died or been killed?
