What's the closest you have been to death?

We used to go to the river in the summer as you do but I couldn't swim very well but I was a decent dive and glider, there was a mini whirlpool we used to dare ourselves to dive through and we did it many times.

One time I misjudged and went to stand up but my feet didn't touch the bottom, I panicked and in all intent and purpose was drowning, a stranger dived in and pulled me out and got me back on the bank.

It must have been 79/80 so 7 or 8, never told my parents when I got back in and nobody else said a thing, I'm sure I would have said thanks to the man on the bank at the time but he probably deserved more praise tbh.

I always remember he gave me a bottle of Underwoods cream soda to drink the old 10p back glass bottle jobs, the nicest drink on earth but you can't get it now or for years tbh

When I was 4 we went to Blackpool on holiday, I'm not saying parenting in the 70's was lax but I somehow ended up on the cliff wall looking over the edge as if it was just a 2ft drop and not a very long way to rocks and stuff below, unceremoniously yanked back to the proper path when it was noticed, wasn't close to death but it might explain the first story and the lack of fear we felt as kids back then.
 
Sitting watching Shrek one Saturday morning in the TV tent at Basra waiting for my washing to finish... Heard a loud thump and remember thinking "I didn't know this tv was in surround sound"... A guy sticks his head through the door and shouts "incoming".. A mortar had landed about 30 feet from the tent...

A couple of weeks after I left a guy was killed in the same tent I'd slept in for 4 months by another round fired over the fence....
 
ABout 20 years ago I was driving down the M60 going under road bridge to the Sewage Works (from Roscoes roundabout) at Cheadle Heath and some scrote threw something very large and very heavy off the bridge onto the motorway. It hit the roof of my car about a foot behind the windscreen above my head and bounced off, left a huge dent! At 70mph, if I had arrived about a tenth of a second earlier it would have gone straight through the windscreen and probably killed me outright! :-(
 
DiscoSteve said:
ABout 20 years ago I was driving down the M60 going under road bridge to the Sewage Works (from Roscoes roundabout) at Cheadle Heath and some scrote threw something very large and very heavy off the bridge onto the motorway. It hit the roof of my car about a foot behind the windscreen above my head and bounced off, left a huge dent! At 70mph, if I had arrived about a tenth of a second earlier it would have gone straight through the windscreen and probably killed me outright! :-(
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Probs the kids off swythamly
 
Knocked over by a car when I was a kid but somehow didnt have a scratch on me. I must have jumped when he hit me as i hit the roof, then the boot then the floor and ran home. Got mugged twice, once with a gun in a phone box so I had nowhere to go. I had just been paid and had £180 in my inside pocket of my jacket. Gave the delightful mugger the small change in my pocket and he asked if I had anything else and I said no. He reliped if I search you and find more i'm gonna kill you. Thankfully he didnt search me and then he got off. I should have taken up poker with that bluff. The other mugging was a guy with a scalpel at my throat. Managed to get away unscathed again. Emergency appendix surgery as well. Oh and nearly choked to death on a biscuit when my mate made me laugh and thankfully my other mate gave me the heimlich maneuver and I could breath again after about a minute, which seemed much longer as we were all tripping our tits off at the time. Oh and a cancer scare in 2018 which thankfully was just a cyst. Looking back on it, how the hell am I still here? Ha ha.
 
paulpowerstash said:
Knocked over by a car when I was a kid but somehow didnt have a scratch on me. I must have jumped when he hit me as i hit the roof, then the boot then the floor and ran home. Got mugged twice, once with a gun in a phone box so I had nowhere to go. I had just been paid and had £180 in my inside pocket of my jacket. Gave the delightful mugger the small change in my pocket and he asked if I had anything else and I said no. He reliped if I search you and find more i'm gonna kill you. Thankfully he didnt search me and then he got off. I should have taken up poker with that bluff. The other mugging was a guy with a scalpel at my throat. Managed to get away unscathed again. Emergency appendix surgery as well. Oh and nearly choked to death on a biscuit when my mate made me laugh and thankfully my other mate gave me the heimlich maneuver and I could breath again after about a minute, which seemed much longer as we were all tripping our tits off at the time. Oh and a cancer scare in 2018 which thankfully was just a cyst. Looking back on it, how the hell am I still here? Ha ha.
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Maybe explains just 17 posts in 14 yrs ;)
 
dronefromsector7G said:
I was pretty close when caught in a rip off Coogee beach in Sydney on New Year’s Day after a litre of vodka
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A friend on mine got saved by lifeguard whilst swimming in Aussie, was given a tip of how to get out of one by the lifeguard. He said swim with the riptide and gradually peel off it
 
cityontheup said:
A friend on mine got saved by lifeguard whilst swimming in Aussie, was given a tip of how to get out of one by the lifeguard. He said swim with the riptide and gradually peel off it
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I think that’s what I did. I was spinning around like I was in a washing machine then just straightened up and ended up getting out about 50 yards down the beach
 
In May 1993, we'd all been away as a family - my mum & dad, me and my family and my brother and sister in law with their 2 kids - down to the West Country

We were in my dad's car and there was a protest by New Age Travellers which held us up for a few hours. It was dark and raining when we were doing the last stretch, up the M6 in Cheshire.

My dad was overtaking a car that suddenly pulled out in front of us. He slammed the brakes on and we went into a skid on the very wet surface. The next thing is that the car is hurtling towards the central reservation barrier and we're clearly going to hit it. I remember sitting in the front passenger seat thinking "That's it, I'm about to die". Fortunately we hit the barrier at a 45 degree angle rather than head-on, and we came to a stop in the outside lane.

My first thought was to put the hazard flashers on and I reached across to do that, with my seat belt still fastened. At that moment there was an almighty bang and the noise of metal being battered and a shower of glass, and the car was flung forward about 20 yards. Clearly someone had hit us and fortunately a number of cars stopped and put their hazard flashers on. We were amazingly all still in one piece and not trapped, so people helped us out, to the hard shoulder while the traffic was stopped. It turned out later that one of my colleagues was in the queue of cars.

I remember that I went down to see the car that hit us and the woman driver was trapped and clearly in a bad way. Fortunately for us, she caught us on the rear wing/boot corner, which dissipated the force of the collision. She'd hit us head on though, so she got by far the worst of it.

Emergency services arrived and we were sat in an ambulance where we were checked. I had chest pains but that was only cracked ribs, from the seat belt. Had I unfastened my belt before the second collision then there's no doubt I'd have been killed. There was another ambulance for her and the one we were in wouldn't leave until that one was also ready. Fortunately none of us were badly injured but we were shocked, battered and bruised. My daughter was two at the time and said her bottom hurt. They took her nappy off and it was full of glass fragments.

I vividly remember one of the Fire crew who were trying to free the other driver talking to the paramedic in charge and one of them saying that it looked like they were going to have to amputate her legs to get her out. I felt sick hearing that but fortunately they didn't need to do that.

After a few days the police took statements and told us she was in a bad way, and that they wouldn't be prosecuting her because of that. The traffic policeman also said he was amazed we all walked away, as he was expecting to find 5 dead bodies.

The child seat my daughter (who was nearest the point of impact) was sat in was concertined but fortunately it was polystyrene rather than metal. Had it been metal, she'd have been crushed to death. She's now unsurprisingly paranoid about her own kids' safety in the car, and I had to return two child seats I'd bought for my car before she was happy.

Very scary and we're all very lucky to be alive. I'm still very nervous about driving on the motorway when it's dark and wet.
 
paulpowerstash said:
Knocked over by a car when I was a kid but somehow didnt have a scratch on me. I must have jumped when he hit me as i hit the roof, then the boot then the floor and ran home. Got mugged twice, once with a gun in a phone box so I had nowhere to go. I had just been paid and had £180 in my inside pocket of my jacket. Gave the delightful mugger the small change in my pocket and he asked if I had anything else and I said no. He reliped if I search you and find more i'm gonna kill you. Thankfully he didnt search me and then he got off. I should have taken up poker with that bluff. The other mugging was a guy with a scalpel at my throat. Managed to get away unscathed again. Emergency appendix surgery as well. Oh and nearly choked to death on a biscuit when my mate made me laugh and thankfully my other mate gave me the heimlich maneuver and I could breath again after about a minute, which seemed much longer as we were all tripping our tits off at the time. Oh and a cancer scare in 2018 which thankfully was just a cyst. Looking back on it, how the hell am I still here? Ha ha.
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Is your nickname lucky by any chance ?
 
Train dodging in the early 80s. I’d say I was about 6 inches away from being hit but managed to get grip and leap, this after slipping.

I’d like to go back to that moment and give my younger self a good hiding for that.
 
This time last year - to the day. I had a cardiac ablation. Been suffering with AF for years. I'm only mid 50's so consultant said "this is far to young let's do the OP". 1 hour under the knife and home same day all fixed.

After 12 hours under in theatre they brought me out and then spent the next 2 hours trying to get my heart started again in recovery. Apparently I technically died a number of times that day. Spent a week in ICU and came home with worse AF than when I went in.

Had to sit at home for 6 months while what they did in theatre repaired itself. Not allowed to do anything as I was at high risk for a stroke etc.

After 6 months and lots of new medication I went back in for a cardio version. Basically turn me off and on again to restart my heart rhythm. Nit afraid to admit I was bricking myself but in at 7:30am and by home all sorted by 12:00. Still.lots of meds but heart still beating fairly normally to this day.
 
antste said:
This time last year - to the day. I had a cardiac ablation. Been suffering with AF for years. I'm only mid 50's so consultant said "this is far to young let's do the OP". 1 hour under the knife and home same day all fixed.

After 12 hours under in theatre they brought me out and then spent the next 2 hours trying to get my heart started again in recovery. Apparently I technically died a number of times that day. Spent a week in ICU and came home with worse AF than when I went in.

Had to sit at home for 6 months while what they did in theatre repaired itself. Not allowed to do anything as I was at high risk for a stroke etc.

After 6 months and lots of new medication I went back in for a cardio version. Basically turn me off and on again to restart my heart rhythm. Nit afraid to admit I was bricking myself but in at 7:30am and by home all sorted by 12:00. Still.lots of meds but heart still beating fairly normally to this day.
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Let's hope your heart continues to work as normal for a fair few years yet, sounds rough mate but sounds like it was worth it too.
 
Prestwich_Blue said:
In May 1993, we'd all been away as a family - my mum & dad, me and my family and my brother and sister in law with their 2 kids - down to the West Country

We were in my dad's car and there was a protest by New Age Travellers which held us up for a few hours. It was dark and raining when we were doing the last stretch, up the M6 in Cheshire.

My dad was overtaking a car that suddenly pulled out in front of us. He slammed the brakes on and we went into a skid on the very wet surface. The next thing is that the car is hurtling towards the central reservation barrier and we're clearly going to hit it. I remember sitting in the front passenger seat thinking "That's it, I'm about to die". Fortunately we hit the barrier at a 45 degree angle rather than head-on, and we came to a stop in the outside lane.

My first thought was to put the hazard flashers on and I reached across to do that, with my seat belt still fastened. At that moment there was an almighty bang and the noise of metal being battered and a shower of glass, and the car was flung forward about 20 yards. Clearly someone had hit us and fortunately a number of cars stopped and put their hazard flashers on. We were amazingly all still in one piece and not trapped, so people helped us out, to the hard shoulder while the traffic was stopped. It turned out later that one of my colleagues was in the queue of cars.

I remember that I went down to see the car that hit us and the woman driver was trapped and clearly in a bad way. Fortunately for us, she caught us on the rear wing/boot corner, which dissipated the force of the collision. She'd hit us head on though, so she got by far the worst of it.

Emergency services arrived and we were sat in an ambulance where we were checked. I had chest pains but that was only cracked ribs, from the seat belt. Had I unfastened my belt before the second collision then there's no doubt I'd have been killed. There was another ambulance for her and the one we were in wouldn't leave until that one was also ready. Fortunately none of us were badly injured but we were shocked, battered and bruised. My daughter was two at the time and said her bottom hurt. They took her nappy off and it was full of glass fragments.

I vividly remember one of the Fire crew who were trying to free the other driver talking to the paramedic in charge and one of them saying that it looked like they were going to have to amputate her legs to get her out. I felt sick hearing that but fortunately they didn't need to do that.

After a few days the police took statements and told us she was in a bad way, and that they wouldn't be prosecuting her because of that. The traffic policeman also said he was amazed we all walked away, as he was expecting to find 5 dead bodies.

The child seat my daughter (who was nearest the point of impact) was sat in was concertined but fortunately it was polystyrene rather than metal. Had it been metal, she'd have been crushed to death. She's now unsurprisingly paranoid about her own kids' safety in the car, and I had to return two child seats I'd bought for my car before she was happy.

Very scary and we're all very lucky to be alive. I'm still very nervous about driving on the motorway when it's dark and wet.
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We never know when it's going to hit PB fortunately it wasn't your or your families day.
 
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