Time given back. Brushes with death

[SoCalDem]

A thread on drowning (in GD) reminded me of all the close calls I have had.. Probably all of us have them.

I think it's guided my views on death as I age (60 now).. I know I have been on borrowed time..many times-over:)


when I was 3 I was "swept out to sea", and washed up alive

when I was 5 I wandered out onto a guard tower that overhung a several hundred ft drop to the rocky shore below.. I could not read the sign "Peligro".. (I just wanted to see what was down there:)..)

when I was 10 I was bitten by a poisonous snake

when I was 13 I came within touching-distance of a leopard shark the size of a Volkswagen bus. He apparently was not hungry, but ruined scuba diving for me:)

later that year we were on a C-47 coming back to the states, flying over the Gulf of Mexico in a hellacious storm & had the life rafts ready to deploy and all had our MaeWests on.. Luckily we made it to Texas. (our family was waiting in Florida for us)..The engines were spewing oil & sputtering, but we made it..

when I was 20 I was almost hit by a train on the way to my bridal shower.. my car filled with the light of the train, and still don't know what made me take my foot off the gas at just the right time..( I was high-centered on ice and "stuck" on the tracks at an unguarded crossing)..the wind of the train passing "blew my car backwards"

when I was 24, I had an abruption & bled out (8 units of blood transfused in surgery), the night before my husband was to leave on a week-long business trip. I was unconscious before arrival at the hospital

when I was 25 I drank from a garden hose at a beach in Acapulco and was the only one who did not get sick on that trip :rofl:

when I was 28 & a week from delivering our 2nd son, I was broadsided by a car that ran a red light..all I got was a bruised arm & a totaled car. the impact was driver's side just behind my door:scared:

when I was 29 I had a second abruption..this time my husband was in Seattle ..I was in Kansas with a 4 yr old & a 1 yr old ...thank goodness for my wonderful neighbors:)..)


It's amazing how many close calls one has in life.. Any one of these could have been the end, but here I am..and happy to have had the borrowed time.

and wondering about others' close calls..

got any?

[driver8]

1. Wow -- you have had some CLOSE calls!!

How and where were you swept out to sea?

I have had a couple of close calls. I remember falling off of a dock at the lake when I was 8 or 9. I hit my head on the way down and when I was underwater, I remember feeling peaceful and calm -- like I was going to sleep. A few seconds later, my uncle reached down and grabbed me.

When I was in high school and driving home from basketball practice, I hit a patch of ice on the road and my car skidded in front of a tractor trailer. My car grabbed the road at the last minute and went off the road and into a snow bank. I thought I was a goner, for sure!

[SoCalDem]

2. Santa Clara Beach in Panama

the most beautiful beach in the world :)

[driver8]

5. I lived in Panama as a kid -- Coco Solo.

My father was in the Navy and we lived all over the world. I'm guessing you were a military "brat", also?

[SoCalDem]

6. I LOVED going to Coco Solo.. we were at Albrook

Did you ever go to Ft Shimmy beach ? 2nd best beach :)

[driver8]

7. The only beach I remember going to was Galeta Island. n/t

[femmocrat]

3. You have more than your share of close calls! You have been very, very lucky.

I have had a few, nothing like yours though. Every time I count my blessings and think about how I can become a better person.

Mine: near drowning (couple of those), car over an embankment (twice), a lot of destructive decisions, and a recent head injury because of a bad fall.

When I read of fatal accidents, I always wonder why -- a few seconds or a couple of inches would have made all the difference. Life is ironic.

[Blue_Tires]

4. went to a pool party with my rec league soccer team

when I was 5 or 6...i could swim, but not in the deep end -- went into the deep end with an inner tube, since that's where all the other kids were playing, and promptly turned over and sank like a stone to the bottom (i still remember seeing the pool drain up close)

luckily, some kid's mom came in to get me...


My other bouts with death are pretty minor (severe sickness, jackass bicycle stunts pre-helmet days)

[david13]

8. I don't know how to read this. You either have good luck, or you

have bad luck.
Either way, I'm not hanging around with you. Seems too dangerous.
Ha ha.
I'm just a bit older than you, but I feel the same way. Those close calls where today, it seems like a miracle that I am still alive, that I made it this far.
dc

[SoCalDem]

9. Just lived in a dangerous wild place as a kid

& then had horrendous pregnancies:)

But all in all I think my luck was not so bad :)

[rurallib]

10. When the new grand baby was born and the other kids were back

a couple weeks ago, they got me to talking about some of the things I have done. Several close calls:
1) brothers threw gas on me and lit me on fire when I was 3. (I am youngest of 3 and brothers 4 & 6 years older.)
2) watching fireworks in the city park when a tornado came through. No one killed.
3) My brothers had jobs and were gone most evenings, father was working out of town during the week. Mother was despondent over father's affairs and made 3 attempts on herself and me. Thankfully she couldn't go through with it. I didn't understand til later what was going on.
4) shots fired at me and friends downtown at age 14.
5) Later that summer shots fired in our direction while we were camping.
6) Going home one night when I see a tornado in my rear view. Fortunately it went north and I went south. But I saw it level a house a couple hundred yards behind me. WAAAAY too close.

And then there is the story of the games we played in the water in our basement with an old freezer that had a short. I have so much trouble even thinking of it that that is all i will say.

[mokawanis]

11. Close call in Glacier Park

Took a boat ride across a lake and hiked a mile to a beautiful waterfall where I decided a pic of me standing at the top of a rocky slope that had a stream running down it into the waterfall would be a great idea. So I climbed up, posed for the pic, and when I started back down I stepped onto a rock that looked dry but wasn't. I slipped on the rock, fell into the stream and took off like a rocket, sliding down the slope on my belly, feet first so I couldn't see what was coming. I slammed into a boulder, badly bruising my hip, then shot the rest of the way down, over the falls and into a pool of icy water. While my injury was minor, I could have been maimed or killed. Yeah, I know, an incredibly stupid blunder. Wouldn't repeat the performance for a zillion dollars.

[pokerfan]

13. That happened to member of my party in Glacier as well

Couldn't be the same waterfall as there was no boat trip. This was a day hike out of Many Glacier on the east side. He was filling his water bottle, slipped on a rock and went over about a thirty foot waterfall. Amazingly, he was uninjured. He could have split his head open on a rock.

[mokawanis]

18. All too common

I think drowning is the leading cause of death in Glacier. Fall into a stream, bang your head on a rock, and it's all over. One littl;e slip will do it.

[pokerfan]

22. Water-related accidents are the number one cause of death in Glacier National Park.

With summer in full swing, park visitors are reminded to be extremely careful around bridges and rocks near water as they are often wet and slippery both from water as well as from algae and moss. Water-related accidents are the number one cause of death in Glacier National Park.

http://www.glacieradventure.com

[gardenista]

19. Same kinda deal here, in a less spectacular setting

Small falls in Catocton, Maryland. Just had to climb up to the top, and was so proud of myself when I reached the great big boulder at the top, stood up fast to take in the view, miscalculating the height of a massive tree limb. The sound as my head made impact drew everyones eyes to the sight of me, swaying and trying to retain my balance as I teetered over the falls. I would have gone down head first. My friend said there was a collective gasp. When I stabilized there were smiles, I was so embarrassed, but I was alive, with a massive Irish headache. Thank goodness for the thick skull my darlin grandfather gave to me.

[Esra Star]

12. You really have to pay more attention.

BTW you are about to pass 88888 posts......very impressive.
Cheers

[SoCalDem]

14. When I hit 30, I did.. wow 88888..I never look.

:rofl:

and most of my close calls probably came from being a "free-range" child of the 50s:) Kids make bad decisions, and if parents are not watching closely..well..shit happens:)

[WinkyDink]

21. "free-range" child of the 50s: LOVE it! So was I! We went all over unsupervised; just home for

dinner!

[SteppingRazor]

15. Gosh ... half a dozen car accidents, a swept-out-to-sea incident like yours...

another near-drowning, a stabbing, pneumonia ... the list goes on. I seem to have more lives than a cat.

[SoCalDem]

16. stabbing??? eeeeek!

now, that's scary..

I was robbed at gunpoint.. Odd how I forgot that one..:)

[SteppingRazor]

17. I've been robbed, but never at gunpoint.

I have had a gun pointed at me, but it was of the friend-being-incredibly-stupid variety. So I guess I could add that one too.

As for forgetting it, hey, that's really not that surprising. We all tend to forget about the really nasty stuff, no? Funny how the brain works.

[miscsoc]

20. My Dad crashed his Ford Capri while I was in my Mum's womb!

No harm done to me, although the car was beyond repair - the photos are frightening

When I was born I was blue - had my umbilical cord wrapped around my neck. Pulled through although I think it had some effect on my breathing.

And when I was 14 I got hit by a car - got thrown over the bonnet and landed on my head - I was swollen up like the elephant man and very lucky to survive.

[bikebloke]

23. My brush with death

on a t-shirt.