Printable View
I was shot at once.
I was held at gun point and tied up by bandits once.
I fell out of a canoe while unconcious and alone once.
I avoided a highspeed t-bone auto collision by a split second once.
Sooner or later this is gonna end badly! :boohoo:
Any body else?
I had a stray .270 bullet miss me by about six feet once. Someone was shooting across the swamp, the bullet hit a rock and ricocheted hitting the tree next to me. (I know it was a .270 because I know who's gun it came from. Him and I had a little talk afterward.)
I've had a number of close calls with car wrecks.
I voted democrat once.
If your gonna be dumb ya gotta be tough.. seems to be the working philosophy in my life...
Fell through a ceiling once, broke two ribs,
Jumped across a ravine over a river upstream of a killer set of falls once.. and couldn't get back across. Had to walk out on the other side for about 5 miles of bush-waking.
Avoided (rather the other guy did) a head on collision when the truck's lone single functioning brake's wheel was on pea gravel at 50 mph.
Usually I need a few drinks under my belt to get this story out of me: The closest call I ever had is being buried in a 15 ft deep trench when I was 21 years old. 2 seconds before it caved in I was laying prone on my belly trying to strap a saddle onto the water main, stood up and stepped up a bit to grab a shovel and at that point the 15 ft vertical wall behind me caved in and slammed me face first into the water main standard (a large 6" vertical iron pipe) and buried to the top of me head. I came to with a worm's eye view of the world from 6" below ground level! I spent almost 10 days in the hospital having the bones in my left cheek and orbit of my eye reconstructed, and 8 weeks with my jaw wired shut. And a dislocated shoulder from the rescue.
The part that gives me shivers and goose-bumps to this day is knowing that I was seconds before laying flat at the bottom of that hole. If I hadn't stood up when I had, instead of being buried in an upright position near the top , I would have been flat underneath a 10' pile of dirt. Mom told me then that the spirit of her father was there for me, and with out him as my guardian angel I would have been lost. That idea stuck with me. Whatever it was, it was one hell of a close call!
Shortly after that, my wife was pregnant with our first child, but it wasn't until later that I figured out that that accident was the reason I felt compelled to reproduce... and quickly!
I grew up a punk rock skateboarder in Washington DC. nuff said
Nothing too serious. I daily take one of the sharpest edges known to man to my throat. I've had a gun fire on my hip. I had a pallet load of treadmills fall off the back of a truck right next to my head. I once had my lathe grab a cloth from my hand which in turn grabbed a gouge off of the wall behind the lathe and threw it towards me. I've looked Oprah in the eye! My brother shot me in the eye with a compound bow, it glanced off as it was an extreme angle and the reason it hit me was that it got stuck on the string. Umm that's about it. Oh ya every time the buffer grabs I feel like I'm going to die. Does that count?
[QUOTE=wdwrx;627888]If your gonna be dumb ya gotta be tough.. seems to be the working philosophy in my life...
Thanks for sharing this. I'm sure it's very hard to think about.
But luckily you and everyone else is here and safe and able to share our lov for these simple yet elegant shavers.
Been shot at but the fellow missed so I don't call that near death exactly but it might qualify. I was a union ironworker doing structural steel erection for 20 years and had some near misses that could qualify. Was right there when a crane lost 300 foot of boom. They were taking down a buck hoist and it would be too long to detail but there were cars crushed all over the street and that boom sounded like some primeval creature howling as it broke apart and fell. Seen a friend fall 85 feet and land flat on his back. He lit on the wire mesh they use in airport runways and was dead in a hurry. I've walked away from a few hellacious automobile wrecks. The Lord protects drunks and fools. Sometimes anyhow.
Interesting topic on a late sleepless night, Matt. (Neither here nor there, but I recently watched Quest for Fire for the 1st time since I saw it in a theater, and thought of your avatar. Cool movie!)
I always say that every boy who makes it to 18 is a walking miracle. Having said that, I had a couple of VERY close calls on street bikes in my early 20's; there are no fender-benders on motorcycles...
-I've had a gun pulled on me on a dark street late at night.
-In the summer of '06, on a backpacking trip in Yellowstone's Lamar Valley, we (my family and I) were almost charged by an angry back-country bison bull whose dust-wallow we came upon unexpectedly.
Getting ready to leave in a little while on a mountain trip for brook trout with a buddy. The waterfall areas and rock-hopping are always a hazard; thank God for felt-soles! May you and your loved ones stay safe.
I've been 3 times on a motorcycle accident. One might have ended sadly: i was standing in a red lights when behind came an older lady with her Opel. She didn't watch what is ahead but had been watching dogs playing in her rear mirror. That's how she later told to Police. She hit me about 50-60 kmh. Luckily i flew over my rack box and her car and landed on a road. Got only bruises (and a new bike).
Once i almost cut my left thumb off with a self made table saw. That wasn't near death incident, but now i can't open my (or her) shirt buttons with my left hand. My thumb works but the nerves are damaged for good.
On the foreign service i've been shot at two or three times from long distance but those gentlemen missed. They were not incidents: I believe they did it on purpose.
I ran a 66 Chevy impala into a freight train...figure 6 feet is close enough to death for me. That poor car...
I got t-boned on the driver's side by an F-150 doing 40. I was driving a cavalier...The bumper of that pickup ended up about 4 inches behind my head. If I had hit the brakes a second earlier, I would have bought it.
I was held up at gunpoint when I worked in an off licence as a student.
I was out diving on the Great Barrier Reef and jumped off the boat only to find a 3 metre hammerhead had decided to shade itself under our boat. It was about 4 or 5 feet away from me when I jumped in, and that gave me the biggest start I've ever had in my life..!
I had a few pretty major spills when I was cross country mountain biking when I was younger. The worst one, I misjudged a corner on a dirt track and stacked it into a tree. The bike was wrecked but I got away with a few bruises. Lucky escape there!
I had a few run ins with spiders in Australia as well. I was out horse riding in the mountains south of Brisbane and when you're on horseback, the golden orb spiders webs are about face height.... And they're big spiders, about 6" across. Fortunately the thing didnt bite me, and I took a stick from a tree to clear the webs after that. I also came across a few redbacks, which can kill you if you're not careful.
In my younger days we had a habit of building and testing flying foxes (zip-lines to you US folk). Had a couple of nasty landings including one where the main line sagged too much and I hit a vertical river bank - fortunately feet first.
Probably my closest near-miss would have been when I flipped my old Escort end-over. If my seatback hadn't broken I'm fairly certain I would have! Just a cracked rib to show for the vehicular damage.
I was a patrol cop in the North East during the 80's crack problem. I worked in a busy place. So a good day was one you went home . I was too young to realize I had been in danger but enjoyed my time in the car.
Been shot at, someone tired to stab me (bringing a knife to a gun fight does not work), hit by a car (saved by my vest), ran off a small cliff during a foot chase (I hate poison Ivy). This was an important lesson: when chasing a bad guy through a wooded area at night you can use the flashlight to illuminate the bad guy or use it to watch where your running. I highly recommend you watch where you are running.
Been in several car accidents, encountered too many bad guys with guns (in the 80's everyone had them), Was in a crash during a high speed chase (it made it to a highway so the speeds got crazy).
Broke my hand on a guy defending my partner from an 18 inch steel pipe, broke an ankle during a chase, fractured three ribs in five places during a car crash. Hit my shin on the corner of a three foot tall brick wall during a foot chase, boy did that hurt. I think that is all but I am sure more will come to mind during the day.
Too many heart stopping jobs to recall them all, but I am sure there are military and other street urchins that can commiserate with me.
Now the most dangerous thing I do is SHAVE!!!
When I was 11 years old I had an early morning paper route. I had to get up at 4:00am to deliver the papers. One morning a car with two men in it slowly pulled up to me and asked if I had a dollar, I started backing up and said no. The driver whipped open his door and said "Get in the back seat". I took off running and hid in some bushes. The car looked for me for about 15 minutes and then took off. I ran home and abandoned my wagon full of newspapers.
We called the police. They took a report and said they couldn't do anything about it since they had not actually touched me. We called the paper manager and all he wanted to know was what I had done with the rest of the papers.
This was the time I knew that the people who I counted on to protect me could not. That is why I have a concealed pistol license.
Shot at several times. Hit once.
Let's see...
As a toddler I once escaped from the garden through a small hole in the fence where the wiring wasn't tied tight enough to the pole. I went on to the busy road in front of the house and started walking along the white line in the middle of the road, with cars zooming past on both sides. I was rescued by a kind woman who searched until she saw a garden with toys. When she rang the doorbell my mother didn't open the door at first because she was busy and 'knew' I was safely outside in the garden with the shiny new fence :)
On holiday on Scotland I climbed mount Schiehallion, carrying no more than 2 cheese sandwiches and half a bottle of water, and a light raincoat. My friend and I were looking for a nice place to hike, and decided that MS would be a nice place, and it looked easy enough to get to the summit. By the time we got to the summit, we noticed that that was not the real summit. The real one was quite a bit higher and a mile or 2 ahead of us. So we decided to go for the real summit. Only when we got there, we noticed that it wasn't the real summit, but ... repeat this 5 times. By then we went on out of sheer determination to win (hint: not the smart thing to do).
The view was worth it in the end, but between the final 2 or 3 summits, the climb was fairly dangerous. On our way down we talked to several people who were quite astonished to meet people wearing nothing but a wind jacket. We met people who tried to get to the summit 2 or 3 times already, only to be turned back by the weather, sometimes spending the night up there because of the thick mist, snow, and freezing gales. Apparently, MS was know for turning from a sunny climb to a raging blizzard in less than 10 minutes. We, of course, had no clue what we were doing. All other climbers we saw that day had thermal clothing, thick coats, large backpacks with snow tents, heating kits, food and water for 2 days... :D
The body language of those people told us in no uncertain terms that we were a) absolutely nuts and b) lucky as hell to survive. Afterward we learned that getting to the summit of MS is quite a feat :o
And then there was the time I ate strawberries as a kid...
Rocklimbing, had an anchor fail, fell about 95 feet, with rope stretch and give in the system, I was within inches of the ground.
Climbing, actually, belaying, had a softball sized hunk of rock knock a cigarette out of my mouth, then smah into the soft earth within an inch or two of both feet.
Stupid friend playing with his father's "unloaded" gun as an 11 or 12 year old. .45 ACP hit the TV I was watching. Kid got the holy hell kicked out of him. Then his parents got home and I imagine his day got worse from there. Never talked to him again.
More than one AMAZINGLY stupid risks I took as a late teen, early 20's moron, that I will not write here. Some things don't need to be public.
I forgot that one. I was shooting with a .45 ACP when the next round jammed. It was only first squeeze double action, and single action for each next round. The girl next to me took the gun from my hands and started racking the slide to try and unlock the round, with the gun pointed towards ... me.Quote:
Originally Posted by smokelaw1
I jumped out of the way, took the gun from her and put it aside, asked her 'WTF do you think you are doing!?!', and walked away.
Too many to count and I don't dwell on them. I am a volunteer fire fighter and up to recently as I am currently inactive, an interior fire fighter otherwise known as a smoke diver. I'm the guy with the hose entering the burning buildings. Most every one is a near death experience but one time we entered a building that had been smoldering for most of the day. Me and another guy were climbing the stairs when someone on the outside put a ladder through a window. This caused a back draft! I grabbed the other guy's coat and pulled the two of us down the stairs head first. The explosion went over the top of us and blew the Chief, who was monitoring the situation from outside the front door, off the front porch. We got up off the stairs, saw the building was completely engulfed in flames and started squirting water. Put the fire out and didn't get hurt in any way. It was a close one though. If we didn't go sailing down the stairs on our chests we would have been splattered on the wall.
Hi,
1) Shot with a 12 bore shotgun by a 'fool' (polite name) when I was working as a beater. Luckily I only caught the outer part of the pattern and my jacket took most of the sting out of the No6 shot. Tweezers took care of the rest :)
2) Had a 0.308W projectile pass a couple of feet above my head. Some 'fool' was cross shooting on the rifle range. I wouldn't be smiling had I been standing up :(
Have fun !
Best regards
Russ
I had Myocarditius when I was nineteen, that`s an inflammation of the muscle surrounding the heart. It was squashing my heart. I VERY nearly died from that. A very strange experince that was, I woke up on a cardiac ward surrounded by really old people lol Every time I get a flutter of the heart now I panic a little inside.
Numerous car wrecks that all could have killed me easily but I was just lucky.
I was on a zip line and I`d put a bit of weight on since I`d last been on it. My bacside hit the platfor at about 40mph and I shot up into the sky sooooo high. I`m amazed to this day that I managed to hang on and that I didn`t break my back.... just my arse. I couldn`t sit down for a year.
I had whooping cough when I was a few months old, that`s supposed to kill you if you`re under two years old I think it is. I actually remember a few images from that...
Can`t say I`ve ever been shot at but I`ve been hit by a riccochet from a 12bore which I had though impossible by the way. A few apparently fused pellets came back from a guy stood in front of me shooting. I heard it hit a wooden post to my right and then it hit my arm. It felt like being stabbed with a soldering iron, very hot ! No harm done though. I realise that`s not a brush with death but I just want to fit in ! lol Everybody else seems to have been shot at..... :)
I watched a reality TV show once, close as I ever want to come to death.
I slipped and almost biffed it, while scrambling the back side of Castle Mountain. Yikes!!
http://shltrip.com/sitebuilder/image...3_-760x575.jpg
I did make the highest peak though, second one from the right, what a view!!
I don't have any stories near as impressive as you guys... However, I
did get in a pretty bad accident around 17 years old.
I was driving home from a double shift at Bob Evans, after working till close (there until 11:30 on day A, and working from 6am til 6pm on day B)... Well, I was tired and a bit out of it on day B, on the drive home, and caught a glare off of the back of a stop sign... I thought someone was flashing their brights at me, so I turned to give them the finger, and felt my front right wheel go off the edge of the road (Beach road in Medina has about 5 inch high shoulders... Repaved soon after this, actually) and I overcorrected to get back on the road, overcorrected again back towards the edge, and another jerk of the wheel away from the road (BRILLIANT!)
Well, the car rolled over onto the roof and skidded for about 50-60 feet. You have to appreciate the view when you're looking up (which is actually looking down) watching the road crushing the window in front of you, and rushing by.
I walked away with road burn on my arm, and nothing more (My window was down, and my arm was hanging out and down... Apparently the EMT was surprised it wasn't broken off when I rolled...)
I got way too lucky with that one.
Also, I'm surprised this hasn't been posted yet... Make sure you turn up your volume, the sound adds a lot to this (No graphic content, mind you). This is why you don't shoot at metal targets.
YouTube - 50 caliber ricochet
Not me, but this guy has a pretty good story
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alembic
WOW, concealed weapons permit at age 11!!
Shot at by a sniper in Vietnam, 1972. He was in a village, well hidden. Missed my left ear by inches. A sound you never, never forget! Reaction force came up empty looking for him, ditto two sentry dogs released with the "Kill" command.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ShavedZombie
Wow you can actually hear the ricochet ....hes lucky i would say
When I was in Vietnam I had the opportuity to catch a ride on the commanding general's plane. He wasn't on board and the pilots just had to get the plane back to Cam Rahn Bay which was close to where I needed to go. I jumped at the chance as this was a very nice Beechcraft and the boss had a really nice, comfy chair - much better than the Hueys I normally traveled in. We were cruising high enough for me to ask the pilots why they were flying around the thunderheads rather than going through them. Among the answers was that the winds in those clouds could be violent enough to rip wings off aircraft. OK I thought - good reason to fly around them.
We were making the Cam Rahn Bay approach at about 1200 feet and the bottom dropped out of the air. The plane fell essentially straight down for about 1100 feet. When the wings caught air I could see treetops out of the window. On the way down I knew it was over and after we did land I asked the pilots how they felt about what had just happened. They were actually gray and told me they knew we were dead. I was glad the wings were tougher than I had been given to believe and had no mirror to see if I was as gray as the pilots who were going to land that plane come hell or no air.
Thanks again guys
:beer2:
It depends on your definition of "near".
Age 8, my heart and lungs failed due to an anaphylactic shock caused by a cortizone dosage error. I spent the best part of 6 months in coma, woke up with a clean slate and troubles in school... turns out I required glasses after the incident. I don't have real memories from before that event, only second-hand memories told to me by the family.
Age 8 still, I got hit by a car going over 40MPH in the city center, landed face first on the curb... less than 5 weeks after my older brother was killed in a road accident. I got hit, then got up and managed to walk off the road before collapsing from the blood loss. I got lucky as it happened just in front of a doctor office, I just ended up having the majority of my face sewn back together without anesthesia due to the heavy blood loss. I had to eat through a straw for a few months. The doctor did an incredible job sewing me back, you wouldn't notice the marks if I didn't show them to you.
Age 10, while playing in the woods behind a camping site with two friends, my heart stopped again after a 10ft fall when I landed flat on my back with a stone between the shoulder blades. Luckily, there was somebody able to perform CPR nearby. I definitely do recall the world fading out, a gap then fading back in... I also do remember being very weak for the rest of the day, unable to walk without assistance and too weak to communicate with more than a few words.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelP
Uh, yeah...those will do!!:dropjaw:
Years ago I had a really, really bad hang nail.
Really bad....
I fell off a ladder which went through a window. Luckilly, I fell backward, not through the glass.
Oh, and my wife almost found out about my new Dovo.
Stray 9mm bullet a foot from my head when I was 14. Still have it on a keychain.
In the hospital for a couple of weeks septic with peritonitis at 15.
Mosquito bite when hunting in the woods at 16, ended up hospitalized with Hemorrhagic Fever, bleeding internally with hardly any platelets left.
A couple of knife fights till I was in my early twenties.
Raced against a *ickhead in an Aston Martin on a busy interstate at 120mph when I was ... well, last weekend.:banghead:
Gun shot, in the back, through and through just below left shoulder blade on a very bad day in the nam, out in the parrots beak AO, late November 66.
Hit by a petrol tanker when i was 9 years old, broken jaw,nose,teeth smashed,top lip severed (120 stitches to reattach it) and in a coma for six weeks.
Head on with a car with my motorcycle, the car came round a bend on the wrong side of the road.Broken shoulder,wrist and unconsious for two days.
Waking up one sunday morning after consuming a bottle of suntory whiskey and a vindaloo curry, although at the time it seemed like a good combination?:)
You Aussies are tough SOB's....Cheers Mate!
I almost said NO to my youngest daughter's manicure today.....ALMOST!!
Compared to my old man I,m an amature at this near death stuff :)Quote:
Originally Posted by zib