Have you ever had a near-death experience?

cocalolaman

A few close drowning scares when I was younger and went too far into the water at the beach or in a swimming pool. Also a few bad asthma attacks like others in this thread but apparently not bad enough to be in hospital for. Once I get to an inhalor I'd be grand. Have to keep it around me more often now though cos for some reason my asthma got really bad this winter, but now it's getting better as spring starts. Anyone else get this, or is it just me?

Fizgig Bandicoot

Swallowed the metal bit off a clothes peg when I was a toddler and turned blue, but was belted on the back when found, and suffered no ill effects.

A few years ago, I choked in my kitchen (bf and friend were watching telly in the sitting rom.) I panicked and was thumping around the kitchen trying to cough it up. All I could think was "I can't believe that I'm going to die in my kitchen and those eejits have no idea what's happening to me." Managed to make it to the loo, coughed it up, and puked everywhere, lay there for a while completly floored.

Went into the sitting room and regaled the story of what must only have been a minute or two but felf like such a long time, and both seemed extremely unconcerned.

Some very, very scary stories on here, mine are very tame in comparison.

DevilsBreath

Fight_Night wrote: »

Don't know if it was a near death experience per se, but I was kidnapped when I was 3 years old. Has left me with several mental problems unfortunately...

Christ what happened?

DevilsBreath

Wibbs wrote: »

Yep, had the whole out of body thang too. Very bloody odd. Didn't see any tunnel of light though that's not surprising for me

Ye went for surgery before and was able to tell the Doc exactly what they had been talking about and doing after. Was strange as if I was floating above them during the whole thing.

Schorpio

Always the first thing I think of when thinking about near death experiences....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFdGKeQph-Q

Foghladh

I took a nosedive out of a second storey window when I was 3 and faceplanted the concrete patio. I ended up on a life support machine with a fractured skull and apparently it wasn't looking good. My parents were told to say their goodbyes and the catholic priest came in to do his bit. I got confirmed in my bed and was given the last rites. 2 weeks later I was hauled down off the garage roof by my dad after climbing up a tree and jumping across onto it. Apparently I don't learn lessons very well.

ThOnda

On Thursday evening, a speeding BMW on M50 (he was doing 140+) shot in front of me over all the lines to get into the slip lane. That car missed me by less then a meter.
Trust me, I was shaking two hours later, and I am already well used to surprises on Irish roads.

leggo

Actually had my life flash before my eyes when I was around 9-10. I was swimming in the aquatic centre in Galway City (forget the name) except the problem was...I couldn't swim. But I was grand messing around with the lads in the shallow end.

They went off to another section of the pool and, being the dozy little twat that I was, I followed and bombed in after them. Only then did I realise I was in the deep end.

I started panicking and waiting for someone to do something...nothing. Probably only a minute or two passed, but it felt like an age. Then I could feel myself lose control, let go and I could literally visualise my memories as if they were a DVD (or VHS in those days) being fast-forwarded really quickly. Now I don't know how to explain it, I was aware of the phrase 'life flashing before your eyes' so maybe it was a brain reflex thing, but I still remember the visual to this day.

Then I was awoken being shaken down by the lifeguards, looked to my left and saw a bunch of adult lads laughing at me (though it was probably hilarious to see a kid bomb confidently into the pool then nearly kill himself instantly). The lifeguard said he thought I was taking the piss, since I'd jumped in so readily, and only when one of the lads I was with started to panic and help me did he realise I wasn't.

Not as intense as some of the stories here, but still pretty scary to think back on.

Pandora2

leggo wrote: »

Actually had my life flash before my eyes when I was around 9-10. I was swimming in the aquatic centre in Galway City (forget the name) except the problem was...I couldn't swim. But I was grand messing around with the lads in the shallow end.

They went off to another section of the pool and, being the dozy little twat that I was, I followed and bombed in after them. Only then did I realise I was in the deep end.

I started panicking and waiting for someone to do something...nothing. Probably only a minute or two passed, but it felt like an age. Then I could feel myself lose control, let go and I could literally visualise my memories as if they were a DVD (or VHS in those days) being fast-forwarded really quickly. Now I don't know how to explain it, I was aware of the phrase 'life flashing before your eyes' so maybe it was a brain reflex thing, but I still remember the visual to this day.

Then I was awoken being shaken down by the lifeguards, looked to my left and saw a bunch of adult lads laughing at me (though it was probably hilarious to see a kid bomb confidently into the pool then nearly kill himself instantly). The lifeguard said he thought I was taking the piss, since I'd jumped in so readily, and only when one of the lads I was with started to panic and help me did he realise I wasn't.

Not as intense as some of the stories here, but still pretty scary to think back on.

Feckin' Intense Enough for me!! How close would you like to get?? Used to be terrified when it came time for my girls to go swimming without me in tow......I was right to be!! Glad you are still with us:)

up for anything

Fight_Night wrote: »

Don't know if it was a near death experience per se, but I was kidnapped when I was 3 years old. Has left me with several mental problems unfortunately...

DevilsBreath wrote: »

Christ what happened?

Please... you can't leave it there.

Fight_Night

up for anything wrote: »

Please... you can't leave it there.

As a child I went to a relatively dodgy daycare place and the people working there were not very professional. Essentially an old guy off the street came in and claimed to be my Grandad and took me away screaming, the workers must've thought I was acting up I dunno but anyway they let him take me. Luckily I was found before anything too bad happened but it was very very scary for a 3 year old to experience.

d.anthony

Almost drowned in Loch Lomand when I was 14... Canoe flipped over. Been scared shítless of water ever since.

emzolita

had an epileptic seizure called Status Epilepticus before, where I stopped breathing and my heart stopped. Thankfully I used to have warnings before my seizures and called my granda who was out in the garden (I was inside on my own) to tell him I was gonna have a seizure. He wont tell me what happened, he gets upset, but my uncle was the ambulance driver that came and said my grandad had gotten me breathing by the time he came.

Novella

I fell into a slurry pit on a farm when I was a child.

Local-womanizer

In the car when I was younger, with my mum driving and my dad in the passenger seat and mum had an epileptic seizure. She just looked like she went to sleep and the car started to leave the road into a lay-by the council had cleared to store their equipment while they worked on the road.

Luckily they hadn't started the work so the lay-by was empty but if we went right, over to the other side of the road we would have hit head on at 50-60 mph.

My dad was extremely cool about the whole situation and copped it right away and just took hold of the steering wheel and managed to slow the car down and bring us to a stop.

Thankfully her medication keeps the seizures at bay and she has only had one in the last 10 years or so.

Spacedog

I found myself in a situation where I had perhaps minutes, maybe seconds to live, after fighting it all I could, I eventually came to the realisation that 'this is it'... this is where it all ends.

if your mind is about to be turned off. and you have a minute left, what does one think about in that last minute? I thought about my family, my friends, their faces, and the times we shared, unsure about how long i had, my thought rushed from one person to another, from one memory to the next, trying not to forget anyone, or anything of true importance.

sounds cheesy, but that's what I thought about, and it is this that I believe people refer to as 'the life flashing before ones eyes'

Anyway needless to say I survived, had a cheese burger for breakfast the next morning, it was the greatest meal i had ever tasted. I see every day since as one stolen from the reaper and try to get the most out of every day.

If ever a friend survives an accident or had some close shave with the reaper, and everyone is acting sorry for them, or saying things like 'damn you must feel terrible' or 'damn you are lucky etc.', I always pull 'em aside and say, 'man you must feel great today! ', they always do.

You can always tell people had a brush with death, they are the ones who grab life by the balls and live every moment, like every day is their last.

Karona

When I was 2 we were on a family holiday in Portugal and my dad brought me on a waterslide when we hit the water he got up and forgot about me not being able to swim. I still remember the the bubbles from me breathing out.

Last November I had tonsilitus, I was in agony and was meant to be travelling from Galway to Louth. I had ran out of paracetamol so had a mooch through my medicine box and found some other painkillers so I took 2. About a half an hour later I couldn't breath properly and the pain was intense. I was going to call an ambulance but I wouldnt have been able to talk to them because I couldnt breath and there was no on else in the house. After an hour or so the pain subsided and i could finally breath again but it scared the crap out of me reallythought I was done for.

Pacifist Pigeon

DMT, baby, DMT...

Sindri

Karona wrote: »

When I was 2 we were on a family holiday in Portugal and my dad brought me on a waterslide when we hit the water he got up and forgot about me not being able to swim. I still remember the the bubbles from me breathing out.

Last November I had tonsilitus, I was in agony and was meant to be travelling from Galway to Louth. I had ran out of paracetamol so had a mooch through my medicine box and found some other painkillers so I took 2. About a half an hour later I couldn't breath properly and the pain was intense. I was going to call an ambulance but I wouldnt have been able to talk to them because I couldnt breath and there was no on else in the house. After an hour or so the pain subsided and i could finally breath again but it scared the crap out of me reallythought I was done for.

Your blog is about chocolate, make-up, babies and food.:D

Can you do current affairs next, like Syria or something?:P

up for anything

Fight_Night wrote: »

As a child I went to a relatively dodgy daycare place and the people working there were not very professional. Essentially an old guy off the street came in and claimed to be my Grandad and took me away screaming, the workers must've thought I was acting up I dunno but anyway they let him take me. Luckily I was found before anything too bad happened but it was very very scary for a 3 year old to experience.

That was very frightening. I know how any of mine would have reacted had that happened to them but luckily they went to a very well policed facility so there would never have been any chance of that. I hope that your mother closed them down and buried them.

puddinboxxx

Had some bad asthma attacks over the years but survived them all,I jumped off a fridge when I was 2 breaking my nose,almost drowned in bundoran when I was younger,last october I had kidney stones but at the time i thought my appendix had burst and the poison was going to kill me.
Slightly different but I was driving through mountbellew last year and there was a kid around 6or7 walking on the path heading the same direction as me,he was bouncing a football and it must have hit the edge of the path or somethin but it went in front of me and he went after it without lookin,i missed the kid by about 6 or 7 inch's and an oncoming car by about a foot,I looked in the mirror to see his mother with her hands over her face,I stopped the car up the road and my hands were shaking like mad,the car that was behind me stopped and the driver saw it all and said he has no idea how i dodged them both,still puts the ****s up me thinkin I nearly killed a child

Jimmy Bottlehead

Had a few...

Was about 10 years old, and walking on a really frosty, icy morning with a schoolmate to the local church as we were the alterboys that week (insert joke here).
We were walking around a bend when a car came around it, skidded towards us, but swerved at the last minute into the opposite hedge. We heard a baby crying, but didn't know what to do, so walked the 10 minutes to the church and told the priest.
Shocking to say it now, but he just acknowledged it and carried on preparing for mass.

Also, was at my granny's house when I was about 8 or so, and was walking around the farmyard. Wandered into one of the barns, but it was empty, so I went to walk back out again. The roof literally caved in behind me - my uncle was outside and was testing a new digger attachment for his tractor, and knocked it into the barn roof, which caused it to fall in.

Also, was sitting on my dad's knee in the car while my uncle was driving us back from a football match when I was very young, must have been 3 or so. A priest (yes, again) pulled out in front of us from a side road and we smacked into him. I remember bumping my head into the windscreen, and being in the Garda station that night (the priest was almost blind), but could have been much worse.

Also, nearly walked in front of a bus when I moved to Dublin first, my stupid culchie head was saved by someone literally yanking me back by the collar.

On the plus side though, I did save my dad from drowning when he got into difficulty on holidays when I was about 15.

Jimmy Bottlehead

Almost forgot one -

My mother was on the phone, I was about 15 or so at the time and eating some type of hard sweets.

One got caught in my throat and I started choking. Couldn't cough it up so ran out to my mother in the hall way in a panic

Mother: "Oh of course they are Auntie Anne... Jimmy, what's wrong with ya?"

Me: *Trying to slap my back & signal her to do the same*

Mother: "Oh Jesus, Jimmy, are you going to be sick?" *throws towel in front of me*

Me: *Shakes head, points to mouth while turning blue*

Mother: "Oh he's choking! Hold on a minute Auntie Anne!" *Slaps my back several times until the sweet literally flew out*
"Ah he's ok now again, he was choking! And I thought he was going to vomit"

xflyer

Led a charmed life so far, touch wood, fingers crossed. Despite flying planes and riding motorcycles and doing stupid things for years. But the closest to death was almost funny. I was working in a warehouse standing beside a forklift that was lifting a pallet of slimmers chocolate chip cookies to a high shelf. The pallet cracked and I dived out of the way escaping all but one box that got me. Head spinning I looked back at the spot I was standing which now had a huge pile of boxes and a pallet sitting there.

Death by chocolate indeed.