posted
Was your life ever in grave danger be it because of an accident, a disease or of another cause??
Shanta Qadeama Member # 9889
posted
Yes. When I was about 32, I was kayaking with some other inexperienced kayakers and my kayak spilled over in shallow water and another kayaker (a young teenage boy) - his kayak drifted over mine so I was being held under the water unable to wriggle out from the kayak, pushed against the bottom of the lake we were on, and even though I was in terror, I could see the boy's face - he didn't know how to move his canoe to get from over me and I was starting to blackout. The next bit is not clear somehow he moved out the way and I managed to tip to the side enough to get my head out of the water to get some air.
I was in a state of shock and in the van on the way home was shaking and freezing and crying. (So was the boy by the way).
Next day I made myself go back out there.
'Shahrazat Member # 12769
posted
In 1998, I had a severe earthquake. I remember that I did my last pray as I was sure I was going to die
Ohh by the way, we had another earthquake about an hour ago. Swang like a cradle
Kalila : ) Member # 14517
posted
Yes everytime i went to work
Shanta Qadeama Member # 9889
posted
What about you TL, why did you ask?
TigerLily Member # 3567
posted
Well I was born a premie, merely 1500g back in the 70s so I guess it made me a fighter.
I have not been in any life-threatening situation in all years after that (THANKS GOD!!!!!!) but my ex was involved in a horrible accident back in Egypt when he was younger and lost two friends to it.
I know of other people who died young and I guess this knowledge makes me grateful to realize how precious life is. It could be all over in a second...
Clear and QSY Member # 15597
posted
I can think of a few times I was close to being involved in something serious. But fortunately they were all just close calls.
I was almost hit by a train one night while driving over the tracks. There were no "Railroad Crossing" flashing lights to indicate there were tracks ahead or even that a train was coming. I did not see the tracks and therefore did not stop at them. Just as the back end of my car cleared the tracks - a train barrelled by at full speed. I was literally inches away from being hit.
There was another time a drunk driver's car crossed directly in front of mine and flipped over. I had been out to dinner that night with a friend. After dinner I got a sudden urge that we must leave immediately and that I must drive because my friend had drank 2 beers. He was far from drunk, but I insisted on driving and insisted that we leave immediately. I had a terrible feeling. We got almost one mile from my house on a dark and windy mountain road in upstate New York when the car in the opposite land heading towards us suddenly turned right and drove directly into my lane and went off the side of the road. Her car was going so fast that when she hit a tree the car flipped over and came to a stop facing in the opposite direction it had been travelling. She passed in front of my by inches. If I had been only 7 seconds later I would have been directly in her path when she entered my lane. She would have T-boned me at and she probably would have killed both people in my car.
Then there was one day back in 1989 when I was standing in line in a bank. Two guys jumped over the teller's wall and announced a bank robbery. I don't know if they had weapons of took hostages because I was close to the door anyway and I saw everyone running out of the bank so I followed them before I even knew what was really going on. A week later I was in the same bank again and the same thing happened again. This time security was able to grab the guy as soon as he tried to jump the counter. The next day, the bank had plexiglass walls installed between the tellers and customers.
Another scary moment was when I lived in the Bronx. It was around 1990 and I was just putting my son in his crib when I heard what I thought were firecrackers outside the window. It wasn't firecrackers, it was gunshots. About 6 or 7 of them. Someone had been shot over a drug deal gone wrong. The reason I was scared is because the only phone that was nearby was on the front porch that had large windows toward the front of the house. I picked up the phone and called 911 and called them while I was crouched down on the floor. My call was one of the first to reach the police so they were asking me all kinds of questions like was the shooter a man or woman? Was the victim a man or woman? How old did they appear? What were they wearing. In order to answer the questions I had to keep popping up from my hiding position and looking out the window. They were less than 15 feet from where I was. I was terrified they would see me and start to shoot at me as well. I was also afraid that if they started shooting again, one of the bullets would go through the wall of the house and hit my son while he was sleeping in his crib. (The shooting victim died on the scene before the ambulance arrived.)
TigerLily Member # 3567
posted
Oh wow, you truly have some stories (bank robberies, shooting) to tell. I am shocked!!
Shanta Qadeama Member # 9889
posted
quote:Originally posted by TigerLily: Well I was born a premie, merely 1500g back in the 70s so I guess it made me a fighter.
.. I know of other people who died young and I guess this knowledge makes me grateful to realize how precious life is. It could be all over in a second...
I was a month premie TL - but weighed about 3kg (6lb) I guess I got bored hanging around in there
Yes, a guy I worked with a few years ago, early 30s, 2 young daughters, used to work late every night, work weekends. He took his first weekend break for over a year to go with friends down to a 'stag night' (pre-wedding batchelor party) and he was in the back seat of the car with a friend and two other guys in front. They drove down to the hotel they were staying in and were literally just turning in to the hotel driveway when a lorry ploughed in to the back of the car killing the two in the back instantly.
Our whole office was deeply affected for months (there was such a long-hours working culture there) and one of the senior secretaries took to going round at 6pm pushing all the guys with families out the door saying 'go home to your families'.
Clear and QSY Member # 15597
posted
quote:Originally posted by TigerLily: Oh wow, you truly have some stories (bank robberies, shooting) to tell. I am shocked!!
Scary, yes, but thankfully all close calls and nothing more serious. The thing is whenever I tell people I am from New York and more specifically from The Bronx, they immediately conjure up images such as the ones I have described being a daily occurance. New York does have a very bad reputation for being a dangerous place. Of course when you live there you are exposed much more to the bad things, but I must say that when I moved from New York in 1997 I went back for a visit in 2002. I, myself, was amazed at how much things had changed for the better. In my opinion New York remains one of the greatest cities in the world.
Shanta Qadeama Member # 9889
posted
Those are scarey stories CQ!!!
I'm always interested in 'pre-cognition' stories as I try to wonder what is going on with the universe in terms of potential physics explanations.
Brada-Anansi Member # 16371
posted
Twice once in Hawaii being caught in a under-tow on the big island at blacksands beach and carried way out to sea.and the other almost being washed over board off a ship during refueling during in rough seas.
And surviving my last birthday bash..
*Dalia* Member # 13012
posted
quote:Originally posted by Clear and QSY: New York does have a very bad reputation for being a dangerous place. Of course when you live there you are exposed much more to the bad things, but I must say that when I moved from New York in 1997 I went back for a visit in 2002. I, myself, was amazed at how much things had changed for the better. In my opinion New York remains one of the greatest cities in the world.
I lived there in 1996 and did not perceive it as dangerous although I lived next to Tompkins Square Park and close to an area with a somehow dodgy reputation.
There were only a few situations where I felt a bit uncomfortable, but that was late at night and in empty places.
TigerLily Member # 3567
posted
quote:Originally posted by Shanta Qadeama: ]I was a month premie TL - but weighed about 3kg (6lb) I guess I got bored hanging around in there
Eight weeks too early.
Dzosser Member # 9572
posted
Are premature babies actually functional, like do they have everything in place ? Cos I was told they're usually missing something, like less brain cells and nervous system malfunction, since naturally they didn't get enuf time in da oven.
TigerLily Member # 3567
posted
quote:Originally posted by Dzosser: Are premature babies actually functional, like do they have everything in place ? Cos I was told they're usually missing something, like less brain cells and nervous system malfunction, since naturally they didn't get enuf time in da oven.
posted
Well I stood in a queue outside a bus stop in Nottingham once and listened in as two ladies discussed that 'premature babies always grow up small and weak' - as I loomed at 1.77m and - let's say more kg than could be considered 'small' - behind them
cbrbddd Member # 3891
posted
quote:Originally posted by Shanta Qadeama: Well I stood in a queue outside a bus stop in Nottingham once and listened in as two ladies discussed that 'premature babies always grow up small and weak' - as I loomed at 1.77m and - let's say more kg than could be considered 'small' - behind them
Didn't you want to tap them on the shoulder and say "HEY, I was that small and weak once!" . .
cbrbddd Member # 3891
posted
Oh, my life threatening situations???
hmmmm, 3 years ago I was driving back from Arkansas after the xmas holidays . . . blue skies, dry road and hardly any traffic on the interstate 40 going through Oklahoma.
I moved to the left lane to pass a woman. For some reason, when this woman saw a State Trooper on the entrance ramp, she decided to move to the left! She hit me in the side, I spun around and hit the State Troope head-on . . . after which we all went plunging off the right side of the road. I went down into a ditch and the State Trooper ended up at the top of the embankment!!! I was totally stunned!!!! My first accident ever and I get it when hardly any traffic!!!
I jumped out of my car and scrambled out of the ditch . . looking at my red car that had just been paid off, waaaaaaaaaahhhh! The State Trooper comes running over to me to ask if I was OK, 2 women (who saw the accident as they were behind me somewhere) came running over to me exclaiming "we saw the whole thing and she hit you and we'll tell the police that!!!" No one seemed to care about the other lady, lol, but she was fine too!
Fastest response time to an accident I've ever seen . . . more State Troopers arrived on the scene than you would think were out in that town (my theory is that they had been taking a donut break just off the entrance ramp).
When I really looked around and saw the tire tracks off the road, I saw how close my car had come to hitting a big light/utility pole (that could have been bad!
For months I kept flashing back to the head-on part of the collision. That truck/SUV those State Troopers drive is twice the size of my small car!!!! It hit my car smack-dab in the engine with it's higher bumper . . . insurance totaled my car!
It was truly a surreal experience! Time did slow down . . and I can remember how I held onto the steering wheel and tried to just let the car go after a point . . . can't control a skidding/spinning car too well.
My injuries were a banged-up knee (mostly swelling and bruising) and huge bruises where the seat-belt pulled on the right side . . . HUGE bruises . . . amazing to watch them move south with gravity, lol! No head/neck/back injuries . . . I am a normally stressed/tense person so that surprised me but made me very happy too. My car had a high safety rating so it might have helped . . . I bought another one of them after that accident (it's rating is even better as they had improved it in 6 years, lol).
TigerLily Member # 3567
posted
Cbrbddd, I am always scared to end up in a car accident!!
Thanks to all for sharing your personal stories.
to_hell_and_back Member # 16710
posted
When I worked at the bank two niglets came in dressed as Muslims. The teller manager got the dude dressed in full niqab and the other had a fake stik on beard and Muslim cap. I knew when he walked in what he was cuz the beard was crooked and as he walked up to my window I had to giggle... I knew he was gonna rob me and I called him to my window cuz I am not scared of anything really and didn't want the teenage and elderly tellers to take him. He handed me a note that said," do what I tell u and u won't get fukking hurt." well I was cool til I read the fukking get hurt part and my rage flared cuz nobody is Gona threaten me. I said to him quietly as I opened my cash drawer, " u ain't Gona hurt me no matter what goes down in here...." then asked him how he wanted the cash so I can see what kinda person I was dealing with.... Instead of saying stuff like put it in the bag bitch lol he actually said, " uh 50's and 100's" like I was cashing his check loool. So that's when I smelled his fear and stupidity ( I'm Scorpio were good at profiling people) I picked up my stapler, opened it up and swung it at his face. He ran over to the other guy and the flew. The FBI came and the bank people came and tried to tell me to take time off to recover. I wasn't scared and told them I had no issue coming back the next day. The manager who got robbed by the other smaller dude who didn't get a chance to hand her a note yet pussied out and took a month off lol! Another time in standing there trying to open a bag of hundreds to cash a big check. I was strugglin and the guy opened up his pocket knife and held it. I looked up at him and said," WTF is that for?" he said " oh I figured u needed it to open that bag' I said " are u stupid how u gona hold a knife in a bank?!" I fought with a lot of customers at the bank and needless to day I don't work there anymore.
posted ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)