Curiosities,Creepy WorldOCT 3, 2025

How To Ruin Your Entire Life: 46 Real And Sobering Stories Shared By People Online

Dominyka Proškėnaitė and Jonas Grinevičius

Life can be unpredictable. The risk of injury or loss of life is always present. And yet, despite this fact, you try to go on as if nothing bad can happen to you. When it does, the trajectory of your life can change in the blink of an eye.

Digital content creator Mike Kang (@showerthoughtswmike) asked his Instagram followers to share stories of how people’s lives were ruined “in just a matter of minutes.” Keep scrolling for their horrifying, real tales.

#1

How To Ruin Your Entire Life: 46 Real And Sobering Stories Shared By People Online

My aunt drove while nearly blackout drunk, her infant in the car. Ended up flipping the car multiple times. Lost custody, might be paralyzed for life, and has to serve a prison sentence the moment she gets out of the hospital

xposedxnervexendingx, Jan Baborák

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44points

#2

I was ran over while crossing the street by a physician assistant who was texting and driving while speeding and ran a red light. I used to run every day. Now it hurts to stand for longer than 5 minutes because of the irreparable damage she did to my legs that 7 years of physical therapy could not heal

pcarosi13, Ravi Sharma

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43points

#3

Had someone ruin my life in minutes. My dad (apoc and a great driver) was hit by a 16 y/o who was driving distracted (head-on) and he got no charges. He later made a GoFundMe because he "couldn't work with his dad anymore" (he broke his shoulder) and he got hundreds of dollars and I got nothing for it but a dead dad

possibly_thatcg, sippakorn yamkasikorn

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41points

A large number of the stories of sudden accidents shared by the Instagram community revolve around driving.

The statistics surrounding road accidents are shocking. As per the CDC, 1.19 million people lose their lives on roadways around the world every single year.

Road traffic crashes are the leading cause of loss of life for young people aged 5 to 29 years old.

#4

Distracted driving. Arguing with his girlfriend over text and slammed into the back of my families car at 80mph. He k****d my 7 year old sister.

lexi_babyy7, EyeEm

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41points

#5

Know someone who was a police officer, got called out to a road vehicle collision, boy racer had been speeding to impress his girlfriend who was in the car. Ended up crashing at over 90 mph, he survived but his girl was dead. Even after being told that he kept talking about his car. Hope he's still rotting in jail

krayisnotcthulu, Jan Kopřiva

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39points

#6

My brother was drunk and had a fight with his partner. He was locked out. They lived in an apartment. He tried to crawl through a window. Fell five stores and died.

ella0823, freepik

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37points

Some of the main ways to stay safe on roads, according to the CDC, are the following:

Always wear a seat belt, no matter how short the trip or your position in the vehicle
Properly buckle children in appropriate seats, using appropriate seat belts
Take care to always wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle, motorbike, bicycle, e-bike, or e-scooter
Never drive while under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances
Avoid speeding, stick to speed limits
Never use your cell phone while driving
Be very careful when crossing streets or intersections

#7

Begged a bar customer not to ride his motorcycle because he was drunk, he didn't make it five minutes down the road, I had to drive past the crash scene.

intergalacticdespair, Eddie Wingertsahn

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35points

#8

A drunk driver ruined a woman's life and dream. She had just gotten married to the man she loves and birthed a beautiful boy. They both went to live in Paris and got a car (which was rare in the 80s) and big beautiful house. Only 6 months later, her husband got hit by a drunk driver and died, leaving his wife alone with a baby. She wasn't able to pay the bills so she went back to her hometown, her family refused to take her back in because of her baby. She worked so hard just to get a decent job, and ever since then, she had to work everyday from 7am to 7pm to get enough money for her and for her son, she had to be a mother and a father at the same time, nonstop, for the next 20 years. And the son lived alone, always on his own, had to walk 2km to go to school and 2km to go back home. A man chose to drink, and turned a woman's happy life into a labor hell, and snatched from a child the chance of having a father. That woman is my grandma and her son is my father.

s_haru.05, Clay Banks

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33points

#9

My wonderful beautiful friend . Her mother was over bearing and a bully she pushed her into getting married twice and when she divorced them she had to go home to live and then she just stopped eating and passed away at 30 from anorexia

april_g88, creativaimages

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30points

It’s not just up to the individual to stay safe on roadways. Safety is a complex issue that demands a multi-pronged strategy. The World Health Organization stresses that road traffic injuries can be prevented via multiple approaches.

“Governments need to take action to address road safety in a holistic manner. This requires involvement from multiple sectors such as transport, police, health, education, and actions that address the safety of roads, vehicles, and road users,” the WHO states.

“Effective interventions include designing safer infrastructure and incorporating road safety features into land-use and transport planning, improving the safety features of vehicles, improving post-crash care for victims of road crashes, setting and enforcing laws relating to key risks, and raising public awareness.”

#10

Kid I knew decided it would be cool to buy a motorcycle and show off. He was dead about 2 weeks later. RIP Sam

patrick.durgin, lineu

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27points

#11

My brother shot me in the chest in cold blood for staying up all night with him, trying to talk him out of s*****e for 7 hours. He's facing a first degree felony.

sirchanselot777, Getty Images

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27points

#12

Had a friend who thought "noone can od on acid" did 9 tabs on a dare and was rushed to the er and went into coma and died

silliebillie4, Getty Images

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27points

Kang has a whopping 395k followers on the social network. His viral post, which we’re featuring today, got 71.3k likes and counting.

Which of these stories shocked you the most? How do you deal with the fact that bad things sometimes happen to good people? What is the worst accident you’ve ever gotten into or witnessed with your own eyes? If you feel like sharing, you can do so in the comments at the bottom of this post.

#13

I’d say myself with cutting for the first time at 12. Went on until I was 17 and now I’m over a year clean. Scars will forever remain though so it’s difficult wearing clothing that doesn’t cover my arm and thighs

sam._.strange, Frank Flores

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27points

#14

A friend of mine was drunk and passed out in the back seat of the car. Unfortunately the driver was also drunk and hit another car at a high rate of speed. She flew through the windshield since she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. Crippled from the neck down the summer after high school graduation.

unbound_journey, Johannes Blenke

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25points

#15

My neighbors son defended a girl who had gotten slapped, in Myrtle Beach and the boy who he stood up to ran a knife all the way across him and opened him up and he passed away right there. The guy only did 4.5 years for it and get this, he is also from our town and works at Walmart, where people have to constantly look at him.

nature_in_his_nature, Dan Burton

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23points

#16

Blacked out and fell down some cement stairs. Got a concussion that rattled my brain. Had to drop out of school, and don't enjoy reading like I once did. I also just feel... slower?? Anyways. Been sober a few years now! 10/10 would recommend!

brynne.nelson, Bruno Nascimento

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22points

#17

Friend of a friend of a friend situation, I knew the guy but not so well. On his way to school with his friend behind him, he went up a hill in his truck and crossed over the line on accident and slammed into a pole. Friend behind him came out and pulled him out, watched him die in his arms. He was only 16. RIP Austin we never got to hang out again like we said we would

anarchycharlie04, Rahul Pugazhendi

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20points

#18

Some dude in Florida didnt like how a fiber plant node looked in his yard so he cut it out and took out the internet for loads of people. Got charged with criminal vandalism and fined like 600,000 dollars

greythoughtsinmymind, sakdinon

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20points

#19

The chick who got an internship at NASA and told one of the board members on Twitter to shut tf up

chefu_szn, Sara The Freak

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20points

#20

My classmate in 7th grade called in a bomb threat to school because she wanted a day off. Cops tracked it back to her immediately.

karkeebab, Nick Fancher

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19points

How To Ruin Your Entire Life: 46 Real And Sobering Stories Shared By People Online

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Poll Question

What do you think is the most common cause of life-ruining mistakes shared in these stories?

Poll Question

What do you think is the most common cause of life-ruining mistakes shared in these stories?