“I Said My Goodbyes”: 72 Terrifying Close Calls People Will Probably Never Forget

When I was laying on the floor looking up at my ex choking me. I had already hid my keys and phone in the pillow case because I knew where our argument was going and he would take my keys and phone in previous fights, which was the smartest quick thinking I’ve ever done because when he actually got off of me I got them both and took tf off.

When I was 21, I went through the ice. I vaguely remember the cold, like thousands of teeth biting into my skin. But mostly, I remember the quiet and weird calmness. Looking up and seeing the shadows of movement through the ice.

Then, I woke up in a hospital with doctors around me. Told I'd been clinically dead for some minutes. The cold probably saved me. As weird as it sounds.

Coming back was the weird thing. It's like you're gone, but the volume is slowly being turned up, and it's muffled. And you know that prickly feeling when your leg is asleep? Like that, but pretty much your whole body.

I remember my heart sounded so loud, like I could hear my blood rushing through my body.

As scary as it was. That feeling of peace and calm right before it went black. I miss it and, at times, try to recall it and find it again. It's difficult to explain it.

Regardless, I don't recommend drowning. So you know, try to avoid that if you can.

It was 2002 I think, I was home alone with my brother. It didn't happen often but it was nothing unusual.

I decided to sit back in the rec room chair and pop in a jawbreaker gumball, maybe it was 1¼" diameter, I started playing and the thing rolled down my throat and got stuck.

I stood up, realized what happened, I couldn't call for my brother or anyone for that matter, I didn't know where he was, I knew our elderly lady had a personal care worker next door so I walked right in her house, back to the kitchen where the nurse was smoking with the old lady at the table.

The old girl said, I think he's choking, I pointed to my throat, the nurse stood up, and all of a sudden the ball popped out and across the kitchen floor.

I apologized for barging in, but before it came out, I remember my vision starting to darken around the edges, scary experience, would not recommend.

Haven't eaten a gumball or anything like that since.

My ex had anger issues and with rejection from PHd programs rolling in for him and job offers rolling in for me he really snapped. We got into an argument about making enchilada sauce. He punched a hole in the wall then the door then went to the bedroom. The silence was startling. I kept cooking thinking he was cooling down and my meal would fix everything. When I finished I walked the the bedroom and he was cleaning his gun. He looked up at me, smirked, and said I better learn my place. He pointed the gun at me then went back to cleaning. I quietly grabbed my cat into my backpack and ran out the door. He chased after me and I just went oh no my cat. I was worthless as his brainwashing worked well. I just knew he would shoot her and me. He stopped chasing, I slept in the clubhouse. It took me another few weeks to escape.

I did escape though! I'm happy, married to a great man, still have my same old lady cat and have a [great] job.

My two brain surgeries. Found out at 38 (2019) I had a rare brain disease called Moyamoya. First surgery was 10 hours on 1 side and the second was 13 hours on the other side a year and a half later. I prepared my wife and kids the best I could. Didn’t get emotional until I was under the lights of the operating table waiting for anesthesia. I got scared about not waking up. I just cried and nurses grabbed my hands for comfort. Just closed my eyes and tried my best to picture my wife and kids the best I could so they could be my last things I would see.

Got too close to a mixing tank at work while the grate was off (stupid as [hell], I know) while shining my phone’s flashlight inside to make sure that it had no leftover product in it. Blades were still on rotating the water inside while it was being cleaned (once again, stupid as [hell]). It either grabbed me by the t-shirt sleeve or elbow, not really sure which but all I heard was a voice in my head just telling me “pull” & I’m so grateful that I did because the next blade to come around would have probably taken my whole self with it. Had to sit there until the ambulance came with half of my arm floating inside of a tank & holding the other half up in the air while everyone around me was trying to get me to not look at my literal humerus bone, tendons etc hanging out of my arm.

Epidural failed during childbirth. Medication migrated past my neck into my head/brain. Developed rapid horners syndrome. Vision started to darken and right eye went temporarily blind. Blood pressure went through the roof and this was all around the time I was to start pushing.

I advocated for myself and eventually they caught on to the seriousness of it all. The medication was slowly backed off and vision came back a few hours later. Luckily the pushing portion was quick for me with my daughter so I was able to get her out and enjoy her but boy was it frightening.

To add to the scare- this was during Covid and the labor and delivery unit closed down to all visitors due to the mother next to me having Covid.

My husband was essentially locked out of the hospital unit and I gave birth alone dealing with all of this. Would not recommend…

I had chest paid 5 days postpartum, it felt like a child sitting on my chest. Tried to sleep it off, woke up, same pain. I left my 2.5 year old, 5 day old, and husband at home and took an uber to the hospital. After an ecg I was rushed back to a bed and hooked up to all kinds of monitors. The nurse was trying to make me comfortable and was just causally asking questions about myself. One of the things he had asks was what I did for work. I said “I’m an ECE, I teach small children from 18 months-6 years” and he responded with a “oh, so you’re not a professional athlete? We don’t usually see a heart rate this low in someone who is awake and who isn’t an athlete”

That’s when it popped up on the monitor and my heart rate was sitting at 31 bpm and my blood pressure was dangerously high. Sitting there waiting my bpm creeped down to 29, which got an audible reaction from the nurses station. They eventually told me I might have a rare postpartum condition called Peripartum Cardiomyopathy.

So, I googled. And then I spiraled. They admitted me to the cardiology wing overnight hooked up to a heart monitor. I got zero sleep. I spent the night texting my husband. I told him that it was ok if he eventually found someone else to love, just to make sure she was good to our kids. I told him to talk about me often and to make sure my oldest remembered me, and that my newborn knew me. I sent him all the passwords to all my devices and accounts. It was a really, really long night. By the morning, I had another bedside ultrasound, and I was told my heart function had improved (better, not completely). They didn’t know why, they didn’t know how. I was discharged with an appointment to see the cardiologist who specializes in postpartum.

I met with her, I had an Echo, I had an MRI. There is no scarring on my heart, no obvious signs of failure. My LVF heart function is still decreased, but I have not been given a diagnosis as of yet, it has been 9 months. I have another Echo scheduled in 6 more months, to see if my heart function has increased, decreased, or stayed the same. I live every day in fear that my heart will start to fail again, but I have made some changes to my overall health and the hope is that these changes will eventually help heal my heart.

When we were on a tiny canoe-like boat with a [trashy] outboard motor, being driven to the base of Murchison Falls in Uganda, a bunch of hippos started running at us. The driver went full throttle with that small beat-up motor, and they almost got us. It would have been all over right there. Don't mess with hippos.

Being diagnosed with aml leukemia. The lead up to it i got very unwell to the point that I couldn't walk or eat and was passing out. My friend rushed me to a and e that evening after my gp said they didn't think anything was wrong.

A and e were immediately worried and the drs came in the morning and said they are looking at leukemia due to my blood results.

Results came in and I had aml, amd my blasts and mutations were very bad and the outcome didn't not look promising.

Somehow I'm here, entered remission after the first chemo round, had a stem cell transplant same year and still fighting and recovering. Will be exactly a year give or take a day. Still scared its going to return. But I'll never forget the feeling when being told thinking this is it.

2021, I was 27 at the time. Got done with work early and went home to let my dog out. Went to pick up my husband (we only had 1 car at the time) and I called my dad. I was a little dizzy but nothing terrible. Thought I needed a drink. My dad asked me if I had been drinking at the bar. I haven't drank alcohol since college. I denied it. He said to stay on the phone until I got to my husband. Picked him up and we thought all was good. Went to pick up my daughter and noticed I had to work really hard to move my left arm. Started to speak incoherently. My husband rushed me to the ER 4 blocks away. Because of COVID, only I was allowed in. They triaged me, I could no longer feel my left leg. 20 minutes later they brought me back to the bay. I couldn't stand. Couldn't help move to the bed. They asked me questions I knew how to answer but I just couldn't speak. Within 2 minutes of being in my room I had a stroke alert called. Less than 30 seconds later I had at least 40 different doctors and nurses in my room. I was bawling I was terrified. I never said goodbye to my husband or my toddler. I could sign answers with my right hand and that helped. They did a drop test to see if I was faking a stroke. I moved my right hand but they dropped my left hand on my face and I slapped myself pretty good.


Had a CT that showed no stroke. Later they got an MRI but it turns out you can have migraines that do not begin with any pain whatsoever but mimic strokes. I'm now at 50% higher risk of having a stroke in my life and now every single time I feel weakness, regardless of if I think it's a migraine or not, I have to have a stroke protocol done to rule out strokes.


Also, turns out these were being triggered by my IUD. Apparently the full dose of hormones that is in Mirena 24/7 can trigger migraines. Once I got that removed shortly after, I have had 1 hemiplegic migraine. Also I got pregnant a week after it was removed so there that.

A couple years ago I had a heart attack. There was pretty intense pain in my chest and I went in the bathroom and looked in the mirror and my face was completely drained of all color and I was sweating. My grampa called 911 and I was having a hard time standing so I laid down in the hallway and the paramedics had to get me up from there. I was pretty sure [it was the end].

I was 13 and swimming at a popular swimming hole in the summer when a weird current came around and just pulled me to the bottom of the river and held me down for a few seconds.

Just after having the thought, "I'm gonna drown" the current passed and I could swim back up to the surface.

Got back to shore and sat on my towel contemplating mortality for awhile.

When the train hit my car.

I was as lucky as lucky gets.

It was a week before my 17th birthday. Tracks parallel to the road. Stereo turned all the way up. Turned right. Looked left first, nothing. Slightly uphill. Accelerated a little. Looked right. Freight train speeding along. Rural. No gate. Broke. Skidded onto the track. Luckily it didn’t pull me under. Just tore the front end off.

Sitting passenger in a car where the driver decided he didn't want to live anymore and drove into on coming traffic. I grabbed the wheel and we crashed into a brick wall on the sidewalk.

When I was a wildland handcrew firefighter. We were cutting line on a steep slope and I lost my footing and slid about 20 yards. By the grace of god I stopped right before a solid 100 foot drop nearly straight down. When I was sliding I was thinking how I wasn’t gonna be able to say bye to my fiance or family.

In 2002 I woke up around 430AM to someone on me beating me in the face with a hard object.

I started screaming and they ran out. My roommate chased them down the alley but they got away.

I crawled out to the living room, saw thick dark blood pouring out of my face and started to make peace with my own [demise]. I was most worried about my parents and how they would outlive their only child.

Paramedics and an amazing staff at the ER saved my life and put me back together pretty well. I still have a few loose bones in my face and a crushed orbit in my right eye but I am no uglier than I would have been without the beating.

Even 23 years later, if I am startled awake, I will be out of bed running and swinging before I even know I am awake. Time and therapy have helped a ton.

Infamous Northeast Blizzarard of '78. Driving on Route 495, slowly, but in whiteout conditions. Every time I lost visibility completely, I'd take my foot off the gas, coast, and hope (not a prayer). Stopping seemed ill-advised, continuing WAS ill-advised.

After several episodes of losing all sight, one coasting period was followed by the distinct feeling of "the williess" in my stomach (think roller-coaster). My car had ridden up over a snow-packed guardrail, and slid down a decent sized embankment. It stopped. But my first few attempts to open the driver-side door failed, because the snow was packed around the car. I thought they would find my frozen body there.

Eventually, after much pushing, I was able to open the door enough to climb out, then scrambled back up the enbankment. Tried thumbing down a ride. First few cars passed me right by, even though they were doing maybe 15 mph (couldn't really blame them, because everyone was in survival mode). Frustrated, I stepped out in front of the next one, and it stopped. The guy took me in and drove three towns out of his way -- in the worst blizzard I'd seen before or since -- and dropped me off a couple miles from my house. I trudged through the snow and made it home to my sobbing mother. I got the guy's name, but couldn't remember it after all the excitement. Thank-you!

I was swimming, not that far from shore. The horizon gradually became smaller and smaller, and I noticed I could no longer touch bottom. Then, I felt as though something had grabbed me. The undertow. At this point I was swallowing ocean water, enough to burp it up afterwards.

A friend of mine leapt into the water and swam out, grabbed me by the arm, and dragged me back to shore. He's never really acted like it was that big a deal. But he saved my life, and you can't really mess with a bond like that.

I had a severe postpartum hemorrhage with my oldest kid. Right before losing consciousness, I heard "don't slip on that blood". I turned my head towards the nurse who said it, confused, and quickly realized the warning was in regards to my own blood (which had pooled so badly on the bed it had started rolling off and onto the floor). I felt myself slipping away and distinctly remember wondering if I would wake up.