For me there are four incidinces that stand out in my mind. All happened at various stages in my life, from childhood, to pre-teen, and to being an adult. My first near death experience occured at the age of 1, or 2. I lived in Seattle at the time, and was a very curious child, oftentimes too curious. Well one day my curiosity got the best of me, and I decided to swallow a penny. Well, the penny ended up getting caught in my throat, but thankfully my dad was right there. He proceeded to give me the hymlic maneuver, and after a near 30 terrifying seconds for my dad, mom, and brother, the penny finally came out. I don't remember this moment, but I hear it was pretty insane.

Another time I could have killed myself also came at the age of 1, or 2. I decided to creep into the cupboard underneath the sink, and came across a bottle of sink cleaner. I guess I was thirsty, because I proceeded to guzzle that thing like you wouldn't imagine. Next thing you know I had cramps, was puking all over the place, and was extrememly dizzy. When I told my parents what I did, they rushed me to the hospital where my stomache was pumped, and they did everything else they could do to get that toxic stuff out of my system. Well, I survived obviously, and what's funny is that I can actually recall the incident. I remember taking the stuff out and drinking it, and feeling sick, but fortunately I don't remember any of the hospital stuff. Don't know if I was passed out, if they put me under, or what, but it's probably good that I don't remember, because from what I hear, getting your stomache pumped is not a fun experience.

Another near death experience I had just happened a little over a year and a half ago, maybe closer to two years. I was going through rough times with my girlfriend at the time, and was stressed out about that. As if that wasn't bad enough, I had an irresponsible doctor who for some reason that I'll never understand, refused to refill my 7 medications I was on at the time. I proceeded to call everyday, but to no avail. Eventually the withdrawels were so bad, I was bedridden, and seeing things, and hearing things, it was crazy. After about a week or so I felt well enough to get out of bed, but was still whacked out of my mind. I decided to walk across the street to my mom's house, and talk to her, see if she maybe had a pain pill or something to ease my pain. My mom just happened to be outside getting ready to go to the mini mart to pick up beer and cigarettes for her boyfriend. All of a sudden a van started coming down the street, going the full speed limit. At that moment, I don't know what came over me, but I decided to cross the street as the van came barreling down on me. The guy sharply put on his breaks, and I'm not joking when I say, he had to have stopped only 2 to 3 feet in front of me. My mom saw the whole thing, and as I proceeded to cross the guy was rightfully cussing me out, and my reaction was just to laugh. I was completely off my rocker, lol and I still feel bad about what I did to this day.

Last story took place when I was 11 years old. I was at the High School with my friend Tahisa. We were doing our regular challenges against each other, seeing who could long jump the furthest, and seeing who could run around the track the fastest. As I proceeded to kick his butt in all categories ;) It proceeded to start pouring down rain. Next thing came the thunder and lightning. Some how us two morons ended up finding ourselves in the middle of the football field, where I afterwards discovered is one of the worst places to be during a lightning storm. As we stood there pondering whether or not to go home, a bolt of lightning proceeded to hit down about two feet in front of us. :eek: It scared the crap out of us, as we quickly got off that field as quickly as we could, and walked home. What's even scarier is that just 10 seconds or so earlier, we were standing in the very spot where the lightning hit, so had we not moved, God only knows what would have happened. Scary stuff!!!

So anyway, those are my stories, what are yours? Have their been occasions where you came close to dying?? If so, what were they? It should be quite interesting hearing all of your responses, and just for the record, I'm glad you're all alive, and with us today. :lol: ;)

I've almost drowned a couple of times. That's why I have a fear of deep water.

I've almost drowned a couple of times. That's why I have a fear of deep water.

You're not alone Monika. I have a fear of deep water myself, as I've never even been able to get up enough nerve to jump off a diving board. I know my swimming teacher holding my head underneath the water for 30 seconds certainly didn't help matters either. That jerk!! :mad:

You're not alone Monika. I have a fear of deep water myself, as I've never even been able to get up enough nerve to jump off a diving board. I know my swimming teacher holding my head underneath the water for 30 seconds certainly didn't help matters either. That jerk!! :mad:
That can definitely scar you for life. I hated swimming lessons. :eek:

That can definitely scar you for life. I hated swimming lessons. :eek:

Yeah, we use to have mandatory swim class for two weeks each year at our school, and I absolutely dreaded it. As soon as I'd walk in and get that whiff of chlorine, my stomache would be in knots. Still don't know why he held me under like that. Maybe he thought it would toughen me up, but instead it gave me a fear of deep water that lasts until this very day. If I saw the guy today I'd probably knock him out. lol!!

Yeah, we use to have mandatory swim class for two weeks each year at our school, and I absolutely dreaded it. As soon as I'd walk in and get that whiff of chlorine, my stomache would be in knots. Still don't know why he held me under like that. Maybe he thought it would toughen me up, but instead it gave me a fear of deep water that lasts until this very day. If I saw the guy today I'd probably knock him out. lol!!
Trust me, I know how you feel. To this day, I can't get on a diving board. :eek:

Driving over the Susquehanna River in February in a blizzard at night - a semi passed me and threw my car out of control. I spun across three lanes of traffic on that bridge. I Screamed. This wasn't the scary-movie or haunted-house type of scream, this was the "I think my life is going to end right now" kind. There was nothing I could do but honk my horn over and over and pray that the other cars could stop in time. Thank God, they were going slow enough that they could - although one car slid and missed me by inches.

I usually defend the big truck drivers, as they tend to be more courteous than they ever get credit for - but this guy nearly killed me, and I don't think he even noticed.

You're not alone Monika. I have a fear of deep water myself, as I've never even been able to get up enough nerve to jump off a diving board. I know my swimming teacher holding my head underneath the water for 30 seconds certainly didn't help matters either. That jerk!! :mad:

Don't most people start to drown at 30 seconds? That's a really, really long time. I know it's like 2 minutes before you officially drown, but people with no experience in the water can't last that long.

About 10 years ago, I slipped on some stairs and tumbled about halfway down, but somehow I managed to grab the railing and stop myself from falling all the way down.

Don't most people start to drown at 30 seconds? That's a really, really long time. I know it's like 2 minutes before you officially drown, but people with no experience in the water can't last that long.

I was coughing, and choking up water when he finally did let me up. He had a big old grin on his face, while the other kids were looking on in fright, surely thinking he might do that to them. He didn't though, thank God, he just did it to me.

Back in January, I was going to walk to the carry-out near my house, but my brother told me he'd drive me there, and it's a good thing he did.

I got so tired from being out in the cold that I had to take it easy for a day. i honestly believed that if I had walked been out in the cold any longer, I woul've died from a weather-induced heart attack. :( :eek:

When I was 4 years old, we had a dog named Bear. He was a Chow and not knowing any better, I had been rough on him when he was a puppy. I went into the fence with him and he attacked me. Had my dad not been there, he probably would've killed me, but luckily, dad ran over, picked him up and threw him across the yard, lol.

When I was 13, I was riding my horse like any other day. She seemed more high spirited than normal that day, but I didn't think anything of it. Toward the end of our ride, she stopped. I urged her to go on and she reared up on her hind legs. She did this 3 or 4 times before I hit the ground and she took off running. I managed to look up and see that she was running right towards me. I was able to pull myself out of the way, but if I hadn't, I would've been trampled. I walked away with a cracked hip and lots of bruises, but I survived.

I was coughing, and choking up water when he finally did let me up. He had a big old grin on his face, while the other kids were looking on in fright, surely thinking he might do that to them. He didn't though, thank God, he just did it to me.

That guy's a sadistic freak if you ask me.

About three years I was driving on an icy road. I almost slid off the road and flipped. I think that was the closest I've come to death.

That guy's a sadistic freak if you ask me.
I agree. He's lucky he didn't get arrested and/or sued for that. :mad:

Well ironically one of them happened just a week ago. My husband and I were snorkling in Maui at this place called Turtle Town. The water was pretty calm when we went in (We were on a chartered boat trip), but on the way back, the waves were just horrible. I don't think that anyone anticipated it getting that bad. I was trying to stay afloat and I decided that it was so rough that I should swim back to the boat. It was almost like an action movie or something. I could see the boat, but I had this snorkel mask on and I swear the waves were just washing over me like crazy. I swallowed a bunch of salt water. I ended up pulling the mask off my face and trying to swim to the boat. The waves were pushing me back toward the shore and I was swimming faster than Michael Phelps trying to get to the boat. I seriously thought I was going to drown. I didn't even tell my husband I was going back to the boat. I finally reached the boat and found the rope that the life ring was tied to. I grabbed the rope and pulled myself toward the boat. As soon as I got to the ladder, I saw this kid and started yelling at him to help me. He looked at me kind of funny and he helped me get onto the ladder. Then I heard this voice above me saying "I'll help you". I thought it was God :angel:(:rotflmao: No, not really! Just thought it would be funny to mention that!:lol: ), but it turned out to be one of the crew members. He somehow managed to pull me out of the water and made me climb up the stairs. I felt bad because I didn't even have a way to tell my husband where I was, so I had to wait for him to come back to the boat. Man, that was scary, though... swallowing all that water. I seriously thought I was going to drown. However, the crew was pretty good and they had a guy on a surfboard watching people, so I think I would have been okay.

Several years ago, I used to live in this apartment on the ground floor. I was pretty safety conscious and every once in a while, this guy would come knock on my door. I always ignored him, but this one day he knocked on the door and I answered it. The only reason is because he lived across from me, and I thought maybe he wanted something. Well, he wanted something all right. :rolleyes: I can't remember what he said, but I think he asked me out. I told him no and he pushed his way into my apartment and started putting his arm around me. I pushed him off and he still wouldn't leave. I was so afraid that this was it. I was dead. Fortunately, I pushed him out the door and locked it. Then I immediately called the police and told them what happened. I had a window in my kitchen where I could see what was going on, so they were over at the guy's place in a flash. Of course, he denied ever coming over, but I was glad that they responded so quickly.

Andrea