Posted on 07/06/2013 7:15:44 PM PDT by MNDude
It seems almost everyone has a story of how they almost drowned, almost drove off a cliff, or narrowly dodged a bullet. What is your story of the closest you came to dying?
Hehehe...dang, RC. You do live on the edge...
Probably closest is when flying in RVN and some army idiot called us in for a medevac right over some NVA that lit us up from underneath at close range. Great fun seeing all those AK rounds tearing up through the deck around my feet, and the crew chief right next to me getting hit. Dunno why the other gunner and I did not get a scratch. Helo had to put down with a shot up fuel line.
I was 7 years old and, as is typical for that age, thought I had mastered nearly every skill needed for survival. That, of course, included swimming. Dad had brought home a few of those big war surplus aircraft inner tubes. If a bigger than average seven year old kept his body a bit more tensed than he would have to on a regular auto tube, he could lie across it, his rump just in the water while he paddled about.
Comforted by the extraordinary size of the tube, I felt secure enough to venture farther from shore than I had been before. Mom’s glances in my direction became more frequent with each yard added to the gap between us. When I’d crossed that invisible line alert mothers often create, her back straightened. 2 yards more and she was on her feet, waving me back. I pretended to not see her and paddled into deeper water. Several yards more and she was waving and calling.
As the distance between us — and her vocal urgency — grew, I began to contemplate the wisdom of heading back to shore. I remember starting to roll to my right side to dig deeper into the water to make the turn. As I finished the turn and settled back onto the tube, I apparently relaxed just enough to start a sudden and unstoppable slide through the 24” hole in the center. As my head went under, I did precisely the wrong thing — I gasped! Suddenly I was drowning! I clawed back to the surface, immediately forgetting everything I knew about swimming. Because of the water in my upper respiratory system, I wasn’t able to take advantage of the few seconds of air available to me. It was my first experience with being unable to perform the involuntary act of breathing. It was total terror!
As I went down for the second time, something even more weird — and absolutely curious — happened: I heard the most beautiful music I had ever experienced and was enveloped by a feeling of warmth and well-being of a sort I hadn’t felt until then — or since. The most accurate description for what I then began to feel was that a black velvet curtain descended slowly over me.
That eminently pleasurable sensation caused my second ascent for air to be far less aggressive than the first. My initial panic gave way to comfortable resignation. As I started down for the third, and traditionally, final, time, I abandoned all thought of even attempting to go up again.
Since I’d never died by drowning before, I was certain my sudden upward acceleration was part of the process. But the incessant tugging on the rear of my swimsuit struck me as a bit unusual; I couldn’t picture the Almighty pulling me into heaven — presumptuously believing that to be my destination –- tail end first! It wasn’t the Lord who had me by the backside. It was my father!
When I vanished into the center of the tube, mom started kicking sand all over dad, madly babbling what she’d just seen. My father, summoning his earlier training as a lifeguard, was instantly on his feet, shot across the beach and took a running header into the water. He was on me in what more composed and detached onlookers estimated to be under 15 seconds. Hauling me back to shore, he pumped me out and treated me for shock. It was hard to believe all those wonderful sensations had been packed into 15 seconds.
Thanks to my now dead mother and father, I lived to relate an experience so beautiful that I no longer fear the death which awaits us all. Though I prayed that my father’s passing would be as exquisite an experience, I don’t think it was. I do think, however, that Christians take death far too seriously. I mean, isn’t it hypocritical to believe on one hand that there is a hereafter for those who accept Jesus and carry on so when one of us goes to this far, far better place?
An ironic epilog to my father’s heroism played out in 1977.
At age 59, after one previous heart attack, my dad’s heart finally gave up. His last wish was that he be cremated. My brother Karl, nephew Jimmy and dad’s sister Barb and I all seemed to be having about the same amount of trouble dealing with his death and felt compelled to pay our respects one last time. We drove across town to the Cleveland Crematory. The funeral director who handled the service gave me the address, saying it would be OK to come out.
I suppose the strain of the occasion prevented the location from registering: I later found that, as the proverbial crow flies, the Cleveland Crematory was about 2 miles from that beach at Dalwood. I later checked the wind direction with the weather bureau: It was 15 MPH out of the southwest.
Perfect! I visualized some of my father’s ashes gently falling upon the beach where 31 years earlier he’d saved the life of his 7 year old son.
The old man would have enjoyed the irony of that.
Prayers to you, my FRiend. I hope you got away from whatever put you in that state.
Twenty years ago I coded 3 times. After all the tests, they could find no damage to my heart. Another time,I had a deep furrow in my skull from a 30/06 rd. Another was we were putting on an explosives demo for some visiting brass, we had just armed everything and went into the bunker when we had a lightning strike detonate everything at once. Called the office and had another strike come through the phone line, knocking my partner and I across the room.
I’m 17.
I am waiting on a street corner by my bank, waiting for the light to change to get across the street to my car.
Two cars crash in the intersection, one glances off and heads straight for me. I pushed the person standing next to me away and stood there waiting for the car heading toward to come closer. There was no time to move, yet everything seemed to happen in slow motion. At the right time, I vaulted over the fender with my hand on the fender as the car screeched to a halt-—past where I was standing.
Then I went around to make sure the driver was OK; then checked the other driver. Talked with the police when they came. Another witness said he could not believe how calm I was waiting for the car to come at me.
I didn’t get the shakes until I got home and realized I almost was a statistic that day.I was a very blessed young man.
That was 1971.
Running from a cop and flew over a hill and panicked, hit the brakes and got sent through a telephone pole. Wound up upside down in the middle of the road and took the base of the pole completely out of the ground. Walked away with a scratch on my knee.
Long story short, I'm fine now (thank you Cleveland Clinic!), and my last C/T scan showed no trace of cancer.
I used to work nights and did a few of those multiple-day-no-sleep trips. One time I was fighting the sleep really hard. I didn’t think I was going to make it home. Finally, I spotted my town. I was so relieved I fell right asleep. My head hit the seat back hard enough that it woke me up again. I got a little smarter after that.
The Lord was with you that day, my FRiend. Icing and a faulty pitot heat is a deadly combination.
My Late Marine B-I-L was a Crew Chief on Sea Stallion (as I remember - a flying brick) in Vietnam.
He was on Watch standing on the deck of the Carrier when his relief showed up from below deck ten minutes early. The guy tells my B-I-L to go below and rest up, he’ll take it from here.
On his way to his bunk, my B-I-L hears all sorts of commotion, alarms clanging and people running up the ladders.
Apparently, as soon as my B-I-L left the Deck, his Relief was ordered onto a departing Chopper. As it lifted off, an inbound Chopper ran into it midair and everyone in both Choppers went over the side to their watery graves.
He told me the guys name. Wish I had written it down. My B-I-L told me he always thought of the guy before going to bed, every night since it happened.
OMG - LOL!
I had a near death experience - I think - how could it have been near death when there was no reason for me to die? It felt like I left my body and was about to float over everything - I saw myself lying below - but then suddenly thought “I can’t leave now”. Figured i had to get back to my body so jumped up off the couch and it was over. I had never heard of out of body experiences at that time.
That was a long time ago and fortunately it never happened again.
Went in for a simple lapraoscopic appendectomy.
Dr. Nicked a vein.
Woke up in recovery with incredible pain and could hear ice cracking.
It was my blood filling in in cavities and pushing pockets around.
Told the nurse something wad wrong, she refused to listen to me.
Told her get my friend in the lobby. She tried to reassure me and i wasn’t having any of it.
I sat up and they rushed to my sides, placed their hands on back and shoulder as they helped me lay down.
Still tried to reassure me and I insisted something was wrong. If they wouldn’t help I would go get my friend.
They said they would take my blood reassure.
As they took it, they worried exclaimed my blood pressure was 54/ 148.
I called out “The numbers are backwards”.
They all remarked that I was unbelievably strong and coherent.
“Yeah, that’s me.”
They then said I was bleeding inside and i was going back into ER.
Spent two weeks at the hospital.
The doctor cut me from my duodoneum to my pelvic bone to find the bleeder.
I was in horrid pain for two years afterward and slept a lot. As in 12-16 hours a day.
Still had pain for an additional two more years before I could really work out again.
To this day I couldn’t care less about most things that are “scary”.
I figure if God wanted me to live then there must be a reason why he woke me up, otherwise I would not be here and I would be a mere complication for the year 1997.
Fk it
If other people are doing things, that means I can do it too.
I’ll jump out of a helicopter at 15,000 feet to go snowboarding. Jump out of a plane, get lost in the woods for a few days and thank God he put all this here for me to enjoy and to learn from.
In all things remember:
Wherever you go, there you are and God is with you.
It will be okay.
Peace....
The NEXT ONE,
is the one to Watch out for.
LOL
That would have earned me a number 10 frying pan across the head....
LOL. I never truly realized that until I became the parent of two teenaged boys.
I'll start putting the list together.
NO REALLY !
Slipped with a pocket knife and severed the femoral vein and artery in my left leg. The Grim Reaper and I had a bit of a dance in spite of my mishap.
Then there was the time....
Vietnam. Too many times....
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