Some people are so incredibly lucky that they have a creepy run-in with the Grim Reaper and end up winning. It’s almost enough to make you think that they have a whole squad of guardian angels working back-to-back shifts to keep them safe from harm.
In a riveting AskReddit thread, people shared the nail-biting moments when they saw someone come close to losing their lives, and just barely escaped to live to tell the tale. Keep scrolling to read their stories, and remember to always, always, always look both ways before crossing the street.
#1
When I was 11 or 12 years old my little brother sucked down a hard candy while we stood in the hallway in our house. He immediately grabbed his throat and his eyes widened in panic. He couldn’t say anything and his tongue kept darting out of his mouth. I got behind him and performed the world’s most poorly formed, but extremely forceful, Heimlich maneuver. The candy shot out of his mouth. He was fine and, true to form, my parents didn’t believe the episode ever happened. I still resent that, but am thankful that the Boy Scouts taught me how.
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61points
#2
Running across a busy road. Kid got hit by 2 cars travelling in opposite directions, was in a coma for 9 months and didn't remember any of it. When he came back to school, he said the biggest shock he got on waking was pubic hair, he'd had none when he he got hit.
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46points
#3
My dad fell asleep when we went to a movie theatre. I noticed his skin was really gray when we got out to the car. I took him to the hospital and his blood sugar was 758. I was very surprised he wasn't in a coma.
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45points
If you’re well-prepared for handling crises, have a quick reaction, and make quick decisions, you can weather a lot of dangerous situations. But it would be naive to think that you can control everything to do with your fate.
Accidents can and do happen to good people. So, a large part of your survival also depends on pure luck, timing, and the right circumstances. That means that you barely get hurt or make a miraculous recovery. Or, there’s someone around who can quickly come to your aid instead of panicking or ignoring your plight.
But it’s a godsend if a stranger decides to help you. That’s not to say that there aren’t good people in the world (there are plenty!), but the bystander effect can end up harming you when you’re in danger.
In short, the bystander effect, aka bystander apathy, is a well-documented phenomenon when people are less likely to help someone in distress the greater the number of people around them.
“If many people nearby are also not reacting, you may be less likely to respond,” Verywell Mind stresses, adding that individuals will likely help someone in trouble if they’re the only witness or part of a smaller group.
#4
My mom and I were visiting London, and my mother is a self important know-it-all, who stepped in front of a double decker bus before looking both ways. I yanked her back just in time. She was oblivious that she almost died and got mad at me for yanking on her. Can't help stupid.
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44points
#5
A drunk friend dove head first into a public pool during the night. He didn't notice it was a pool for toddlers only 20cm / 7 inches deep. He crushed his skull and barely survived.
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42points
#6
Grabbed a marzipan candy from a kid with a severe nut allergy as he was about to bite it. The teacher who gave it to him didn't know marzipan is made of almonds. I had nightmares about what would have happened if I'd been a few seconds late for years after that...
ETA: I was an assistant teacher and I had stepped out to grab cleaning supplies and an extra tray of sliced watermelons, since a little girl had dropped the ones we had on the floor.
I went outside the classroom and my thoughts went like this : "Will the kids even want to eat watermelon? It's a birthday party, there's cake and candies... Do kids even like marzipan? Oh s**t, MARZIPAN!"
Then I dashed back like a madwoman and arrived right on time lol.
ETA: I was an assistant teacher and I had stepped out to grab cleaning supplies and an extra tray of sliced watermelons, since a little girl had dropped the ones we had on the floor.
I went outside the classroom and my thoughts went like this : "Will the kids even want to eat watermelon? It's a birthday party, there's cake and candies... Do kids even like marzipan? Oh s**t, MARZIPAN!"
Then I dashed back like a madwoman and arrived right on time lol.
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41points
It’s very likely that the bystander effect has affected you at some point in time, or you’ve seen others freeze up or ignore people in need.
Essentially, when there’s an emergency, no single person has to take responsibility for an action when they’re part of a large crowd. That sense of responsibility gets diffused among the crowd.
What’s more, people feel pressured to behave in socially acceptable ways. So, by helping someone when nobody else is, you might feel judged or as though you’re behaving inappropriately.
Moreover, when you see lots of witnesses not reacting to someone in distress, you might assume that it’s not an emergency, even if it is.
#7
They got bit by a bat and didn’t think anything of it. Their supervisor heard them yell when they got bit. Their supervisor insisted they go to the hospital for rabies shots. He almost didn’t go. The bat had an autopsy and found to have rabies.
If he hadn’t gone to the hospital, he would’ve died.
If he hadn’t gone to the hospital, he would’ve died.
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40points
#8
My newborn daughter had severe reflux. I left her sleeping in her crib while I washed the dishes. I had the baby monitor on but since we lived in a small apartment the monitor would pick up the sounds from the kitchen. I went to check on her and she was choking on her vomit. I am so grateful for that maternal instinct or whatever propelled me to look in on her at that moment.
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39points
#9
Unsupervised child at a motel pool with no lifeguard. My friend and I had to jump in and pull him out. Wound up calling CPS after the mother arrived and got angry at the kid for "making a scene" for almost f*****g DROWNING.
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39points
Knowing about the bystander is one of the best ways to counter it. When you’re aware of how human psychology works, you can then consciously change your behavior.
That being said, while you can and should intervene when someone is in danger, don’t rush in without assessing the situation.
You have to protect yourself as well.
#10
Pulling apart a split rim to change a tire without letting out the air first. Luckily the rim went flying across the shop into a wall instead of his face and all the dude had was a sore wrist for injuries. There’s a reason these are called widow makers and most tire shops won’t touch em.
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38points
#11
I watched an unsupervised toddler fall into the pool at a party when I was around 9. The mother who jumped in and pulled him out couldn't swim and just jumped in out of maternal Instinct when she saw this unknown toddler slip below the surface.
Luckily, the kid had fallen in the shallow end so both the toddler and the mother were okay but the family whose toddler fell in were kicked out of the party for not supervising their children and not being in the pool area when their kids were. The toddler's parents were too busy drinking and having fun to even care that their youngest almost drowned. I think I was more traumatized than they were because it was scary to watch a toddler pulled out of the pool like a limp dead body and then watch CPR performed and the toddler come to.
Luckily, the kid had fallen in the shallow end so both the toddler and the mother were okay but the family whose toddler fell in were kicked out of the party for not supervising their children and not being in the pool area when their kids were. The toddler's parents were too busy drinking and having fun to even care that their youngest almost drowned. I think I was more traumatized than they were because it was scary to watch a toddler pulled out of the pool like a limp dead body and then watch CPR performed and the toddler come to.
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38points
#12
Back before baby seats or seatbelts were required My little brother learned to open the car door. My parents didn't have a car with child locks either. My Dad was picking my Mum up from work, did a huge turn into the car park and my little brother developed his door opening skill and immediately started to roll out. I grabbed him by his foot and held on, then I got battered for not watching him closely enough.
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36points
Have you ever witnessed someone close to losing their life, only to get away at the last possible second? Has this ever happened to you? How (un)lucky would you say that you are?
Have you ever seen someone in trouble and fallen prey to the paralyzing bystander effect? If you feel like sharing, we’re all ears. You can share your thoughts in the comments section, at the very bottom of this post.
#13
It was me. I was working two jobs (still am now) and I fell asleep while driving. I was close to hitting a tree head on but thankfully didn’t. I didn’t hurt myself or anyone else but it definitely put it in perspective that if you’re tired, PULL OVER. One of the dumbest things I’ve done.
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34points
#14
Fist fighting. The sound a head makes when an unconscious person strikes the asphalt is something I'd prefer to never hear again.
34points
#15
We were all teenagers and lived out in the middle of nowhere in the Midwest. We did what we always did, had a nice bonfire, a few drinks, good music, etc on this nice man's farm (he let us use it). A few of the guys were horsing around, as usual, except one guy tripped. When he tripped, he was reaching out to grab onto anything that he could so he wouldn't land in the fire. As he was falling and grabbing, he accidentally pushed one of the other guys straight into the fire. His whole body was in this massive pit.
We all were freaking out, a couple of us grabbed the only cell phone around (this was before cell phones were popular, we didn't even have the Nokia brick yet) and called for help. A few others dragged him out and got hurt in the process.
I'll never forget the smell or the way he looked. He looked awake but not "here." EMS arrived VERY quick, considering the location we were at, cops came, and there was a lot of chaos and crying. Surprisingly, no one ran. The cops confiscated our drinks after taking our statements, drove us home, and told us that they weren't going to ticket us because we might have saved our friends life. They did however state multiple times that they hope we remember this whenever we drink near a fire. And we did/do.
Our friend survived, but barely. He had expressed multiple times how he wished he died. He looked similar to Niki Lauda. Nobody ever bullied him and f****d with him and he was one of the sweetest guys, before the accident and after. Unfortunately because of the pain he was in during recovery, the depression, and other medical issues from the accident, he became addicted to pain medication. About two years ago, I read that he died from a fentanyl (that's the assumption as the d**g name was never released) out at the local lake.
The friend who accidentally pushed him wasn't doing much better. He lived with the guilt for years. He never drank after that, but he became a bitter, angry, self destructive, depressed man. He stayed friends with our buddy and vowed to make it up to him. If our friend had any mean bone in is body, he could have easily taken advantage of that, but he never did. The other guy took his own life a few years ago (there were other personal issues that compounded on to his mental state). He died violently. Ironically, he set his house on fire (on purpose) when he found his wife dead (she had health issues), called the cops, taunted them when they arrived, and shot himself before anyone could get to him.
We all were freaking out, a couple of us grabbed the only cell phone around (this was before cell phones were popular, we didn't even have the Nokia brick yet) and called for help. A few others dragged him out and got hurt in the process.
I'll never forget the smell or the way he looked. He looked awake but not "here." EMS arrived VERY quick, considering the location we were at, cops came, and there was a lot of chaos and crying. Surprisingly, no one ran. The cops confiscated our drinks after taking our statements, drove us home, and told us that they weren't going to ticket us because we might have saved our friends life. They did however state multiple times that they hope we remember this whenever we drink near a fire. And we did/do.
Our friend survived, but barely. He had expressed multiple times how he wished he died. He looked similar to Niki Lauda. Nobody ever bullied him and f****d with him and he was one of the sweetest guys, before the accident and after. Unfortunately because of the pain he was in during recovery, the depression, and other medical issues from the accident, he became addicted to pain medication. About two years ago, I read that he died from a fentanyl (that's the assumption as the d**g name was never released) out at the local lake.
The friend who accidentally pushed him wasn't doing much better. He lived with the guilt for years. He never drank after that, but he became a bitter, angry, self destructive, depressed man. He stayed friends with our buddy and vowed to make it up to him. If our friend had any mean bone in is body, he could have easily taken advantage of that, but he never did. The other guy took his own life a few years ago (there were other personal issues that compounded on to his mental state). He died violently. Ironically, he set his house on fire (on purpose) when he found his wife dead (she had health issues), called the cops, taunted them when they arrived, and shot himself before anyone could get to him.
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31points
#16
When we were young 12 ish, I watched my cousin attempt to cross a very busy street with very poor judgement…..I still can’t to this day believe what I saw as he made it half way across and somehow got spun around, wether by his own survival reflex or maybe he got clipped by a passing car just right….. but he never broke his running stride and ended up next to me where he started, this d*****s looked me dead in the eyes and said “oh cool you made it too, that wasn’t the best idea” and i, jaw dropped had to explain to him what the hell just happened.
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28points
#17
I worked at a lumberyard. A 2x4 got jammed between two conveyor belts, and instead of shutting the machine down, a coworker jumped up on the conveyor belt and tried to get it unstuck. When he finally got the board pulled out the belts started running again and he flies down the line and very easily could have slipped between the belts and gotten seriously injured or k****d.
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24points
#18
Paddling an Ozark stream in November without a lifejacket or thermal protection, flipped, got pulled into a strainer and held under. Had there not been other experienced paddlers on the river who saw what happened, and who had the skills and equipment to save him, he would have died.
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24points
#19
When I was about 10, my 3 year old sister ran into the middle of a busy road and I ran in and swooped her up before she got hit by a car. Terrifying day.
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24points
#20
This guy nearly died because he was doing 50-55 in a 75 MPH zone of interstate highway with no streetlights, on a motorcycle with no taillight, at 11 PM on a moonless night. I nearly ran him over because I simply didn’t see him until my car’s collision avoidance system started screaming at me. Had I been in any other vehicle I own, they likely would not be alive and I would be in prison.
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24points