Shaking hands with the Grim Reaper

[Smudge]

Something we were discussing at the pub the other night. How close have you come to death?

Probably two instances for me:

1) When I was 6, I had bacterial meningitis - I was not feeling well at all so mum took me to our local doctor. Luckily for me, the doctor had seen a case of meningitis a couple of weeks ago and recognised it immediately, telling my mother to take me to the hospital and to make sure that the hospital wouldn't send us away.

Despite this, the doctors at Waikato hospital still weren't convinced until I went through the lumbar puncture which, thankfully, I can't remember. I was in intensive care for about 10 days, but pulled through to be the awesome bastard I am today, with only a hint of brain damage...

2) Went up to do a skiing story at Mt Hutt. On the way back down the access road at the end of the day, the photographer (who was driving) decided to inch past a bus which was travelling at 10km/h, so slowly released the brakes and eased out of the trail.

As we got halfway past the bus, we hit some black ice and slowly spun around and started heading backwards towards the drop side of the road, with a 500-metre drop awaiting us. Luckily, the resort had seen the sense to build up the open edge with banks of snow which stopped us as we hit the bank. We looked at each, breathed a sigh of relief and turned around, barely speaking a word as we continued down the road.

 

[Kweek]

Good thing you had a smart doctor!

closest i've came is when I was about 6 or 7 a grape got stuck in my airhole and despite trying to make it clear to my family that I was choking, they didn't really, my sister thought I was waving at something in the fridge and asked if I wanted it..until I somehow got through to my mother who tried the heimlich but failed and in the end decided to get the grape with her bare hands.

2.
Not really shaking hands with the grim reaper but hanging 500m above a mountain with a dysfunctional skilift with a very sudden hard wind was not really comfortable as it took about 1.5 hours till it finally started working.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

A mate drove too quickly down a motorway slip road onto the M25 and the vehicle spun. A big articulated lorry was following us down the slip road, and we were fortunate enough to spin just off the slip road and onto the grass verge and the lorry avoided us by the skin of our teeth. Didn't really have time to panic about it at the time, but there was tangible relief as we drove off.

 

[_Ed_]

When I had my wisdom teeth taken out, an infection spread to my heart. All the doctors and nurses over my four days in hospital were saying reassuring things like "you're gonna be fine", but then just before I was sent home, the main doctor who was looking after me came in to the ward to see me and said, "whew, that was close." Probably a good thing they didn't tell me that at the time, really.

 

[Ausage]

This thread to be a testament to how much safer we all are when we're not driving.

 

[Cruxdude]

There was this incident like 3 years earlier. Me and my friends at university went on a trip to a hill station in north India. There was this small pool of water with a small waterfall. Most o us guys knew nothing about swimming but still got into the water. With time we got a bit close to the waterfall without realizing it, and one guy kind of got pulled under the water. He pulled me down along with him while trying to get a grip on something. I kind of panicked as I just couldn't manage to get my head out of the water. Luckily there was this one guy who was a pretty strong swimmer who pulled us out. Am scared to get into water now. (except while taking baths)

 

[Top_Cat]

1) Had double pneumonia as a kid, as did my twin sis. Doctors told my parents to pray that we lived through the night. Dad said **** off, I'm an atheist, you ****s better save my kids, etc. Then prayed anyway.

2) Last year, crashed my plane on my 3rd solo flight. We hadn't covered crosswind landings yet so, of course, flying solo I got hit with some crosswind on short final. Thought about going around but as quickly as it hit, it went away. Touched down and had a bounce as many students do occasionally, including me, not usually a big deal. Crosswind again, pushed me to the left of the runway. Tried full power/bootful of right rudder for a go-around but was too low/slow, stalled, left-wing dipped and threw me to the left, nosed into the dirt on the 2nd taxiway.

Plane was written off; curly prop, nosewheel lying 30m behind the plane, right mainwheel bent underneath, tail snapped off. I ended up with a huge bruise on my bum and bloodied knuckles. The really scary part was when the left wing dipped; luckily I wasn't 100ft in the air as I knew when that happened, I was literally just hanging on for the ride and the plane was out of control.

Thing is, I was largely fine. Was in shock a bit of course but felt okay. Went to Mum's after calling Kirki (the accident was on the news and I was worried she'd see it) and lost my **** but still, after a few minutes, was alright. Can only imagine the shock of my mates who heard on the radio that was a crash and sms'ed me with "Good one, ya tool!" as a gag without knowing it was actually me.

I only mention I was fine because you know what the absolute worst part of the whole thing was? My treatment at the hands of the flying school. Without going into detail they, not the crash, were the reason why I stopped flying for a while. That and knee arthroscopy which may have been crash-related, not sure. I tried a few flights on and off in the interim before finding a new school but it was so hard getting back into the cockpit, had to psych myself up every time. Confidence took a major hit and only now just starting to get back to feeling somewhat comfortable behind the controls again. ****s.

 

[Mr Casson]

1) When I was four I cut the power cord to the TV with a pair of scissors while it was on. Have no idea why I did that but I assume it's the reason scissors are made with plastic handles.

2) When I was seven we were on a driving holiday starting in Cairns and ending in Tasmania, and while we were in Sydney my parents arranged to see a family friend in Gosford. This was just after the '93 bushfires and there were a lot of oil slicks on the road, one of which we hit and collided head on with a car coming in the other direction. My dad spent months in ICU and years in recovery with amnesia but amazingly no one was killed. The worst I copped was having a cheeky spew a few hours after.

3) When I was about nine and a much worse swimmer than I am now (which says a lot because I'm still ****) I nearly got carried out in a rip somewhere near Coogee but some old dude came and helped me get back.

 

[Pothas]

Has meningitis when I was two, obviously have no recollection of his apart from the awesome Gorrilla soft toy that I got bought.

 

[Smudge]

Has meningitis when I was two, obviously have no recollection of his apart from the awesome Gorrilla soft toy that I got bought.

The thing I remember, and hated, was that I missed out on our class trip to the fire station. And, to make matters worse, our teacher got all my classmates to write and send me pictures of their trip to the station. Did they expect that would make me feel better? Did it ****.

 

[Burgey]

Got T-boned when I was driving to Uni one day. Woman came out of a side street as I was barrelling down Anzac Parade, straight into the left side of my car. It pushed me sideways, up onto the median strip, which made the car land on it's roof in the right turn bay for the street she'd just come out of.

Car came to rest just inside that right turn lane, as a bus went screaming past right near it.

Walked away from it.

Think that's about as close as I've come to death, aside from hardening of the arteries etc, which I don't know about and don't want to. That and the prostate exam, which they now recommend from 40 onwards. Bloody hell.

 

[Athlai]

As a chid I seemed to try and end it all while I was ahead.
I wasn't breathing when I was born.
I cracked open my skull falling up the stairs, yeah thats right up them. Tripped on a step and then fell into the metal casing around the edge of a stair.
Swallowed a coin that slowly but surely stopped me being able to breathe.
Knocked myself out by running into a chain right by the road.
When I was getting my yellow fever immunisation I got the virus.
Contracted malaria when I lived in Africa.
Crashed a quad bike when I lived in Africa but luckily my head managed to veer its way from the rock, instead launching my arm and kneecap into it. The kneecap found a new interesting home in the side of my leg, and is still a little prone to popping out of its socket.

Since then its all been smooth sailing. Besides that car that flipped on the motorway through the air in the opposite direction about 2 metres away from our windscreen.

Lousy ineffective reaper.

 

[Burgey]

Christ mate, your life is like a South Park episode, with you as Kenny.

 

[silentstriker]

Stuck in a riot back in India when I was 6-7 years old - my life was definitely in danger then.

Have been held up at gunpoint and knifepoint a whole bunch of times, though I've never felt my life was in danger as long as we paid the money (at the store). Most people who come to rob a store won't harm you, they know they'll be caught if they kill someone but no one will care if it's just a couple hundred bucks stolen.

 

[Flem274*]

As a chid I seemed to try and end it all while I was ahead.
I wasn't breathing when I was born.
I cracked open my skull falling up the stairs, yeah thats right up them. Tripped on a step and then fell into the metal casing around the edge of a stair.
Swallowed a coin that slowly but surely stopped me being able to breathe.
Knocked myself out by running into a chain right by the road.
When I was getting my yellow fever immunisation I got the virus.
Contracted malaria when I lived in Africa.
Crashed a quad bike when I lived in Africa but luckily my head managed to veer its way from the rock, instead launching my arm and kneecap into it. The kneecap found a new interesting home in the side of my leg, and is still a little prone to popping out of its socket.

Since then its all been smooth sailing. Besides that car that flipped on the motorway through the air in the opposite direction about 2 metres away from our windscreen.

Lousy ineffective reaper.

Good work.

Me, I tried it all pretty early too.

Born early
****ed respiratory at birth
****ed heart at birth

Had some nice surgery and I'm pretty much fine now. Might be a little brain damaged though...

 

[Quaggas]

Cool thread!

Trying to cross a tributary of the Oranje Rivier near Augrabies, got caught in a rip current. Nearly got swept over a huge weir w/ a concrete ledge at the bottom, but somehow drifted out of the channel at the last minute. This, mind, is the Kalahari Desert....

Water and I do not mix - I've been caught in rip currents near Amazimtoti, unable to make land either perpendicular or parallel to the beach, and was once almost washed out to open water on Lake Huron because I could not figure out that I shouldn't be sitting alone in the back of a two-person canoe (the front end was sticking out and acting as a sail).

Edit: Front seat passenger from CT to Joburg late at night on a two lane highway (N1), was sleeping and woke (for no reason?). The driver had dozed off and was veering into oncoming traffic - I yanked the steering wheel with literally seconds to spare.

 

[NZTailender]

Man I'm lucky. The closest I've come to death was being offered a judges role on X-Factor.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

A couple when I was young. I was dropped on my head by a clown at my first birthday party (explains a lot).

When I was two, my old man left the pool gate propped open with a paint can. I walked in and 'fell' into the pool and was found face down.

Was more of a dive than a fall. Dad reckons double sommersault with the half pike. 9.5 from the Japanese judge.

 

[Son Of Coco]

A couple when I was young. I was dropped on my head by a clown at my first birthday party (explains a lot).

When I was two, my old man left the pool gate propped open with a paint can. I walked in and 'fell' into the pool and was found face down.

Was more of a dive than a fall. Dad reckons double sommersault with the half pike. 9.5 from the Japanese judge.

I'm sorry but

Had a couple of near drownings too. Once when I was about 4 years old and I was playing in the water at the creek and fell in one of those dips in the creek-bed. Another at a party when I was on someone's shoulders and fell backwards and they kept hold of my legs while they walked around. Once more when surfing.

Was scary stuff.

 

[Hurricane]

Went swimming in the mighty Waikato river - tried to reach an island - got exhausted swimming against the current. I reached the edge of the island and grabbed on to some grass but the grass started to give way - my friend pulled me to safety before I was swept away. Was more dramatic than it sounds.