The nearest you have come to death

micar · 05-04-2014 07:15PM

1) When myself and my twin sister were very young (maybe 2) and my mams cousin was saying in our house. She left her container of tablets on the kitchen table. We probably though they were sweets and managed to open them while alone in the room.

Note sure how many we took but we were rushed to hospital to get our stomachs pumped.

2) Cycling a bike down a steep hill with poor brakes in the rain. I went straight in the main Dublin road. Luckily there were no cars coming each way at that particular moment. that was an "Oh ****" moment. I knew going own the hill that I was in big trouble. d

nc19 · 05-04-2014 07:24PM

MonstaMash wrote: »

Fixed that for you :P

I was going to type ride but figured the type of people on boards so made it easier for them

frozenfrozen · 05-04-2014 07:33PM

when I was fairly young I ran out in front of a different cubicle at a driving range and narrowly missed getting hit in the head by a guys driver. For some reason he then tried to fight my father for letting me run out, when in reality it wasn't my dads fault at all, I just bolted around the corner. Not really near death lying in a hospital being resuscitated, but had I been hit in the head by the club I would have definitely died

fatherted1969 · 05-04-2014 07:34PM

zenno wrote: »

Well, many years ago, The nearest I have come to death was being arrested/imprisoned and falsely accused of something I never done.

I was a bit drunk while walking home, and a garda car pulled up beside me, there were three gardai in the car. They dragged me into the car and brought me to the station and put me in the cell for the night (they never at this time told me why I was being arrested). When I awoke the following morning, they handcuffed me first, and then brought me out to the main desk, but one particular garda laughed at me saying that I was arrested for attempting to rob a petrol pump station (a petrol station in my area that was not open at the time and closes very early) which was absolutely ridiculous, as I told him I never was near this so-called petrol station, but he again laughed and said to me that he knows this, but will have me done for it anyway while still laughing.

This particular garda I found out was living around the corner from my abode at this time, and seemed to have a problem with me for some reason. Maybe because I was going through a very rough time, as I was drinking too much and drunk all the time, but I never, not once ever bothered any persons, as it is not in my nature to do so. I always kept to myself and was a quiet person.

I was brought into court that morning handcuffed. My case came up, and this garda went up to the judge talking to him in his ear and then the judge said one week remanded in custody in mountjoy prison, that was it, and I didn't even have the right to reply. I was brought back to the garda station and put in a cell again until the garda van came to bring me to prison.

By the way, this particular garda personally went to my solicitor with my family after my downfall (following later) and told my family and the solicitor that he made it all up to have me imprisoned to teach me a lesson for being a pain and a drunk all of the time, and that a spell in prison might wake me up and teach me a lesson, and that he was very sorry for this. I could never understand this approach from the garda, and I still don't because there were problems I had personally that I was trying to deal with, but got drunk a few times to erase them.

Anyway, I was forwarded to mountjoy prison at 6pm handcuffed to another prisoner in the van. When we got to this destination I was processed and taken into a waiting room with 6 other guys sitting in a large room. I was called up and was told to take off all of my clothes and then stand on a weighing scales as they were taking weight measurements. The prison gaurd then put on a pair of blue gloves and I got seriously nervous because I heard that they might do a cavity search and this really freaked me out, but the prison gaurd put me at ease as they just use the gloves to search through your clothes.

After this I was sent to the shower to wash and then was given a prison uniform and forwarded to the cell-block. It was most definitely a strange experience for me that's for sure. I was put into a cell with this one guy for the evening and night and then tried to relax, as they didn't have a bed in this cell I had to sleep on a mattress. Come lights out while looking at a slop bucket only, no toilet obviously, I tried to sleep, but all of a sudden I heard my cell-mate making noises and I just pretended to be asleep. He was masturbating loudly just beside me and I just said feck this I'll pretend to be asleep, and eventually I fell asleep thankfully.

The next day I was informed that I will be moved to a double cell that already held 3 prisoners and of which has a spare bed, as they couldn't have me sleeping on the ground. At this time things went seriously bad.

When I was sent to the new cell that evening, I was given my bed and was told where I need to shave and use a bucket. The three guys that I was now sharing this cell with seemed ok and didn't bother me at this time. One was in for life for murder, the other guy was in for kidnapping miss Ireland (not sure if that was actually true but it probably was as that was what he told me) and the other third guy was in for armed robbery. So I was basically put into a cell with seriously hardened criminals and I was a bit worried.

Two days went by and this prison gaurd kept coming in and talking and whispering to the other 3 prisoners I shared the cell with all the time but I obviously walked out of the cell and walked around for a while, I came back to the cell a few minutes later and there was a news paper on my bed so I picked it up and read it, after that it was lock-down for a while until we were allowed out again into the main hall to watch a crime film of all things. I picked my seat and watched the movie and then we were sent back to the cell for the night with a cup of tea and a scone-bun.

At this stage while the four of us were in the cell, the guy that was in for murder (he was a british guy) showed me his paintings, they were amazing and artistically excellent but they were of demons and devils of apocalypse, but they were astonishingly painted to perfection, he obviously had a talent. After showing me these paintings the other 2 guys sat down at the table and told me that the screw "as they say" (prison officer) that kept coming in all the time lived in the estate where I was from, and that he wanted them to slice my face with the razor blades he gave them. Well at this stage locked in a cell with this information was unnerving to say the least, I felt I was in a very serious situation at this stage.

They all said that the prison officer had it in for me and wanted them to slash me up good, so things got a bit heated as I was getting really afraid at this stage. They said that they once slashed a prisoner like me to bits in the face before and left him lying in a pool of blood. Now I was bricking it but I'm not sure if they were serious or not in relation to this other guy but It got me going. At this stage I just said to them that I cannot do anything either way so just go ahead and get it over with. Luckily for me when I said this, they said no, they won't mess me up, but I was still really freaked out when lights went out that night.

They were on medication and they fell asleep hours later, my brain was going one thousand percent with paranoid thoughts and I needed to get out of there immediately, I already had a problem before I was sent to this kip and so decided out of extreme panic to rip my white bed-sheets in long strips and make a noose and tie it to the ceiling metal light socket and around my neck, when I managed to do this tight and solid, I jumped off the table I had moved and that was it, all I heard was a crack. I only remember being told what happened after that by the prison officer that saved my life. No-one knows how long I was hanging there for. I was in intensive care for many days and was finally released from hospital 4 weeks later.I do remember waking up for a few seconds and saw two priests sitting on chairs beside my bed and then I lost conciousness, it was strange.

All this over a false imprisonment. Well the lesson was learned the wrong way. I never claimed for wrongful imprisonment, Not after death threats. The prison governor said I should never have been put in there in the first place. The garda that falsely claimed I done wrong acknowledged he made it up to my solicitor and to my family. I got a death threat there-after and so just went on with life and forgot about it.

If you have made it this far readin, then fair play to ye.

Holy **** !!

Zed Bank · 05-04-2014 08:09PM

I once went to a heavy metal gig with a coldplay t-shirt on.

billyhead · 05-04-2014 08:18PM

Knocked down on my bike when a car came out of a junction straight into my way as I was travelling at speed down a hill. Was mildly concussed and bruised and cut but the helmet saved me from more series damage as I was knocked over the front bonnet and landed on my head and arms. Also when cycling on another occasion I was told by a fellow riders behind me that a car just cut across behind me and missed me by inches.

Galwayguy35 · 05-04-2014 08:19PM

Ran in front of a car when I was 4, fortunately the driver was in an oul Ford Escort that could barely do 20 mph.

csallmighty · 05-04-2014 08:20PM

Was in a car accident with two friends driving home after watching a game of football.
Crashed at a well known black spot.
Car rolled a few times, Gardai at the scene reckon it rolled about four times.
The car was an absolute mess and wrote off but we managed to escape relatively unscathed(A broken arm and a few cuts and scratches from broken glass).

The_Kew_Tour · 05-04-2014 08:22PM

I was told I may only have 18 months to live back in 2011 from cancer.

Thankfully procedures and bit of luck went my way and here I am still talking crap on boards.:pac:

Nearly got knocked down going to Ireland v Poland game in Croker about 5 years ago. Girl went through Red lights. I literally saw lights flash through my eyes from here Car. She just waved so calmly :pac:

csallmighty · 05-04-2014 08:23PM

Also fell down the stairs three separate times as a toddler.

hallo dare · 05-04-2014 08:29PM

When i was a baby sleeping on my Grans bed while my parents were visiting her, i somehow managed to maneuver under the pillow that was supposed to be protecting me, which led to me deprived of air. Only for my Dad came to check on me i was a gonner, so they always tell me!

Loads of other things now that i think of it, but that's defo the closest I've come.

Andy-Pandy · 05-04-2014 08:34PM

I've had to be saved from drowning three times, but the closest I've ever heard was a friend of mine who was swimming off rocks in Thailand. She found someone floating on the bottom of the sea, completely unconscious and effectively drowned. What's even luckier for the guy is she is a trained lifeguard and she got him back to the beach and she resuscitated him. When he came through it was found he had had an epileptic fit.

Duck Soup · 05-04-2014 08:39PM

Last July, I presented myself in A&E at a Dublin hospital, barely able to breathe or walk. I expected to be hanging around A&E a few hours before getting seen to, but within 3 minutes I was on a gurney. Long story short, it turns out that I had a severe lung infection, which on top of the fact that I was (a) then a smoker and (b) 21 stone had caused the heart to go haywire trying to get enough oxygen.

The heart had gone into an irregular beat (arrhythmia) and my resting pulse was 185. At this stage, I was fighting just to draw breath. The more I struggled, the higher my pulse went. They put me into a medically induced coma for two days so they could hit the lung infection with antibiotics.

While I was sedated, my dad and brothers were informed that I could arrest or stroke out at any moment. One brother flew over from England. Less than 50% chance, put it like that. After about 40 hours, I was allowed to come to and woke up to see all my immediate family around the bed. I've been at enough of these things to know a family deathbed farewell when I saw one. I figured out even then that things had not been going well.

Yet somehow, through it all, I'd managed not to have a cardiac 'event' [i.e. stroke or heart attack].

9 months later, I still have the arrhythmia, but I have drugs to regularize the heart beat. It took me a long time to get sick and it'll take me a long time to get better. But I know how fortunate I was to come out the other side.

Zed Bank · 05-04-2014 08:41PM

Duck Soup wrote: »

Last July, I presented myself in A&E at a Dublin hospital, barely able to breathe or walk. I expected to be hanging around A&E a few hours before getting seen to, but within 3 minutes I was on a gurney. Long story short, it turns out that I had a severe lung infection, which on top of the fact that I was (a) then a smoker and (b) 21 stone had caused the heart to go haywire trying to get enough oxygen.

The heart had gone into an irregular beat (arrhythmia) and my resting pulse was 185. At this stage, I was fighting just to draw breath. The more I struggled, the higher my pulse went. They put me into a medically induced coma for two days so they could hit the lung infection with antibiotics.

While I was sedated, my dad and brothers were informed that I could arrest or stroke out at any moment. One brother flew over from England. Less than 50% chance, put it like that. After about 40 hours, I was allowed to come to and woke up to see all my immediate family around the bed. I've been at enough of these things to know a family deathbed farewell when I saw one. I figured out even then that things had not been going well.

Yet somehow, through it all, I'd managed not to have a cardiac 'event' [i.e. stroke or heart attack].

9 months later, I still have the arrhythmia, but I have drugs to regularize the heart beat. It took me a long time to get sick and it'll take me a long time to get better. But I know how fortunate I was to come out the other side.

The resilience of the human body is extraordinary.

zef · 05-04-2014 08:41PM

Posted about this before, but i'll wheel it out again.
Back in my student days in the early 90's I was sharing a flat with my boyfriend, who I met in college. We discovered heroin , not helped by the fact that everyone who lived in the 4 other flats adjoining our hallway either used or sold it.
One morning we were broke and sick, and the guy in the flat next door heard and threw us in a free bit, as we were friends with him and his girl.
Of course I thought this was great. We lived in a double bedsit and it had a large bathroom in which ya could fit our great big executive chair we had found in a skip. We prepared the drug and I was to be first, with my partner doing the necessary as I have aways been exceedingly squeamish.
So I'm sitting on this chair with my eyes closed tight, could feel my partners hand on mine. He was wearing blue jumper and jeans. However, after the 'hit' of the drug, I opened my eyes expecting to see my partner. I opened my eyes and a tall (7ft) Male figure wearing a black robe was standing straight in front of me. I looked around but my partner was gone from the room.

The dark tall figure never said a word, he opened his arms and enfolded me in his huge cape, then everything went black and I had the strong sensation of falling, as if the floor had given out beneath me.
I looked at the walls of the big hole or well that i was falling through and they were made of old brick, and as I fell I could see ledges on different levels of whatever I was falling,this was the scariest part, it was like there was a theatre box type structure built inside this 'well'.
I noticed that red demon like creatures with small horns were watching and grinning at me from these "balconies". They seemed to wear decorative rings of silver around their horns with engravings on them. They were really menacing looking and I began to get really scared then, and felt a strong heat and heard noises of moaning and screaming.
I could see I was just about to hit the ground in this horrible place , just then came around to the real world of my flat where were loads of people, all the neighbours, my partner was roaring crying and I was soaked, someone had tried putting me in the bath with cold water. My chest covered bruises from the CPR that was done on me. My face was grey, lips blue, really freaky looking.

Now heroin is not a hallucinogenic drug. I wasn't tripping, I know that day I nearly died, apparently I was not breathing for several minutes.
I have looked up near death experiences (NDE) and most people get the 'nice' NDE- you know, angels or words of wisdom from past relatives hand friends. I had a 'negative NDE, which occurs in approx 5% of these experiences. Typical :-)

It made me change my life round pretty dramatically, I left that flat within a week to go to a residential treatment place, and now I cant watch films with demons in them, scares the shyte outta me.

P.S. I'm not a religious person or anything, but did have the fear if hell bet into me as a child.

Teyla Emmagan · 05-04-2014 08:47PM

Not as dramatic as half of these, but I was driving home to see my folks a couple of years ago and came up to a bend. A car came around, on my side of the road. I was ambling, he was speeding. I didn't react that well, just put on the brake and thought 'oh fcuk, oh fcuk, oooooooh fcuk'. About 2 feet before me (it felt), the driver looks up, sees me and swerves. He bumps into the ditch, but keeps going, and I'm basically parked at this stage in the middle of the road having a heart attack.

I reckon he was from Eastern Europe (or something) and basically forgot what side of the road he was on. Gave me a terrible shock. Dribbled home in the car.

Still not as bad as when I was driving through the North, with my brother and sister in the car ahead of me. They come up to a hill, and right at the top of the hill this absolute f**(*(wit comes over the top, in their lane, overtaking and misses them by a second. I honestly saw my life flash before my eyes. I don't know how I didn't go after him with the car jack from my Clio and beat the living daylights out of him.

ThirdMan · 05-04-2014 08:55PM

I once put what I thought was a model handgun to my head and pulled the trigger. No, it wasn't a real gun. It was a pellet gun. I'm not sure what calibre it was, but it was powerful enough to be illegal in this jurisdiction. It may not have killed me, but I've no doubt that it would have broken the skin and lodged in my head. It was the stupidest thing I've ever done. There's no explanation really, except that it was six in the morning, in a garden shed, the morning after Godskitchen.

Resonator75 · 05-04-2014 09:14PM

Gonna be so careful for the rest of my life driving and eyes wide open....

When me and my bro were nine or ten odd we broke into and old shipyard, climbed the cranes that slide up and down unloading cargo boxes, 150 ft in the air easy.

Spent ages running up and down the top of it. Someone rang the cops and we got such a bolloking. I shudder to think if either of us had made a slip. No fear back then.

Muise... · 05-04-2014 09:15PM

zef wrote: »

So I'm sitting on this chair with my eyes closed tight, could feel my partners hand on mine. He was wearing blue jumper and jeans. However, after the 'hit' of the drug, I opened my eyes expecting to see my partner. I opened my eyes and a tall (7ft) Male figure wearing a black robe was standing straight in front of me. I looked around but my partner was gone from the room.

The dark tall figure never said a word, he opened his arms and enfolded me in his huge cape, then everything went black and I had the strong sensation of falling, as if the floor had given out beneath me.
I looked at the walls of the big hole or well that i was falling through and they were made of old brick, and as I fell I could see ledges on different levels of whatever I was falling,this was the scariest part, it was like there was a theatre box type structure built inside this 'well'.
I noticed that red demon like creatures with small horns were watching and grinning at me from these "balconies". They seemed to wear decorative rings of silver around their horns with engravings on them. They were really menacing looking and I began to get really scared then, and felt a strong heat and heard noises of moaning and screaming.
I could see I was just about to hit the ground in this horrible place , just then came around to the real world of my flat where were loads of people, all the neighbours, my partner was roaring crying and I was soaked, someone had tried putting me in the bath with cold water. My chest covered bruises from the CPR that was done on me. My face was grey, lips blue, really freaky looking.

Away tae fcuk, ye didnae see tha wee bairn crawlin oan tha ceilin', spinnin' its wee heid reet round, zef?

Gael23 · 05-04-2014 09:54PM

Not a near death experience as such but I was born with a very rare condition which mos doctors go through their career without seeing. Even at that, 1 in about 10,000 babies with it are born alive and 50% of those survive the nessecary surgery in order to survive. I was one of the 50% that did. I do have some long term effects, some muscular coordination issues and eyesight problems that cannot be repaired but I'm alive!

sopretty · 05-04-2014 10:13PM

SimonTemplar wrote: »

zenno, what a horrible abuse of power. If that happened to me. I would have marched into the Department of Justice and demanded to see the minister or senior civil servant. I wouldn't have stopped until the Guards in question were dismissed and I would have used the media to keep the pressure on. Crazy stuff.

Ah the innocence..........

FizzleSticks · 05-04-2014 10:20PM

This post has been deleted.

Cupcake_Crisis · 05-04-2014 10:55PM

Zenno, can I just say you are a bigger person than most. If anyone put me through that over something so petty Id go to the ends of the earth to make sure they paid for it, and never had the power to do it to anyone again. I could never be so forgiving.

Myself, almost drowned in Butlins (of all places :rolleyes:) when I was a kiddie, I'll never forget my poor mothers face when I woke up.

There was a car crash a few years back, which in the grand scheme of car crashes was quite minor- we all walked away relatively unscathed, but when the car was flipping I closed my eyes and resigned myself to the fact that I was gonna die in a car with boot full of booze. The booze was mostly intact too, just fyi.

Richard tea · 05-04-2014 11:01PM

Short version = Went to overtake a 4x4 on my motorbike. Rode over the white diagonal lines and this sent the bike into a tank slapper. I honestly thought of jumping off the bike at 80 kph to land as best as I could instead of the bike throwing me. Thankfully the bike straightened up after the white line and all was good. Big mistake but lesson learned:)

fullstop · 05-04-2014 11:07PM

zenno wrote: »

I agree with you, but under the circumstances at the time of happening I was dealing with a death threat and other family issues and was just not capable of dealing with it. It's a while ago now and the guard that admitted he made a false claim against me was genuinely sorry. I know this is not right but the man has a family and I didn't want to wreak it for him.

Sh!t happened, It doesn't bother me anymore. I see no reason to destroy a mans life for a bad mistake. He got a second chance, life goes on. I just added my story/experience as it happened at the time, I have no ill feelings to this day, things are OK/better.

You don't see a reason to destroy his life? I'd say the fact he potentially destroyed yours is plenty. I'd be going places with that, death threat or not. If it's made public they're not going to carry out any threats.

efb · 05-04-2014 11:09PM

17, collapsed with lack of oxygen to brain- it was hydrocephalus

Chara1001 · 06-04-2014 12:19AM

Fcukin lousy bastar d. Hit and run on a child. Did the gardai get whoever done it?

No, never. I was about 7/8 at the time and i swear i can still remember the sound of my legs breaking!

Big Nasty · 06-04-2014 05:12AM

fullstop wrote: »

You don't see a reason to destroy his life? I'd say the fact he potentially destroyed yours is plenty. I'd be going places with that, death threat or not. If it's made public they're not going to carry out any threats.

He's said a heap of times now that he's moved on and put it behind him

Can y'all not do the same?

bnagrrl · 06-04-2014 05:50AM

More a near-near death story than a near death but anyhoo...

Last October I was in an accident and went to hospital with a suspected broken shoulder. On seeing the nurse she asked what meds I was already on, any allergies etc and I told her I was taking a particular tablet. I had the xray and sure enough my collar bone was broken. The doctor that saw me also asked about allergies, other meds I was on and I also told him. He gave me a prescription for pain killers and offered me some to take there and then but I said no I'd wait and get a prescription on the way home.

So I call into the chemist and give her the prescription. She looks up my file and says "Did you tell the hospital you're on such and such?" I said yes and she informs me that the pain killers prescribed have been shown to cause internal bleeding when mixed with the meds I was already on. I was just happy I didn't take any at the hospital as I would have gone straight home to bed and who knows what might have happened.

worded · 06-04-2014 11:57PM

bnagrrl wrote: »

More a near-near death story than a near death but anyhoo...

Last October I was in an accident and went to hospital with a suspected broken shoulder. On seeing the nurse she asked what meds I was already on, any allergies etc and I told her I was taking a particular tablet. I had the xray and sure enough my collar bone was broken. The doctor that saw me also asked about allergies, other meds I was on and I also told him. He gave me a prescription for pain killers and offered me some to take there and then but I said no I'd wait and get a prescription on the way home.

So I call into the chemist and give her the prescription. She looks up my file and says "Did you tell the hospital you're on such and such?" I said yes and she informs me that the pain killers prescribed have been shown to cause internal bleeding when mixed with the meds I was already on. I was just happy I didn't take any at the hospital as I would have gone straight home to bed and who knows what might have happened.

Clever chemist !

The nearest you have come to death

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