Have You Ever Almost Died

[socalwingfan]

I forgot to pick up my wife at the airport 1 time - closest I've come to dying.

[Calgaryborn]

I think most of us has had several close calls if we thought about it and probably more times where we don't even realize how close we came to death. I'm glad your all right.

I can think of several times where I came close to death. The one that came to mind when you shared your experience was in the early 90s. I was working for a company which picked tree cones for Forestry. They in turn would germinate the seeds for replanting. Normally they fall the trees and collect the cones that way but, with larch trees the cones are pretty small and they lose a lot when they fall them in the grass. So my job was to climb the trees and cut all the branches up to five feet from the top. The branches then fall to the base of the tree with cones attached. Well anyways I was climbing these 100 foot trees and cutting all the branches with my hand saw on the way up. At about 7 feet from the top I would leave a branch about 18 inchs long to repel from. You need a branch at least the thickness of your finger to repel from. Anyways I was enjoying the view of Slocan lake and the fact that I didn't have to pack/use a chainsaw for this job and didn't pay attention to the height I cut my branch for repelling. A coworker in an adjacent tree yelled at me but, I couldn't hear him in the wind. He then pointed up so I looked up and saw the top was bent over towards me. I had placed the rope too high. Before my friend caught my attention I had repelled twice kicking out from the tree and dropping bout twenty feet each time.

[Dion]

A few winters ago i was heading into Calgary for a buddies Christmas party. We were at the dreaded Aldersyde turnoff. My buddy made his attempt to turn left onto HW #2. Problem was he misjudged the oncoming headlights when we merged onto the highway. Instantly we had a set of headlights bearing down on us very quickly. The other lane was not available as a cattle liner was in it. Basicly i grabbed the dash and braced for the collision and what i assumed would be our ultimate deaths. Turns out the driver of the pickup passed us by driving half on the shoulder and in the ditch to avoid re ending us.

Needless to say, i never drove with him again.

[pope04]

As a teen, I was on the highway on my 1977 CJ360T Honda bike, and an car at an approach to my right just didn't see me. He was executing a left just in front of me, and I had to swerve to miss him. My right pantleg ticked his bumper, and I was going probably 100 kph. I was okay until I got to my destination, and I got the shakes. I just shook and shook, realizing how close I came to becoming road pizza.

[Flames_Gimp]

once i crossed a road on a red light, even though car was coming..guess i misjudged the speed of the car because as i crossed the car missed me by 4 inches..didn't even slow down.

2004, collapsed lung and pneumonia..Complete respiratory failure in ER, was unconscious, they performed CPR brought me back!

in 2000 was traveling on a flight to Minnesota for wheelchair hockey tourney..upon final approach, all of a sudden full thrust and pulling up, I guess there was a stalled plane on the runway or something, our landing was aborted at the last second..

heard from the pilot after that if he had to abort 2 seconds later, would have been too late.

[peter12]

First time in Europe, I crossed a street in downtown Dublin. They have these tiny streets which they run these huge double decker buses around on. I looked the wrong way and stepped out into what I thought was a clear road. Some kind Dubliner grabbed my hoodie just as I stepped out and the side of a bus almost creased my nose. If I had finished my step my brains would have been splattered all over the road.

I thanked the guy, but didn't really realize how close it was until a few minutes later, when I started shaking like crazy.

[icarus]

Let's see...

- Sailing on the West Coast, a massive storm came up suddenly (gale-to-hurricane force winds which ended up knocking out power to 100,000 homes on the lower mainland), the jib sail tore and slid up to the top of the mast, was a huge flag that was very nearly pulled our boat over with a lee shore and an engine that wouldn't start. We rectified the situation but not before someone called in a mayday on us from shore, so we had all sorts of coast guard and fishing boats come to our rescue. That was probably the closest call.
- My parents tell me when I was a kid I thought it would be a good idea to put all sorts of those weighted doughnut-rings on my arms and legs and jump into the deep end of the local pool. I have the vaguest recollection of this, but I had to be rescued.
- Cross-country skiing in Kananaskis, was going down a steep hill with a bend at the end, lost an edge and slid to the lip of a drop off into a ravine just before I was able to slow down enough to grab on to something.
- Probably a few times while driving. In fact just the other day I was a passenger in my buddy's car and almost got t-boned coming out of a parking lot by a guy who didn't have his lights on at night. Have slid out on black ice on the highway before, also very nearly got rear-ended into an intersection on Crowchild while stopped at a red light.

[icarus]

Originally Posted by peter12

First time in Europe, I crossed a street in downtown Dublin. They have these tiny streets which they run these huge double decker buses around on. I looked the wrong way and stepped out into what I thought was a clear road. Some kind Dubliner grabbed my hoodie just as I stepped out and the side of a bus almost creased my nose. If I had finished my step my brains would have been splattered all over the road.

I thanked the guy, but didn't really realize how close it was until a few minutes later, when I started shaking like crazy.

Dublin is just about the most dangerous place to cross the street that I've ever been to. Narrow roads, blind corners, lights that never change, and speeding motorists.

[Eastern Girl]

I was crossing the street at an intersection and all of a sudden a guy ran the red light and tboned a car that was in the intersection waiting to turn left. The car that got hit went in my direction and I had to scurry to get onto the curb, narrowly avoided getting hit by it. The guy that ran the light hadn't noticed the light, given that he was in the middle of an important cell phone conversation. I really hate cell phones.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by 4X4

But then walked away with mere scratches? I've had a couple close calls, but yesterday really tripped me out. I've been trying to forget about this for ~24 hours, but I can't.
I work in land development (we build custom homes) so I'm around constructions sites daily. Yesterday, I was going into one of our projects and the ramp gave way and I fell about 3 feet and landed on my back. Doesn't really sound like much until you consider that as I rolled over to get up, I encountered a piece of rebar sticking up out of one of the pilings for the (future) deck. This thing is sticking up about a foot out of the ground. And it wasn't close to my leg or my ass, it ended up between my back and my arm. Imagine that. Falling a few feet off a gangplank, landing on your back, and a piece of metal seperating your torso and your arm.
So I was within inches of having a long piece of metal pierce my lung or heart, but instead, it did nothing at all. My elbow hurts. That's all. Oh, and my clothes got dirty.

Needless to say, I drank heavily last night.

Geez, and I thought I was gonna hear about a horror story that involved driving fast along the Deerfoot whilst text messaging)))

[FireFly]

Not me but my brother has almost killed himself twice... If anyone knows where Bergen is, there's a cliff right there and there's a slight jog in the road. My brother hit that going too fast and couldn't turn and ended up over the cliff. Car flipped twice and he walked away with a bump on his head from the button on his ball cap. Wasn't even wearing his seat bealt.

The second time he fell asleep at the wheel and banana'd his car on a culvert thing. Smashed his nose against the steering wheel, and made his face uglier, but that was about it. Lucky . He's dummied up for the most part.

[Ford Prefect]

I've been thrown from a rolling vehicle twice, both times at highway speeds. The first time all I got was a concussion and amnesia for about 12 hours. The second time I broke my neck in 3 places, including what's euphemistically call the Hang Mans' Bone, aka the odontoid bone. You're not supposed to break it ... doing so normally stops your heart, lungs and all other organs. That didn't happen to me ... I wasn't even paralyzed. What I took away from all that, and I'm sure 4X4 would agree, is that if it ain't your turn, it ain't your turn. That, and I don't think it's my lot to be killed in an MVA. I may slip on a bar of soap and break my neck, but I seem to be impervious to MVAs.

[JiriHrdina]

Coming back from Bragg Creek along the single highway by taht golf community (Pine Meadows - fart the name escapes me) anyhoo there is semi truck in the turning lane coming the other direction wanting to turn left across the highway. I'm bootin' along and he's sitting there and all of a sudden he starts turning left across my path. It's far too late for me to stop so instead my only choice is to go over into the ongoing lane - where there is a second semi coming my direction.

So I'm flying towards basically two semis hoping there's enough room for me to squeeze between the one turning left and the one coming head on. Thankfully the other trucker I think realized what was happening and moved over as much as he could - and I just squeezed through.

Probably was closer than it felt but as it was happening I thought I was fuggered.

[icarus]

Originally Posted by FireFly

Not me but my brother has almost killed himself twice... If anyone knows where Bergen is, there's a cliff right there and there's a slight jog in the road. My brother hit that going too fast and couldn't turn and ended up over the cliff. Car flipped twice and he walked away with a bump on his head from the button on his ball cap. Wasn't even wearing his seat bealt.

Was this at the T-intersection at the Bergen Store, where the road from Sundre meets the Bergen Road?

[GirlySports]

Didn't get enough sleep studying for final exams one January. Took the exam in the morning and was so relieved it was over. Relaxed, drove home and fell asleep at the wheel. Drove off the road and into a snowbank at regular speed. If that snowbank wasn't there who knows what/who I would have ran into or if I would have survived.

It was a lesson for me to always get enough sleep and not to drive when tired.

[bigtmac19]

Originally Posted by socalwingfan

I forgot to pick up my wife at the airport 1 time - closest I've come to dying.

LMAO

[4X4]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Didn't get enough sleep studying for final exams one January. Took the exam in the morning and was so relieved it was over. Relaxed, drove home and fell asleep at the wheel. Drove off the road and into a snowbank at regular speed. If that snowbank wasn't there who knows what/who I would have ran into or if I would have survived.

It was a lesson for me to always get enough sleep and not to drive when tired.

You actually slept through driving off the road? Haha. My ex g/f would pound the floor if I was watching TV on volume level 1 while she was trying to sleep. I think I love you.

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by icarus

Was this at the T-intersection at the Bergen Store, where the road from Sundre meets the Bergen Road?

Yup. He was heading west at that intersection.

[CaptainCrunch]

Three times

1) When I was 11 I wasn't paying attention on my bike, went across an intersection and was hit by a speeding car. I basically flew over the car bounced off of the asphalt and had a second car miss my head by about a foot

2) I had a bullet miss my head by about a foot, but I have a scar to remind me because it hit the stone wall that I was sitting behind and I got a rock chip in the forehead.

3) About 5 years ago I had a cardiac episode, my vision sank to pinprick size, I had crushing pains, and I went down.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Once after a head on collision on the highway was my mangled wreck was spinning out of control I was headed off a cliff. About a 200 foot drop. I happened to land on a ledge that was about a 20 foot drop. Said ledge was barely wide enough for the car.

Probably the closest I've been.

I had something similar. Hit some black ice on a bridge deck one night about 43km West of McBride BC and my VW GTI spun out of control on me as I was going up the hill. Theres a curve that goes right and I kept going straight and just missed the guardrail and launched off the side of the hill, rolling over once. Luckey for me there was a tree there that was just big enough to hold my VW from tumbling about 100 feet into the freezing creek below.

I walked away without any injuries whatsoever, or at least none yet and thats 10 years ago now that it happened. But if that tree doesn't catch me would I have stayed conscious through the whole thing and been able to get out of the car when it went into the river? I had a hammer in the fricken car of all things so had I stayed conscious I think I could have smashed out a window or the sunroof to get out if I'd needed. But the people who saw the scene think the tree saved my life, tow truck driver claims he'd pulled a few vehichles out of that creek where the occupants of the car had drowned. So who knows. Maybe I burned up one of my spare lives there.