Mindcore

Thanks Shelley, I needed that

geordie

Somehow I didn't note the date in your original post. That is an amazing coincidence. Wow, I'm speechless.

wickerbill

I fell asleep while driving on the highway on March 1, 1996 and my car rolled several times. My '92 Civic Si gave its life for me and all I got was a small scratch on my head. My dog was riding in the front seat, without a seatbelt, and somehow survived without any injuries. She now has her own little doggie harness that hooks up to the seatbelt. I can't imagine what would have happened to me if I hadn't had my seatbelt on. It still amazes me to see people drive without them. I think it is a form of natural selection for the idiots who don't wear seatbelts when more of them die.

Let this be a lesson to those of you who drive when tired. It only takes a second to doze off and potentially kill yourself or other innocent people out on the road. Pull over and take a short nap and don't forget to buckle up when you're done.

Mark

S2K Fan

I have one story where I almost died, it was Aug 25 about and hour or less before my birthday. The year was 1996 or so. I was trying to rush to a party and left my ex-girlfriends house to my girlfriend at the time friend's house. I was driving through angeles forest, it was dark, and the roads were slick. I took the curves so fast, I fishtailed here and there. One turn I was in the opposite lane facing traffic. I turned the wheel back towards my lane. I spun and went off the mountain. I remember seeing bright lights and dust hitting my windwhield. I thought I'd die and when my car came to a stop, I heard a hissing noise. Since every movie I watch the car explodes I was so scared, but I didn't know which way to run. I started running, made my way back to the top. It was pitch black and no call boxes. No call boxes around for miles and miles. I saw headlights coming and I threw myself like a raging lunitic onto the road. Trying to get the car to stop. When it stopped I couldn't talk. I was mumbling jiberish. Then another car came and stopped for me. I explained my situation. He drove me back to my ex's house. When I arrive there she thought it was a big joke. Called AAA and they took me to the crash site. AAA couldn't find my car, (DUH!!! it's off the cliff) so they pass me by and keep on driving. Finally they come around and drive me home. The driver explained how lucky I was. So TRUE!!!

lvs2k

Winter of 1980-81. I spent four months in the hospital. I went in Thanksgiving day and got out the day President Reagan was shot. I had about six surgeries during that period, and died on a cold morning in January; however, due to the diligence and swift feet of my wife, I was brought back from the dead. No, I didn't see any tunnels or white lights, no Jesus and no out of body experiences. We didn't even realize I had been clinically dead until a couple of days later, when my nurse told me.

Subsequently, I became addicted to Morphine (great drug!) in the hospital, incurred a hospital bill of $125K (1981 dollars), and was told by my friendly doctor that it usually only took about $50K to kill somebody. He said that I should consider myself a lucky survivor. Indeed I do.

Perhaps the strangest part of this story revolves around my insurance coverage. Insurance wound up covering everything. They even overpaid to the tune of $13,000, which was refunded to me since I owned the policy. That sure has made up for a lot of premium payments.

Nin009

About seven years ago, my college roommate and me were celebrating Memorial day with a case of Boulder Pale Ale. We decided to drive up the canyons west of Ft. Collins to get a little mountain air and drink our beer. Readers should note that it is the start of spring runoff and the rivers are very fast moving and ice cold. Anyway, we find a nice spot to relax and place our beer in river to keep cool. I check the water with my foot and it was so cold it gave me an instant Slurpee headache. Well, we sat in the sun and drank our beer. When it was gone, we decided to check the water to see if it had warmed up. Our drunken state proved it not so cold. I dove in and started swimming to other side about 50 yards away. The momentum of the water flips me onto my back and into a rock. I have a nice scar to remind me. I recover and continue onto the other side, fighting the current and now bitter, numbing cold. I scramble up the bank and watch as my friend does the same. We gather our bearings and realize we have been swept through the rapids roughly 100 yards downstream from where we dove in. At this point we are mostly sober and very cold. Now we have to get back to the other side the only way we can

wirejock

I never remember the dates.

I've had at least one bad mototrycle accident.
My wife and I tumbled down Mopac at 50 Mph. We both survived and both still ride.
Over the years I've had several accidents not quite as bad but memorable.

I've also watched a friend crash and die on 337 last year.
For several months after, the stain remained on the asphalt. Now there's a cross that marks the location. That was probably the most moving experience in my life. It's tough enough to deal with death. It's really tough to watch someone die and be powerless to stop it.

My brother and I are the last surviving members of our immediate family. Dad, Mom and Sis all passed away.

Want any more bad news?

Schatten

well I didn't want to get anyone down on this thread. wasn't really my intetions, but it is nice to reflect on what we have - and I'm not talking about cars or any other 'item' either.

I started to respond and give the details of my story, but I'd rather not. I'll just say that if it wasn't for those particular chain of events, which started 12 years ago, I would have never have come across you guys.

Thanks for sharing the stories, the coincidences - even if they are not pleasant to remember.

ScottB

Thank you for sharing your stories. I hope this provided some sort of catharsis for you. For the rest of us who have fortunately not had these experiences, it serves as an important reminder of the fragility of life. If nothing else, it should put things in perspective the next time a "huge" problem like cracked headlights plagues our day.

Luder94

The setting:

November 2, 1996 on campus at Marquette University, the night of a very big annual fraternity party, one semester away from graduation with a very nice paying job in my back pocket, just "crossed" into my fraternity, grades are impecable, big man on campus, etc.

The characters:

Me, and an unknown bastard of a party go-er.

Early in the party I was helping usher and collect entry fees and I must have rubbed the party go-er the wrong way by asking him for the $15 entry fee. The 3000 person party goes on through the night without a hitch and all the "brothers" head back to the "frat apartment" for the special invite only after-party. This was restricted to very good looking women, future brothers, and the current brothers. I decided to help with the reconcile the cash flow for the night and then head to my college apartment to stash the money bag for safe keeping until after the weekend (mind you, about 2800 paying attendees at $15 a pop).

I drop the money off at the apartment and change clothes before walking to the after-party, alone....which, in retrospect, was VERY stupid of me in the area of Milwaukee the college is located in.

Supposedly the guy I rubbed the wrong way had an issue or two with me and wanted to resolve it in his own way....I, without hesitation, loved to resolve it. We broke out into a fight, the next thing I remembered was that I couldn't breathe, I was really hurting in the side of my chest (I thought that I had broken bones in my chest cage). Not only was I hurting in my side, but why was I being loaded into an ambulance on a board...that was the last thought before I went unconscious. I remember darkness, people talking, the sirens and a lot of honking....I also remembered, again in retrospect, something sticking out of right chest and where it touched my tricep, it was very cold. I found out after surgery and some recovery that it was a knife in me.....I had massive blood loss. I wasn't told directly, but in my presence my parents were told by my doctors that had I been found just a minute later they were positive that they wouldn't have been able to bring me back.

I assume that I had "left" for a brief moment....the police report stated that I was found approximately 20 minutes after the attack. Ever since I got out of the hospital, there hasn't been a day that I haven't thought about the situation, my luck, the people in my life NOW, and how whatever arbitrary choices I make affect me and everyone around me.

Ok, sorry the story is so long....but this is actually how I play it out in my mind everyday!!!

[Edited by Luder94 on 05-23-2001 at 10:50 AM]