What's your close call?

[Daishiki]

In elementary school, I was scarfing down tater tots too fast and I choked on one. The look of distress and gestures to my throat were met with a blank stare from the guy in front of me. He still managed to bring his sandwich to his mouth to take another bite.

I was able to get the attention of an aide and she gave me the good ol' heimlich. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here neffing on ATOT.

 

[Possessed Freak]

I was relocating a clothes dryer line. I forgot to flip off the breaker. I felt 240 V AC, and could barely unclamp my hand to let go of the screwdriver which had closed the circuit.

 

[tokie]

I almost fell off a cliff as a kid, but a tree stump stopped my fall. Didn't really realize the seriousness of it then.

 

[Amused]

I've bit the bucket and kicked the dust and I'm still here.

Now had I done it the other way around I'd probably be fucked.

 

[BeauJangles]

Almost drowned, almost died from an allergic reaction, almost died in a car accident where I flew off the highway at 45 mph down an embankment into a bunch of trees and rocks (my mom was driving).

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Never had anything actually happen to me, but when I was four-ish and sitting at the patio watching my dad do lawn work, there was a decent sized rattlesnake resting just a couple of feet from me. I read those Dial-An-Animal books religiously at that age and knew that snakes aren't the nicest animals around, but my dad didn't notice it until he was finished hours later.

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: NesuD
Lost control of my car in an ice storm (driving to fast for conditions still kick myself now and then) T-boned myself on a concrete bridge railing. Snapped my neck. Still don't know how i managed to live through that one. No permanent paralysis either.

Dad was a diemaker. Saw 2 of his coworkers at different times in the 50's and 60's get crushed in die presses. Still can't understand why people can't take 5 seconds to use the lockout functions.

Most likely because lockout/tagout didn't exist. Turn the machine off and get it fixed!
Companies didn't care if someone got hurt...except when it slowed production.
When OSHA came to be in the 70's, companies HAD to start providing some safety protections for their workers...or get slapped with tiny little fines that were inconsequential...and (for the most part) still are...BUT, companies are better nowadays than they used to be.

Originally posted by: Amused
I've bit the bucket and kicked the dust and I'm still here.

Now had I done it the other way around I'd probably be fucked.

You know...that makes your sig line seem very appropriate. 😀

President and Ambivalent Dictator for Life of The Amused Fsck Off and Die Club

Originally posted by: JEDI

so you sued, got a few $M, and retired early?!

if not, WHY NOT?

Because shit like that wasn't done back then. At the time, OSHA was new...and largely ineffective. Many states had (and still have) work comp laws that prevent an injured employee from suing the employer beyond the workmans compensation insurance coverage. SOME states still permit suing for gross negligance on the part of the company...but do not hold the company responsible for the negligent actions of another employee.

Just think...if we do away with unions, companies can go back to their old ways.

 

[BW86]

Originally posted by: VTrider
Hanging out on a beach in Puerto Rico when I was 12yrs old, decided to walk to the 'other' beach which wasn't so crowded. I didn't read or speak spanish that well, but you would think that the multitude of signs posted on the beach with a picture of a stick figure being thrown around in a giant wave surround by a 'no sign' would give me some clue - nope. Jumped right in the ocean thinking that this beach was all mine! I was immediately thrown upside down like in a washing machine and when I tried to get back to shore, the riptide / current pulled me back into the ocean - this repeated about 3 times until by chance I was thrown back onto a shallow part of the beach - manage to crawl to safety - almost drowned which was really scary.

same exact thing happened to me when I was about 17- the only difference was there was no sign 😛

 

[Chunkee]

Mt. Bike wreck...endo'd over the front handle bars going downhill fast and steep...all happened so fast...if did not have helmet(broke and crushed) would have lost an eye and been brain damaged if not dead...it is what probably procured my bad disc (that I just had replaced) and the syringomyeliasyringomyelia

 

[NuclearNed]

Mountain climbing - probably not as close a call as it felt at the time.

In 2007, I was climbing Mt. Rainier and was on the descent. We were climbing down a difficult section called Disappointment Cleaver. This section is extremely steep and exposed, and there is little margin for error. I took a step down into snow, lost my footing and slid 2-3 feet. No problem - I laughed it off, stood up, and immediately fell again, sliding another 2-3 feet. By now, I was getting uncomfortably close to what would be a very serious fall. I mustered some courage, stood up again, immediately fell and landed right on the edge of an enormous fall. After I tucked my heart back into my chest, my team lead pointed out that my crampons were packed full of ice, so my boots basically had no traction.

 

[Beev]

One of my friends was "juggling" a single hatchet (where you hold the handle and then throw it up a little and let it flip then you catch the handle again, you know?), well he threw it really, really high one last time as I was walking away from him, and the damn thing landed an inch from my foot. I imagine that would have been a fun head wound...

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Had a really bad case of pneumonia. Didn't die but it was an easy way to lose 15 pounds in a week and a half.

 

[MrPickins]

From an older thread:

Originally posted by: MrPickins
I tried parasailing here on Lake Travis when (about 300' in the air) a storm blew in. The winds kicked up to about 40 mph and had me flailing around, my legs getting bruised by the cable. I was pretty sure with all the whipping around I was doing that the chute was gonna get twisted up and I was gonna plummet like a rock, so I was yelling to get me the f*** down.
After they cut the cable (the winch had broken and was spraying hydraulic fluid) I did settle down, and the ride down was strangely peaceful.

Unfortunately, the chute never deflated (is that the word?) when I hit the water, and I got dragged backwards several hundred yards before the boat crew managed to catch up with me and jump on the chute. I was only about 50 yards from the rocky shore, and headed in that direction.

I realized later that I had jinxed myself when, while signing the waiver, I asked if they had ever had any problems. Of course he said no...

 

[rasczak]

It was a big day out here in San Diego, lost my footing, went over the falls and was swept on to the rocks. my board saved me as it was the only thing between the rocks and my head. Lost a sweet board that day.

 

[Kntx]

I was pushing over some tall standing dead trees with some friends when one snapped back and landed on my head. Not quite sure how I didn't break my neck or have a branch stub crush my skull.

A few years ago I was mountain biking along a cliff side trail when I bailed and almost went over the edge. Just barely grabbed hold of a sapling on my way over.

Edit: Lol, when I was 19 or so I was coming back from the casino with some friends when our car ran out of gas. I was pushing the car along the road when we got to a downhill section. I jumped on the trunk of the car so I wouldn't have to catch up. Well the car really got some speed down the hill (speedo was just over 70kph) and hit a bump or something. I went flying off the back of the car and skidded/rolled to a stop. I was 100% OK except for a bit of roadrash and bruises but people who saw me fall said they were prepared for the worst!

Edit 2: Worked at a bar when I was in college and some jerk fired shots through the front window of the bar. I wasn't hit but things around / near me did.

Ah, the memories keep coming back.

 

[BoomerD]

Hell, I completely forgot about my closest brush with death...

I was pretty young...right out of the USMC. My GF and I at the time were getting pretty serious...until she caught me drunk and boffing her best friend who I had escorted to court when HER BF was sentenced to 5 years for GTA or something equally stupid.. 😀

I nearly died that day...when I fell off my chair laughing at her as she went ballistic. I explained that it was HER fault...she COULD have gone with us that day. All I was doing was consoling her friend. 😀
That didn't go over too well either.😛

 

[Kanalua]

Grew up in Hawaii. While growing up, it was a regular occurrence to lay a long net perpendicular to the shore and leave it all night to catch whatever fish swam into the net (called lay net). In the morning, you'd swim out to the net and pull it in with all the fish and net and weights. This part is usually pretty cold and the gear can get pretty heavy.

I moved to the Continental US and lived there for 10 years, and got out of shape and not in the best lay net shape. Well, I move back to Hawaii for Law School and a month after moving, my Brother calls me and invites me to lay and pull in a net in a place called Waimanalo (it's generally illegal now to leave a net longer than four hours in the water, but the guys we were helping was the care taker of this particular beach park).

So early in the morning, like 5:30 am, sun not even up, about 8 of us jump in the cold morning waves and set out to grab this net, which is about 100 yards off shore and continues another 400 yards out to sea.

I am completely out of shape and within minutes, my chest is tightening and I can't breath. My lack of oxygen intake is causing my legs to hurt and cramp. I'm about 200 yards from the shore in about 20-25 feet of water. I instantly make a decision to bail.

I head back into shore. For a few minutes I really didn't think I was going to make it. I was exhausted and the cold water was sapping all of my strength and will to live. There came a point where I contemplated giving up rather than fighting on.

After thinking of my wife, I decided to try to make it to the beach. I tried to relax, but the waves were too big, I couldn't just float on my back and backstroke to the beach. When I thought I had reached the end of my strength, the one fin I had on (shared the other fin with my brother) touched sand. I tipped toed until I could walk. I pulled my self onto a bank of sand and collapsed for about an hour. I woke up to my brother and his friends pulling the huge pile of net past me on a rubber inner tube up the beach. I had the HUGEST headache.

Anyway, it was the first time I've faced my own mortality and the limits of my out of shape abilities...