#1
He was doing a grind down a handrail and went over the outside of the rail from about 15 stairs up and landed on his head. Now he can't speak correctly, can't focus, and he gets mad easily and often.
Brain Injuries are terrifying and doing things like wearing a helmet when biking or wearing your seatbelt when driving are such a "no-brainer" to me after seeing how it has affected people around me.
Making a massive mistake can feel like the end of the world, but sometimes it's actually a life lesson and the bridge to a different way of doing things. After all, if you're still breathing, you're still alive.
"You may have suffered some setbacks and you may have to forge a different path to build the kind of life you want, but very few situations in life can’t be turned around," say Anna Phillips-Waller and Steve Phillips-Waller from a site called A Conscious Rethink.
Often, they add, the most important step is to accept that your life isn’t nearly as messed up as you think: "Once you stop believing that you are helpless and start believing that you can assert a level of positive control over your life, you will be able to take action."
#2
He had always been the black sheep of the family, partying irresponsibly. Due to his poor choices, he was grounded from the family European vacation and threw a massive party in his family's nice home while they were gone. The mistake was this: he exhibited his father's gold coin collection to show off to/impress the random people that were coming to his party. The party ended, people went home, he cleaned up, and his family came back none the wiser.
Later that week, a few people from the party came back uninvited in the middle of night with machetes. They broke in and instantly went to each bedroom to k**l anyone they found, with machetes. The first bedroom they came across was the youngest daughters room (~10 years-old), and they began hacking at her while she was asleep. Her confused screams woke the rest of the family. The Dad ran in to help the daughter, the wife called the police, the older daughter eventually jumped from her bedroom window, while the son hid in his closet. The dad fought off the attackers with his bare hands, losing his thumb in the process as well as having chunks of his skull and brain removed by the blows. He never stopped fighting back. Surprised with the resistance they were receiving, the attackers ran without collecting the gold they were looking for. He chased them down the driveway and passed out from blood loss.
No one died. The youngest daughter now has long scars down her face and head and was a near mute for years from the psychological trauma. Now she has blossomed in her later teenage years, participating in local school plays. The father had a steel plate installed to complete his skull, over which a skin graft from his buttock was placed. He's fully functioning. Other than a few social quirks and scars, he's fine.
The healing that this family had to go through astounds me, all because of one mistake. They're closer together now despite all the pain. The wife even affectionately calls her husband "my favorite b******d" every chance she gets.
Edit: I never wanted to confront and interrogate the family about this gruesome event, so I only heard the story through the grape vine. Some of my specifics are off, but by no means does that change how astonishing the family's story is. See this article for clarifications.
#3
At snowshoe doing some skiing with buddies. We’re at the top and I overhear a little girl (10-12) in blue ski pants and a white puffy coat complaining about her helmet being uncomfortable. Dad comes over and adjusts it, but the girl continues to complain. They make a plan, Dad and brother start to go one way, girl stays with mom. I hear clear as day from Dad “The helmet stays on or you stay in the lodge”. As soon as the father is out of site her mother tells her just to go toss it in her bag and that mom will deal with dad later about it.
Day goes on, we ski, wreck, get soaked, have fun. It’s sometime towards dinner and we’re at the bottom of the hill planning on one more run before we grab a bite to eat. The sun is low, it’s cloudy, the lights are starting to turn on. There’s an ear piercing scream as a young girl in blue pants and a white puffy jacket comes hurtling out of control through the flats and head first into a cement anchor for the lift line. The sound was sickening, the whole crowd seemed to drop silent as she hit with a sick wet thud. Someone behind me puked.. I do not know if she made it, I know she didn’t move again while ski patrol loaded her onto a board with a neck brace. I also don’t know if a helmet would have even helped..
Edit: I had to know, so I went through all my old email and papers. I think my trip was Feb 2008. So either she survived or it wasn’t reported.
Richard Jackson believes he's proof that anyone can recover from making the biggest mistake of their life. The top civil servant recently shared his story with the BBC, 20 years after his world was thrown into turmoil.
Jackson says a split-second error cost him his reputation, career and quite literally, almost his life, as he spiralled into a deep state of depression, consumed by shame and humiliation...
He had left highly classified documents on a train. A mistake that would soon become national news and send him into hiding at home.
#4
I pulled over. We ran out of the car. 1. 2. 3.
The car burst into flames.
I'm calling 911 and I look at the car and this teenager trying to break the windshield with a stick and he's yelling "f**k! No! No!". My dad goes and tries to break the windshield too.
More people are gathering around. This one guy tries to take a video and almost gets the s**t kicked out of him. The fire department are on their way.
At this point, all of the trees around the car are catching fire. They climb out the ditch because we don't know if they car will explode or not. There's nothing else that can be done until the fire dept shows up.
They take their sweet a*s time and put the fire out. The person in the car is long gone at this point and they don't even try to get him out.
So how did this all happen? Remember the guy with the stick who was trying to break the windshield. He was speeding and playing on his phone. He didn't see the jeep until the last second, tried to serve to avoid it and rear ended it at an angle.
The story goes on but that's the most important bit.
If you learn anything from this, don't use your phone for unnecessary s**t while driving; it's irresponsible and selfish.
#5
Then he elbowed the cop in the jaw and made him fall to the ground.
That messed up his life.
#6
"He had been seconded from the Ministry of Defence to the Cabinet Office for a job in global terrorism, handling first-hand intelligence from GCHQ, MI5 and MI6," reports the BBC. "Leaving his Whitehall office one Monday evening, he swept up a pile of forms to fill in to make his secondment official."
When he got home, Jackson realized that he was in possession of "two papers on two classified subjects, and they were both top secret." He decided he'd return them to the office the following day, so he put them in a bright orange cardboard folder so that he wouldn't forget.
But that's exactly what happened.
After getting off the train, he "realised I hadn't got the folder... it just felt for a moment like the world had stopped."
#7
One day the guy just completely loses it and accuses the girl of cheating (she wasn't) and demands to tell him with who. After some arguing he drops it then for about a week follows her around and she finally had enough.
About three days ago I see him looking PISSED and driving his kids somewhere but I don't think anything of it. Turns out he drove his kids to his grandparents that day then waited for the girl to show up at the house and they got into an argument she said she was leaving and he pulled out a gun and shot the ground and said if she leaves he'll k**l himself she turns around and immediately hears a gunshot and a thud. The guy shot himself over nothing.
#8
I called him out and yelled at him. Told him I saw him steal and to put it back, then told him to "Get the f**k out of my store, walk across the street, and never come back."
Apparently he didn't make it very far. Passed out in the road and got ran over and k****d almost immediately.
#9
We all thought that was pretty fun, so we all start running and then falling on our stomachs to see how far we slide on the gym floor. One kid was way to close to the wall and slid head first into the wall pretty hard. He parents left with him and went to the emergency room. He was in special ed classes after that.
Fortunately, someone had found the papers. Unfortunately, the person had handed them over to the BBC. Jackson was subsequently suspended pending an investigation, and his face was plastered all over the news.
"The Cabinet Office found it was an act of gross misconduct and demoted him three grades. He was charged under the Official Secrets Act, avoided jail, and was fined £2,500," reports the BBC.
Even after the matter had been concluded, Jackson says he couldn't shake the feelings of shame, regret and humiliation. He even considered ending his life. But fortunately, his wife, family and others came to his rescue.
"I fixed very little myself," he says. "Lots of people fixed me."
#10
#11
Went to a party and someone told him he'd f**k it up just like his brother did (his brother did f**k up a full ride, to a lesser school though). Jake didn't take kindly to this, smashed an empty bottle of Jack Daniels over the guy's head, causing serious damage.
Lost his full ride, stayed around my home town, d**d 2 years later in a motorcycle accident.
#12
Jackson eventually left Civil Service. After exploring other opportunities, he decided to use his own mistake to help others. He trained to be a life coach and went on to set up a coaching company called NewDay, which specializes in helping people deal with handling distressing material. "I could tell my story... and there'd be a point to it," he told the BBC. "There'd be a reason for what I did."
He still hasn't forgiven himself for that fateful error but is in a better place mentally and teaches others that there is always a way back from the biggest mistake of your life. "You can be in a really bad place, and you can still stand up, and you can get through it and there are ways to help yourself do that and get help," he says.
So what's his advice to others who think they've completely ruined their lives?
#13
Fortunately, the girl was basically his crutches. He started going to bars and ended up with a Budweiser girl. Fast-forward 17 years and he’s practically living with her and their two kids in some sketch neighborhood. One’s 14 and deals m*******a and other s**t, has broken into a house with his friends, put under house arrest several times, and is pretty much hated by Bud girl. The other is only 10 and has to deal with the 14 year old’s bullying. Their relationship is literally forced as he couldn’t live without her. They constantly fight and argue, there’s not a week that goes by without some argument.
Original girl, however, managed to raise her 4 kids and eventually found love again. She married him in June and is doing just fine. 2 of her kids are now married and have two kids each, and the 3rd has a son.
And I’m the 4th.
#14
Saw two guys one night get into a stupid brawl over nonsense and one of them hit the ground.
Buddy never woke up.
This kid went from having not a major problem in the world to becoming a felon.
#15
Edit-typo.
Jackson advises that you get the dark thoughts out of your head. He says it's easy to go from "I made a terrible mistake" to "I am a worthless person." Try to write down your thoughts or speak to someone so that your mind has a chance to slow down.
He also advises that you don't lose sight of your successes. Don't let one mistake define who you are. "You are not that mistake. You are still the person who existed before it, and there can still be a person after it whom you haven't met," says Jackson.
He also suggests identifying what you can and can't fix. "If you've caused harm, take responsibility: apologise and put things right where you can. But don't assume responsibility for things that were never yours to carry," advises Jackson.
#16
The driver (who was very drunk) made a correction which in turn swung the girls at high speed towards the shore and right into a steel dock. The three girls hit the dock at around 40mph k*****g one of them on impact, putting another in a coma which unfortunately, eventually died months later and left the survivor with permanent physical damage.
Not only did this guy destroy two families lives in a matter of a few seconds, he's now in prison for life and some spectators will never forget the sound of a human body collapsing upon contact with a steel dock, let alone the horrifying screams from their mothers.
It's been a few years and I haven't touched alcohol since.
#17
#18
No less than a month later, he gets another DUI. Bam, career over, out of the Airforce, no chance to ever rejoin. Oh, and a bit of jail time and a suspended drivers license.
So what do you think he does? He goes to a party, gets s**t-faced drunk, grabs his keys and tries to drive home without a license.
Cops catch him. Third DUI within just a few months period, with a suspended license, resulting in several months in jail and basically no chance of employment. Not as bad as some of the stories here, but it was pretty crazy to see someone's brand new career fall to pieces so fast, even with good leadership.
Happened in Tuscon, AZ.
The team at A Conscious Rethink adds that sometimes, that massive mistake might be just what you need in order to restart your life.
"This entire situation may feel utterly awful, and although you might not believe it right now, this can be a blessing if you allow it to be. After all, when you’re working with a blank slate, then a complete re-ordering of your world is more within your grasp," they say.
"When you have nothing, then you have nothing to lose," they add. "And thereby, with the desperate fire and courage pounding through your chest, you can make incredible things happen in a very short amount of time."
#19
#20
He told me and some other friends about it and got upset When I said she was manipulating him, and haven't heard from him since.
Last I heard he's gotten her pregnant. And still works at that restaurant for a little more than minimum wage. He's 22.