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

I sat down on an empty subway car towards the end of the car at the end of the line. It was early on a Sunday morning and the train was completely empty. Then I saw a very mentally ill person in the next car yelling and hitting the poles with a pipe while coming towards my car fast. I didn’t have time to get out before he would get to me. I thought standing up would provoke him. I froze as he came through the door between the cars. I knew that I was about to get hit by that pipe. He went right past me, still yelling and hitting the poles. There was a dent in the pole next to my seat.

(I should explain, I am a native New Yorker. I am not one of those people screaming about how dangerous the city is and scared of the subway. I remember when the city was scary and dangerous. This was something that happened once in the millions of times I’ve been on the subway.).

Flying over a canyon at night. Lost both engines (I was the pilot) and had to put down in a field. It didn’t occur to me that it could be the end until I was on the ground, jumping out of the airplane and saw several emergency vehicles rushing to me through the field I landed in. In the moment I was just handling business and relying on my training and years of flying, but when that realization hit it was pretty jarring.

2 times that I recall.

First time was going on a walk in the bush with my siblings when I was about 11. I got lost. Did not find my family till it was dark.

Second time I was white water rafting with the family when I was about 13. Got stuck in a "washing machine" type whirlpool. Didn't help that I heard that 2 people had [passed away] there that week.

I don't do outdoor activities much anymore:D.

1998. Lake Burton. Crazy mountain girl I'm crushing on and I are riding around in her new boat. She looks up at a bridge, and says, "Let's go jump off that bridge." I look up, and with as much bravado as I can muster, I say, "Sure!" On the climb UP to the bridge she assures me she's done it before, and it's perfectly safe. This is a two-lane road without a proper barrier. It's maybe 2-3 inches wide. As soon as we get to the middle, off she goes. So.. off I go. That bridge was probably 60 feet above the water. When you jump from that height, at first everything is quiet, and peaceful. After about 1 second, you hear the wind passing by your face start to crescendo to a howling scream.

You have enough time to wonder if you're going to [pass away], then change your mind to be resolved to [pass away]. I point my feet, and hit the water like concrete. The reward was as I surfaced, her bikini had exploded. The scenery was a visual that a college boy could certainly hold onto for years. While our relationship never quite blossomed, my eyes had seen a beautiful sight under that clear-ish Georgia lake water. I lived to never do anything that foolish, ever again.

A very turbulent landing in a Bombardier Q-400. At one point, I didn't care if we crashed, I just wanted it to stop.

The guy next to me was in the brace position.

Roof bolting in a KY coal mine. Coming out one day, an elevator shaft over a 1000 feet deep. Cage stopped about 40 foot from the top and jarred up and down. We were stuck for about 15 minutes.

Went halibut fishing in Alaska. Most of the boats wouldn’t go out on the choppy water, but my dad had already paid for the expedition weeks in advance, so he convinced the guy to go. We went out in this small motor boat, and the wind starts blowing, water gets super choppy. The boat starts getting thrown around. The water is steel grey and super cold, and the nearest islet is a good 3000 feet away. The captain wasn’t saying a word, just his hands glued to the wheel and the accelerator, which he just had to keep nudging up and down so we didn’t get too much speed and capsize. I 100% thought [it was the end]. When we eventually made it back to due the captains skilled hand, he didn’t say a word to us, just opened the door and waved us out.

I got home from high school and at the time it was just me and my mom. She often worked nights and she left a pot roast in the slow cooker for me for dinner.

I’m sitting there eating and I guess I didn’t chew a piece well enough and it got lodged in my throat. I panicked. It didn’t occur to me to try to get to a neighbor. We’d just moved and I didn’t know anyone.

So I’m there trying to give myself the heimlich. My vision started to fade and I tumbled to my knees, which is when it finally dislodged. I was maybe 14 I think. Genuinely thought I was going to choke..

When I had a guardrail sever my leg in a car accident.

An icy Canadian highway on our way to a funeral. My nephew hit a patch of black ice. My 5 year old niece was sitting beside me and my first thought was her. I threw my body in front of her and banged my head. We rolled about 2 more times. She was absolutely fine. Myself and my nephews partner were injured. I finally knew the answer to a question I had for years, I wasn’t afraid [of the end]. Without that little girl or my nephews and his partner who is closer to me than some of my own blood, my life means nothing. I would do it all over again. I was also very depressed at the time and I won’t lie, I was relieved to be alive.

Many times, but the last time I was riding my motorcycle in the middle of nowhere, Texas, there was a car in front of me, and we could see for about a mile. A 24-foot box truck was coming at us from the other direction and swerved completely into our lane. The car in front of me swerved off the road and I slammed on my brakes and got as far over as I could and thought, if he doesn't look up, there is no where for me to go even if I go off road, I'm done. He looked up at the last second, and we all continued on our way.

After motorcycle crash, when I was thrown of motocycle it felt like i disconnected for couple seconds and i woke up rolling on road.

I was backcountry camping and there was an ENORMOUS thunderstorm overnight. Alone in my tent.

The next morning was spectacular - blue skies all around.

Started choking on phlegm when I had the flu once. I was in bed and I sat up and some crud must have just “settled” in my airway the wrong way. No cough, no air movement, just sealed with mucus.

I just started smacking myself in the chest and something finally moved and I was able inhale a nasty wad of mucus and then proceed to cough my guts out.

It was bad, no one else was home and I could feel myself blacking out. Freaking scary.

While white water rafting. A storm came while we were going down the river and I wanted us to pull over somewhere to get out of the water. I was overruled by the people I was with. It's starting to rain heavily and we were close to the end but we got stuck on a rock in the water. I'm using my oar to try and push us off and feel like I got shocked from a wall outlet. My friends felt it too. We suspect lightening struck somewhere downstream and traveled up our way. We got off that rock pretty quick after that and to the end.

Right before I crashed my motorcycle. I was fine 🙃.

Every single time the plane does one of those dip things.

Driving across the Cambridgeshire fens in the dark and thick fog. I was very aware that if I fell off the road into a water filled ditch, no one would find me for ages. When I got to Soham and into a lit area with roads I knew, I cried with relief.

Internal flight in Russia with a last minute plane change to a Soviet style mini jet last made the year I was born. Juddered like crazy, super uncomfortable, then a bit of the cabin roof fell on my head!

I infamously call it the Valentine's day fiasco. I was making a steak dinner for my at-the-time gf. I was a poor kid and got the cheapest, leanest meat you could get, mashed potatoes, asparagus and wine. It was my first steak and literally didn't marinate or tenderize it in any way. I also cooked the [hell] out of it and served it extra well done. We sat down to watch a movie. I took my first bite and GULP! Instantly knew something was wrong. I wasn't choking. I could breathe and I could talk. But I knew something was wrong. I tried to wash it down with wine and ended up immediately throwing it up. In fact, every ten minutes I had to throw up spit. We rushed to the hospital and I had to wait for an operational team to come in since they'd all left for the night. I purged every 10 minutes in vomit bags for 14 hours before they could do anything. That's when I learned that I had a stricture in my esophagus and the extremely tough steak made a vacuum seal and prevented anything else from going down. They basically had to take a rod and shove it down into my stomach.


I had to repeat this three more times before 1) Finally learning to freaking chew my food and 2) Realize that with a combination of melted butter and Coca-cola I could dislodge anything blocking it and either swallow it down or spit it out.