# Have you cheated death?



## I_Shock_Em (Jul 20, 2008)

I was talking with a buddy the other day about how I came close to dying 7 years ago when I went skydiving. It was my first time skydiving, so it was a tandem jump (I was attached to someone who knew what they were doing). The jump and freefall were amazing but when the instructor pulled the cord for the parachute, it did not open. It was all tangled up and in a ball. The instructor told me that he was going to cut us loose and go back into freefall. He did just that, steered us away from the falling parachute, and pulled the backup (which thankfully opened!!!). We ended up landing about 2.5 miles from where we were supposed to. I was so pumped from the jump, what had happened didn't really set in until that evening. Had my instructor not known what he was doing or if there was no backup parachute, I would be dead right now for sure.

So I figure others here on the site have cheated death in the past....let's hear the story...


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## saugmon (Jun 14, 2006)

When I was 18,my stomach ached for a couple weeks.Went to the quack family doctor and he gave me stomach pills. Went to my neurologist a few days later and he said I didn't look good so he sent me down the hall to a chinese doctor.Within an hour they had me cut open because my appendix burst days before that. 2 weeks in a hospital with a stomach pump. A great way to lose 40 lbs in 2 weeks.

What doesn't kill ya makes you stronger!!!


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## E_Lin (Jun 30, 2011)

I used to work as a lumper loading and unloading tires at a distribution center Mason, OH. Naturally, the work was pretty much "outdoors" in the trailers. One winter the temps were hovering around or below zero for a while. I ended up getting really sick, but being stubborn like I am, and not having great insurance, I did not go to the doctor immediately. Byt the time I did go, I was barely able to walk. I thought I had strep, but the doctor feared it might be pneumonia. Turns out it had progressed all the way to viral menangitis. I spent the next week in bed with the blinds and drapes closed in the fetal position with a migraine. I spent the following two weeks re-learning how to speak.

My wife likes to remind of this every time I get sick now and don't take care of myself right away.


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## RiverWader (Apr 1, 2006)

About 5 years ago a few of us went out to an old train tunnel at night, When we pulled into the parking area and got out, I started running down the railroad bed without my flashlight on, After running for a minute or two something just told Me to stop, so I did. When I turn My light on I was standing less then a half foot away from a 60 foot cliff with big rocks at the bottom


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

#1 WhenI was in The Air Force inViet Nam I was doing some temporary duty at DaNang Air Base. We were assigned to a set of barracks for a temporary stay till they got some more permanent housing for us to stay in. When the new Barrack were completed they told us we had to move our stuff but being young and we were only there for a temporary assignment and we just didn't feel like doing it so we resisted moving. 
We weren't on best of terms with the AF higher ups so we hung out with a bunch of Marines. The Marines knew we were catching a lot of grief for not moving so they came over one day with a truck, helped us load our stuff and moved us to our new barracks.
That night we had a rocket attack and one of the Marines came by and told us a rocket had a direct hit on the corner of the barracks where we had just moved out of a few hours earlier.

#2 A few months later when I was leaving Viet Nan. I left Bien Hoa Air Base and had to go to Siagon to catch a flight home. When I was heading to the plane home I had heard Bien Hoa was having a rocket attack as we boarded the plane. I thought about all my friends and hoped everyone was okay. A week later I got a letter from my roommate. He told me the day I left a rocket had hit our barracks and specificaly it hit my bunk. He said no one was hurt but I left at the right time.

Time #3. I decided to go for a routine physical (my 1st in 30 years). The doc found I had a messed up heart valve. Trying to figure out a course of action to repair/replace the valve I had to go through quite a series of tests. In one of the tests they found I needed a triple bypass. I had no signs of a problem at all. Chloesteral was low, blood pressue was a little low. The doc said I was lucky, I would have probably never made it 6 more months.

I got others and I always consider myself a lucky guy but when it comes to the lottery, I couldn't win $3 with a $100 worth of scratch offs. I guess you can't have it all.


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## Fish-N-Fool (Apr 12, 2004)

I used to live life on the edge so to speak and I have also worked a few very dangerous jobs when I was younger. I KNOW somebody is looking out for me.....I've cheated death several times - seriously! My wife jokes that I have to be extra cautious because I've used up 8 lives already.

Unfortunately, several folks around me were not so fortunate and I have some tragic stories I witnessed first hand. I've been in 3 very serious car accidents where somebody was killed, or sustained life changing injuries (wheel chair bound for life, mentally damaged, etc.)........walked away from all 3. One of them I went through the front windshield of a camaro in 1995 and physically traveled 212 ft across a highway, a driveway, through a fence and into a cornfield. It burned my jeans off in spots.....got up and walked away.

I also used to race motor cross and have had some unbelievable accidents on bikes. Also was involved in an ATV accident riding double (my friend driving) that left my buddy paralized....walked away. Layed a Suzuki 1600 down on a curve at 70mph...walked away.

Was washed away in raging muddy river during a flash flood when backpacking; water 40 degrees. Don't know how I didn't drown...sustained injuries enough to spend the night in the hospital, but walked away. You don't control things like that.......the river took me over 300 yards downstream and across the river and slammed me up into some deadwood and rocks where I was able to cling on and subsequently climb out (with bone showing on my leg from smacking rocks on the tumble down).

Drove a forklift off a loading dock to a 22 ft drop in the dark in a Columbus distribution factory...no injuries.

Feel 20 ft from a deer stand while completely asleep (early 90s long before all the safety gadgets).....recurring back injury, but walked away.

Had a huge concrete block retaining wall collapse & fall on me and 2 other guys while working. Both on permanent disability...one severe brain injuries (kid I went to HS with too)....somehow all I had was bumps, cuts and bruises?

This isn't all inclusive, but as you can see I am one lucky guy. I think everybody cheats death a few times, but I have avoided real disaster more than any man should be permitted. I try to take things easy and be cautious now that I have a family to think about and it isn't just me.

I Shock Em - you are either lucky or unlucky man. I'm a former jumper; started out static line and then progressed to solo free falls. I know a guy with > 11,000 jumps (former US special OPs and jump trainer in OH) and he has had trouble with his shoot only 2 times! He's the guy you see at the sporting events landing on the fields, etc. He's a FastTrax Team leader and jumps all over the world. I guess it really isn't common. I'm a control freak and had to get over the fact that I never packed my own shoot. That would alarm anybody though!!


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## Daveo76 (Apr 14, 2004)

In 1993 I was hit by a van and Life flighted to Grant Med Center in Columbus. Stayed for 11 days. Broke my right leg so bad they couldn't put a cast on it, steel rod & 4 screws, used a walker for 6 months, broken shoulder , collarbone. 
In 2011 , 4 months to the day my wife died, I was driving to work (nights) , went around a curve and was met by a wall of water. Tried to walk away but decided to stay since the water pushed the car to the guardrail, climbed to passenger side , stood up with my feet on the seat and holding on to the top of the car. Held on for 40 minutes and couldn't hold on anymore and let go. Debris hitting me bobbing up and down, was calmed by the feeling of peacefulness and felt the ground and the rescuers waded out and got me. Body temp dropped to 93 and was treated for hypothermia.
6 months after that, I suffered a heart attack at work, 6 days in hospital and 2 stents.
After those experiences I did feel at peace and don't fear death as I used to. I Truly humbling experiences.


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## Agitation Free (Jul 11, 2010)

Twice. The first time I was only 1yr old. My parents have told me and our extended family this story many times. From about the time I was born, I continually had throat infections that resulted in high fevers. Tonsils were to blame. The doctors tried to put off removing them until I was older. When I turned 1, my parents didn't have much choice. Tonsils had to go. After a week in the hospital I was released. Second day of being home my father came home from work, picked me up, held my head on his shoulder and then he said I started vomitting blood from my nose and mouth. He said that they rushed me to the hospital and by the time I got there, he and my mother thought I was dead. They say I was blue and cold to the touch. My father was soaked in blood. To this day he says he never saw so much blood. Rushed into surgery and I'm still here. I'm 54 now and both my parents tell me to this day that I will never be as close to death as I was then. Second time when I was 12. Appendix rupture. Rushed to surgery. I'll never forget they had me sitting up and someone was holding me under the right arm and someone was holding me under the left arm. They punched a long needle through my spine that had to be the most painful experiences of my life. Layed me on my back and the doctor kept asking me if I felt anything. I soon realized that from my neck to my toes, I couldn't feel anything. He began to cut me open. Although I didn't feel any pain, I could feel something running down my right side slightly above my waist. I immediately knew it was my blood. Then I remember when he clamped the incision, he let go of the hemostats and although I couldn't feel pain, I felt the weight of them on my stomach and waist. I then remembered feeling a nurse dabbing up the blood from my side. It wasn't to soon after that It was lights out. At least I got out of school for 3 weeks.


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## Sharp Charge (Jun 24, 2009)

Geez, three's a few stories here that makes mine seem insignificant, lol. I Shock Em, you shall never tell my wife that story, lol. I was supposed to make my first jump in Oct but it was rained out, gotta wait till spring now.


So for my events, there's only 2 that stand out in my mind. The first, I was 16 and screwing around racing a friend down town Cleveland on N. Marginal Rd by Burke Airport. The road was wet is places from early morning rain and I found a slick spot in a left turn, I spun and went airborne. My car came to rest on the north curb, partially in the street. I managed to land between a fire hydrant and a phone pole. There was less than 36" on either side. 

The second happened in Peru. My ship pulled in for liberty and I was stuck with duty the first day. I took one of the liberty boats to the Fleet Landing to round up mail and Shore Patrol. 

When we got back to the ship there was an LCU at the rear of the barge(camel) taking on pax so our little Peruvian Navy operated boat pulled up on the port side of the camel hooked to the back of the ship. One Boatswains Mate(BM) working the camel tended us. I hefted up the mail and our 4 pax that came over on our boat. 

When it was my turn to go, I planted my hands on the deck of the camel to boost up while standing on the gunwale of the boat. Sure enough, we got a surge and the camel went up and the boat went down and that damn BM had turned his back to me at just that moment. I was scrambling to hang on to something while yelling to the BM to grab me. I couldn't get my feet back on the boat either. Finally the BM heard and saw wtf was going on and pulled me up. That sucked but would have sucked worse if I had been pinned between that camel and boat.


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## jeffmo (Apr 7, 2004)

Years ago I while whitewater rafting I got tossed out of the raft while we were trying to surf it.When I went in I immediately got caught in a hydraulic and made about 4 or 5 trips around in it.when it finnaly let me go I came up about 25 yards downstream w/ throwbags coming at me from several people.
A few years into my firefighting job we were diapatched on a basement fire.When we arrived I made entry and going down the basement step I knew that I was a very hot fire.The fire ended up being in a walled off room so it was pretty hard to find.Right after I found it and began hitting it with water my regulator fouled up and I had no air.All I could do was to remove the airtube from the regulator and put it into my coat pocket and make my way out.On the way out I lost contact from my hoseline for a couple of minutes and the pucker factor really set in then.I finally found it and made my way out of the house but those were the longest minutes I can remember.The heat was bad enough that my ears,neck and back had some slight blistering.


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## LmitingOut (Mar 11, 2011)

I wore my redskins gear to the browns game this past year

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## spfldbassguy (Mar 23, 2009)

Wow some of you guys are really lucky to have lived through what ya'all went through. I've been pretty lucky so far, only one thing comes to mind on this subject.

It was January 93 and I just arrived to my duty station in Germany. I was 18 at the time and a few of the guys that'd been there a little while decided to throw all of us newbies a "cherry" party. The amount of alcohol I consumed put me in the hospital and from what my platoon Sgt and company commander told me, I was classified as legally dead for like 20 minutes. Guess my heart stopped and then went into a "slight" coma. All I know is that when I woke up all my clothes had been cut off and I looked like frankenstien with all the tubes coming outta me (1 in each wrist and foot). Really weird feeling to sorta remember the party to waking up in a strange hospital with tubes sticking out of you.


I am also fortunate enough to have been an airborne paratrooper that thankfully never had anything disastrous happen. Thankfully the worse thing I seen was a dude shatter his ankle during a jump at airborne school at Ft.Benning.
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## 419deerhunter (Mar 23, 2011)

oif 3 heard a gun shot from across river second later round hit wall behind me about a foot above my head. talk about pucker factor lol


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## Slatebar (Apr 9, 2011)

I was sent to a section to do some work on a continious miner by myself one evening in the mine I was working . I got up there and took the panel cover off the light box and found the problem, Had to go a couple breaks (300-300 ft ) to a phone to call for some parts . Never heard a thing while I was working on that miner, not a crack,rip or drip. I had just walked thru the ventilation curtain when all hell broke loose up there where I had been. The top cam in entry wide and about 200 foot long and about 20 ft thick. After I got stopped running and setteled down I walked up there when I pulled the curtain back it was a wall of rock. Took several shifts to get that mess cleared and odd thing was I had a Simpson meter laying on that miner and it was not so much as scratched. I took pics of that place and still look at it and wonder... fast forward about 30 years, different mines. End of shift, 9 of us riding outside on mantrip,,, 1 guy starts yelling stop, I have to pizz, Mantrip stops , everyone is gripping about the guy holding us up when about 50 ft ahead of us the top drops, again about 20 ft and about 100 ft long..Beech Muskiteer 150 Contintal, fuel enject, Pumps fuel from right tank to engine and what is not used by engine goes back to LEEFT wing tank. went to change tanks and fuel selector knob twisted loose. Ran out of fuel on croo wind , over Mason County airport.. Quietest moment of my life when that prop stopped.. Here is a pic taken later of that first fall..


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## Skarfer (Jan 27, 2006)

when I was about 7, riptide got a hold of me when we were in cape hatteras and swept me out to sea. luckily a couple of guys saw me and swam out and saved me.

another time, med cruise around 1996 working the lso platform on the uss Theodore Roosevelt.......lowering the platform after flight ops,, dark as hell and the yellow shirt turned a hornet on me. literally blew me off the flight deck and into the emergency net....I don't know how I caught the edge and kept from being blow overboard. 

lastly, some drunk idiot at a bar mistook me for someone else and popped off a round st me......missed me by inches and the bullet stuck in the tailgate of my truck. that a- hole spent a year in the clink.


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## billk (Feb 2, 2008)

Doesn't come close to some of these other stories...

Almost got clipped by a train when I was about 19 or 20.

Cruising home from work, radio blasting, as I'm crossing the tracks (no lights or gate) I glance left and see train. Punched the gas hard and by the time I looked in the rear view the train was there. Missed me by maybe 30 ft.

Could also count the fact that I was almost 3 months premature in 1963. 3lbs 1oz at birth. Docs told my parents I had a 50/50 chance of making it, but they think it wasn't that good. My great-grandmother (born in Italy in 1900) told them "Listen to that crying. His lungs are good. He'll make it" Three months old before I came home.


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## Evinrude58 (Apr 13, 2011)

Nobody cheats death. Life just reminds us sometimes that we could go at anytime so we better live now.
I have been shot once and stabbed twice. The irony is none happened while I was in the military.


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## Lowell H Turner (Feb 22, 2011)

1980 flight deck of USS John F Kennedy (CV-67) A flare is accidently punched off an A-7E "Corsair II" attack plane and rolls up against the tire very close to a exterior drop fuel tank. Tire ignites, and run help get foam fire fighting hose out. "Smash and Crash' Chief Petty Officer Smith with NO protective suit uses a helo tail folding bar and forces flare away from the tire, but burns steel bar shorter. Other crash crew are correctly throwing buckets of sand onto the flare to help partially smother it in liquid glass (melting sand) while Smith repeatedly yells to rig the bomb dump chute, still pushing the hellish thing toward it. Smith`s clothing has now caught fire and someone uses a CO2 extingusher to put him out and he finally falls writhering in agony. The bomb chute is rigged, the burning aircraft tire is largely put out, when the fire hose team leader tries to turn the hose upon the still fiercely raging Class "D" material fire. Literally ran up and shoved the hose nozzle up and yelled as loudly as I could "IT WILL EXPLODE AND START MORE FIRES" just as 3 guys used an aircraft tow bar to heroically finish pushing that nasty piece of HELL onto and down the chute. It VIOLENTLY exploded upon touching the sea, 1 small piece actually sticking to the hull and charring the paint on the inside of a compartment that was rapidly found and checked. If that fire hose team however well meaning had hit that flare with water, very likely a "cascade event' similar to USS Forrestal (CV-59) catastrophe might have occurred. Chief Smith survived, but was medically discharged due to his injuries; he was awarded a medal (it SHOULD have been the Medal of Honor, in our opinion) and was promoted also. Somewhere in the world as you read this, at least 2 carriers and their crews patrol the seas, also "playing with the dragon", day and night...and when something happens, generally the 2cnd and 3rd questions asked by "the POWERS that be" is: "Where is the NEAREST carrier?" and "HOW long untill she can make her presence KNOWN?"


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## honey (Oct 13, 2006)

Yep. Got hit off the end of a Willie boat in the kenai and missed the dudes prop by inches!! Ended up fine and floating down the kenai trying to find my Chapstick. Talk about shock!!


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## James F (Jul 2, 2005)

1969 I was caught in an undertow off Little Creek VA.got hung up in the break wall about six feet under, lucky I had a dive buddy who some how pulled me out. 1970 hit by a B-40 rocket,medivaced to Hospital Ship Hope.1980 broke my neck in car accident. All three times I walked away without permanent damage,except for maybe some slight brain damage


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## Bonecrusher (Aug 7, 2010)

I used to live the Rock Star life. Spent years hooked on Alchohol and Cocoaine. I got cleaned a couple years ago and have stayed that way. It wasn't easy to do but it gave me a whole new outlook on life. An outlook that I wish some could see today..... I haven't cheated death but I should be dead... I blew enough Coke to kill every elephant on the planet... Woke up in a ditch... Had my *** kicked by or 9 or 10 guys at the same time. Sat in the parking lot of a hospital waiting to die but to paranoid and screwed up to go inside and ask for help. There are a lot of other stories I could tell but I won't... 

Definitely not ashamed of my past problems as I hope one day some one will learn from my mistakes. Have I cheated death... I think about it every day.


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## Mr. A (Apr 23, 2012)

Bonecrusher, congrats on making it thru! I see people stuck in that lifestyle everyday, and even though I haven't, I've heard so many life stories from people that I cannot begin to imagine what it must be like to have lived that way. I'm not putting anyone with an addiction down; but if they are strong enough to see the problem and fix it then I will sure as hell hold them up and brag because it takes fortitude other dream of having to break that cycle!

You cheated death daily for a long time IMO, glad you made it through!

Mr. A

(2013)
Bass: 0
catfish: 0
bluegill: 0
Other: 0


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## rustyhooks42 (Aug 22, 2011)

All reminds me of a good song by Montgomery Gentry featuring Hank Williams Jr. I think we all have had near death experiences or just the guy upstairs reminding us that tomorrow is not a promise.


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## Fish R Man (Jan 22, 2011)

I won't say that I cheated death but have been in a few car accidents where I could have/should have died and came out barely hurt both times. Once right after I got my license I rolled my dad's pickup and was thrown out the windshield. It was the only time I ever drove without wearing my seatbelt and if I had the way the cab crushed in would have probably crushed my skull. The other was a few years later. I feel asleep driving in a small Dodge Omni. I crossed left of center hitting a flatbed box truck carrying a load of sod. The truck drove up on my car peeling it open like a can opener.


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## Wow (May 17, 2010)

You can never cheat death! ................
You got a reprieve at best.
Death knows who you are.
Death remembers.
Death never quits..........................


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## Lowell H Turner (Feb 22, 2011)

Do largely believe that when your time is up, and your own personal "Higher Power" says "Come on back" that`s about it, regardless if you go down flaming in a blaze of glory, car accident or simply fall asleep in your living room chair. The vast majority haven`t ultimately avoided "the big sleep", but many HAVE touched the lives of countless others for the better well beyond their own end...such is TRUE "immortality"...


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## triton189 (Nov 6, 2009)

Twice I have cheated death- 1st was 1986- I was a JR in High school and was working for a lawn care company. We had liquid and bags of vert in the back of the dually. I was asleep in the passanger seat as I had a baseball game the previous night and didn't get home until late. A lady in a Chevy Impala hits us head on... more towards my side at 55 MPH. It spun that big truck onto it's side and we slid about 25 yards across the intersection. When the truck flipped on it's side my hand, elbow, and shoulder hit the black top with my right hand taking the brunt. Fertilizer was every where an on lookers thought it was going to explode. A guy climbed in and pulled me out and I never got to thank him. My parents even put something in the paper thanking him as he pulled off his shirt to wrap my hand and elbow as it was gory as hell. 

2nd time just happened a little over a year ago. I am in sales and travel a lot! Walked up stairs to google an address for a party my oldest son was at. when I got to the top of the stairs I nearly went out hitting my head on our wall. I yelled for my wife as I could not breath. Next morning I knew it was not the inhaler I had done 20 minutes prior. I thought I had a heart attack. However, it turns out to be two major blood clots (PE). One is in my lung and a massive one stuck in one of my ventricals. ICU for 3 days and hospital for 10. It is a miracle I am still alive after that one.


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## Perch (Apr 5, 2004)

To Lighten the topic a tad, In the late 70's I was in an ice shanty and survived a fart from Booger Johnson, my neighbor and fishing buddy up in Ridgeville. Nasty.................Life threatening to me when I was a young one............

Horrible stuff fellas.................


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## Sharp Charge (Jun 24, 2009)

FISNFOOL said:


> In the70's I was in a head on crash where the other driver crossed over. It was at 700 and 422. I was able to down shift and put the car into a skid split second before impact. The impact cracked my car at the firewall and pushed the engine up and partially out through the hood. Crash was in a country area but the VFD was having a picnic in the area. Good thing because I was trapped in my car and leaking fuel. Luckily the battery was shattered in the impact killing the change of a spark, or it would have been a crash and burn.
> 
> I was in 2 chemical plant explosions in the 90's.
> 
> ...


Jeez, honest question, do you guys keep an AED at home or on the boat?


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## Shortdrift (Apr 5, 2004)

February 7, 2007 Aortic Aneurysm (John Ritter special) dropped me like a rock. Rode a chopper from Medina to Cleveland Clinic and woke up three days later, don't recall much but right arm and leg felt funny. Second attack in the middle of the night about a week later, I won't describe what I thought took place but the doctor said "Welcom back" the next morning. Based on that comment I guess I was knocking on or partially passed through the door. Found out that I also had a mild stroke.
Now I don't care if it is raining, snowing or storming when I wake each morning as I am plain old happy to see the new day.


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## Eriesteamer (Mar 9, 2007)

I had more close calls then you can shake a stick at. They in here think I make up some crap to be a fire side chat but really I nere died 2 times or more . One was so close the doctors told my father they thought I will die to get a plot for me. I came so close to death I had out bodie ( exprierance )thing I was ready call it quites.6 weeks in hospital waiting for old man death and beat the death now live a hell of a life. If you ever go fishing with me I tell the rest. Another time was carbon diozide poisoning. Lot more just can not think all those close calls.But I now have an Angle watch over me no crap. Well if you got doughts to this I got proof it is real not made up crap to get attentoin just what I try to avoid.
To short hate hear you had a stroke. And hope no more so take it easy hate see you go on a one way up the river no paddle thing. Just the thought scares me.


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## Lowell H Turner (Feb 22, 2011)

Witnessed this at Twenty Nine Palms Marine Corps Air Base about 1983. Was part of a det with 6 F-14s and crews taking part in annual "Red Flag" exercises. Weather surprisingly was rainy. Planes left, several of us went to the stands over looking a bombing and gunnery range. A Marine Corps A-4 "Skyhawk" single seat attack plane came barreling in and dropped several small blue practice bombs attacking a line of round engine shipment containers set in a line like a train. He comes back and straffles it with his 20MM cannons. Comes back a 2cnd pass, fires, getting VERY low and then clips a container with a wingtip, bending it. He begins cork screwing uncontrollably, boring straight ahead. Figured "You`ve HAD it, dude!" Pilot apparently popped his speed brakes, waited until the revolving plane was almost completely upside down, and fired his ejection seat about 50` from the ground; the canopy came off at roughly 90 degrees to the ground and the seat amazingly successfully left the plane while it was briefly upright. the ejection seat and he parted ways, the ballistic spreader gun fired, almost completely openning his chute and he got in 1 swing before he SLAMMED into what may have been the last and ONLY mudpuddle for more than 100+ miles in any direction. Was certain he was fatally injured, but he survived, and resumed flying. A Marine buddy later told him his superior officers refused to charge him with losing the plane telling him "Young man, God must REALLY like you..."


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

i wouldnt say i cheated death but i have been blessed a few times.

the one time that really stands out. we was tubing down on brookville, and when i would get done with my ride i would just fall off the back of the tube. this one time i fell back and my feet stuck between the tube cover and the tube. so i was being dragged down the lake with my feet hung in the tube and my body under water. for some reason the guys in the boat thought i was just off the tube and started to circle back, but they didnt know i was in trouble. so they kept going fast to get back to me. after what seemed like forever and i was just about done i managed to get my vest off over my head. it was just dragging me down from the water going under the vest. then just before i gave up the vest came loose and i was able to get myself free of the tube.

i really thought i was going to die. and i came very close. there have been a few other times that i had to have been blessed, but this time i actualy thought i was going to die.

i have been in some very bad car wrecks and not hurt bad at all. i wrecked a 59 ford when i was 17. i went to sleep on the way to work. i dont even remember the last few miles before i wrecked. i left the road and hit a car and knocked it out of my way. i went on and hit a farm tractor and broke it in half and threw the front half flying up through the guys yard, then i hit a tree and went another 20 ft and stopped about 5 ft from a utility pole. i came out of that with a bloody nose.

the part that really made me feel blessed about this, not 5 minutes after i wrecked this guy pulls up in a big station wagon. he had bad legs and was part of a mowing crew. he worked with the guy that lived there. he said he had picked this guy up for work for the last 15 yrs. that he had never been late. every morning at the time i wrecked he was setting there with his door open and his feet out on the ground drinking a cup of coffee before going to work. that morning he was running late for the 1st time in 15 yrs. it sent cold shivers down my spine when he told me that. i dont know for sure if god blessed him or me. but if he hadnt been late that morning i would have hit him head on, and it would have probably killed both of us.

i,ve been hunting and had guys shoot at a deer and heard the bullet going through the weeds a few inches from me. so yes i have been very blessed.
sherman


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## idontknow316 (Mar 21, 2008)

I survived, Y2K, the Bird flu, Swine flu, A1N1 or whatever the hell it was called, the end of the world, mad cow disease, cancerous bacon and many more!


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## hearttxp (Dec 21, 2004)

I really never think I cheated death ? But I have been very lucky to live in a time where our Medical system Is the BEST.

I 1991 at the age of 35 I was told a virus had attacked my heart and some day I would need a heart Transplant to survie !

Well April 1998 that happened. I got my new heart and a Second chance at life all thats to a Organ Donor.

SO almost 15 years Later I am leading a very normal life ! The only thing different is that I take about 22 pills a day to keep me alive.

Please become a Organ donor if you are not one already !


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## willy (Apr 27, 2007)

I'm not sure it would be considered cheating death, but I've had some luck on my side over the years.

6-8ish years old, sleeping in the back seat leaning on the car door, Dad turns on to the highway and a few later the door let loose and I went tumbling elbows over the "other end" face first into the gravel and guardrail.

10-11ish, middle of winter, playing in the woods, walking on the vermillion river (yeah, I know better now) went thru the ice to the waist and grabbed a branch at the last second before going all the way under the ice in the current. A friend helped me out and by the time I walked home thru the woods and took my jeans off I leaned them up against a wall frozen solid.

12-13ish, playing on the wrong end of the railroad trestle, heard the whistle blow 8O, ran back over the spanned ties and jumped off into the rocks.

13-14ish, ice fishing on lake Erie, a mile or so out, stepped into a snowed over illegal sized ice hole to the waist, Dad pulled me out, warmed back up in the shanty after we set it up and then stayed to fish.

16-17ish, doing high-speed doughnuts out on a frozen sandusky bay in Chevrolet Monte Carlo while trying not to spill the "minnow bon -g-ucket" if you are of age (That was giggles of funs).

The Black Death of Marriage.(your your mileage may vary, and I certainly hope it was better than mine).

Flying in the worlds finest Navy, but that's another tale.


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## greendragon (Sep 20, 2007)

I survived being wounded in March 1967 in Vietnam. I was with thw 101st Airborne Division,


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## Lowell H Turner (Feb 22, 2011)

Thank you to the both of you for serving, guys...


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## jonnythfisherteen2 (Mar 5, 2011)

I ate paint chips filled with lead when I was 1. it was 1998, I guess lead was used in paint then?


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## streamstalker (Jul 8, 2005)

When I was in fifth grade, my uncle came to visit us in his Piper Cub. He took me and my brother for a tour of our town. When we were landing at our local strip, another plane came in at a steeper angle and clipped our tail. We were probably 500-1000 feet up. The guy who hit us lost power, but glided in for a landing. My uncle could only circle counter clockwise. He tried to radio for someone to tell him the condition of the plane, but everyone was just out gawking at us. He finally touched it down, and found out that we had lost a nice chunk of the tail section. 

I learned how to swear that day. I had three older brothers and knew all of the words, but my uncle (a WWII Seabee) taught me how to string them together in every possible combination that day...csmfbstdsobetc... I don't think I was scared through the whole thing, but when I got out and saw the tail, my knees started shaking. How many people can say they were in a mid-air plane collision?  The next day I told my teacher why my homework wasn't done, and she didn't believe me. Mrs. Miller hated my guts. 

I have more _*almost*_ stepped-in-front-of, fell-off-of, woke-up- just-in-time stories than I care to recall or recount. There must be some reason I am still here.


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## leupy (Feb 12, 2007)

I guess I have avoided death on many occasions but if I have to pick one I had an armed robber with his arm around my neck and a gun at my head, I am typing so I guess I won. Not much chance H.H. Greg will make any money from him. I really never believed I would live to be 30, I will soon be 63 motorcycle wrecks, shoot outs tractor accidents, tons of fights, I really, should not be alive


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## Nubes (Dec 3, 2012)

Every day.....


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## BassBoss (Mar 5, 2011)

I fell out of a tree, on top of my head, couldn't move for awhile (3-4) days.

posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

leupy said:


> I guess I have avoided death on many occasions but if I have to pick one I had an armed robber with his arm around my neck and a gun at my head, I am typing so I guess I won. Not much chance H.H. Greg will make any money from him. I really never believed I would live to be 30, I will soon be 63 motorcycle wrecks, shoot outs tractor accidents, tons of fights, I really, should not be alive


thanks for all youve given my friend, i kinda know your story and a life of law enforcement isnt easy. my uncle Howard was a career man, detective and all the drama, so i do know..


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

Lowell H Turner said:


> 1980 flight deck of USS John F Kennedy (CV-67) A flare is accidently punched off an A-7E "Corsair II" attack plane and rolls up against the tire very close to a exterior drop fuel tank. Tire ignites, and run help get foam fire fighting hose out. "Smash and Crash' Chief Petty Officer Smith with NO protective suit uses a helo tail folding bar and forces flare away from the tire, but burns steel bar shorter. Other crash crew are correctly throwing buckets of sand onto the flare to help partially smother it in liquid glass (melting sand) while Smith repeatedly yells to rig the bomb dump chute, still pushing the hellish thing toward it. Smith`s clothing has now caught fire and someone uses a CO2 extingusher to put him out and he finally falls writhering in agony. The bomb chute is rigged, the burning aircraft tire is largely put out, when the fire hose team leader tries to turn the hose upon the still fiercely raging Class "D" material fire. Literally ran up and shoved the hose nozzle up and yelled as loudly as I could "IT WILL EXPLODE AND START MORE FIRES" just as 3 guys used an aircraft tow bar to heroically finish pushing that nasty piece of HELL onto and down the chute. It VIOLENTLY exploded upon touching the sea, 1 small piece actually sticking to the hull and charring the paint on the inside of a compartment that was rapidly found and checked. If that fire hose team however well meaning had hit that flare with water, very likely a "cascade event' similar to USS Forrestal (CV-59) catastrophe might have occurred. Chief Smith survived, but was medically discharged due to his injuries; he was awarded a medal (it SHOULD have been the Medal of Honor, in our opinion) and was promoted also. Somewhere in the world as you read this, at least 2 carriers and their crews patrol the seas, also "playing with the dragon", day and night...and when something happens, generally the 2cnd and 3rd questions asked by "the POWERS that be" is: "Where is the NEAREST carrier?" and "HOW long untill she can make her presence KNOWN?"


 if you would of said 1983 id of called bullshit on the spot because i was on the JFK's flight deck from 83 to 87 and serving on the bow catipults,, that my friend is a fact and i will say your story has no lore, the kennedy has a lot of stories and thats one ive never heard, im not sayin its not true ,but its one ive never heard.. and by the way, where did all this sand come from?? i spent 4 years up there and dont recall seeing buckets of it.. i actually dont remeber even seein A bucket of it..by the way in 83 we had a foam trucks to put out fires on the flight deck and had regular drills, they were painted white and the men who manned them wore red, i wore green.......


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## bountyhunter (Apr 28, 2004)

I spent 13mons in the jungles of nam. guess I might have once or twice.


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

Was born 2 months prematurely, had to do a stint in an incubator. Also had to undergo a series of surgeries as a young child to remove infected tissue during an especially bad sinus infection, which saved my life but left me without a sense of smell.


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## Whaler (Nov 16, 2004)

I'm hoping to survive the Obama gang !


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## Sharp Charge (Jun 24, 2009)

ezbite said:


> if you would of said 1983 id of called bullshit on the spot because i was on the JFK's flight deck from 83 to 87 and serving on the bow catipults,, that my friend is a fact and i will say your story has no lore, the kennedy has a lot of stories and thats one ive never heard, im not sayin its not true ,but its one ive never heard.. and by the way, where did all this sand come from?? i spent 4 years up there and dont recall seeing buckets of it.. i actually dont remeber even seein A bucket of it..by the way in 83 we had a foam trucks to put out fires on the flight deck and had regular drills, they were painted white and the men who manned them wore red, i wore green.......


Buckets of sand should be in the repair locker or crash shack. The P25 trucks are still used too.


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

Sharp Charge said:


> Buckets of sand should be in the repair locker or crash shack. The P25 trucks are still used too.


i glad you cleared that up shipmate..


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## fishingful (Apr 5, 2004)

Mine was pre- hurricane on the outer banks. 18 years old. Got to ride the big waves with the bogie board. Did great the first few times. But then a wipe out. And felt the board snap off my wrist. I could stand just long enough to get a quick breath then another wave would crash on me. I rolled 5 times forward and 5 back. Would pop up and have just enough time to hardly get a breath.

Now supposedly rip tides drag you out to sea but I swear this one drug me down the beach. Its hard to know that your close to being dead when you can see people on the beach and they can't hear you. I was about to give up when a guy was doing the same thing I was and he swam out to me. I was only 25 yards off the beach and couldn't get to it. I laid there for 20-30 min. And started walking back I was a mile down the beach.

I ice fish, whitewater kayak, raft, fish Erie, and do all sorts of water sports. I have a great respect for the power that water has. I also take every precaution that I can to have the ability to save my own life in any situation I could be in. I don't want to ever feel that helpless again.

In my profile pic you can see a life vest that I wear every time I get into a kayak on flat water or white water. I am also a certified lifeguard. Water is a power full force......


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## Lowell H Turner (Feb 22, 2011)

Sir the aircraft belonged to Light Attack Squadron VA-72, and I was with Helicopter Anti Submarine Squadron HS-11 at the time. The accident occured starboard forward of Elevator #1 just forward of the NATO Sea Sparrow launcher. LOOK UP "Class "D" fire (flammable metals- magneseum, and other `exotic` materials) and see what it says hosing it with water or foam...you can, but it WILL NOT put out the fire, it burns HOT enough to turn H2O into H and O (NOT GOOD); it may explode from sudden cooling and you WILL very likely spread the fire. As far as legends, look up USS John F Kennedy UFO Incident sometime during the 1970s which supposedly occured in broad daylight; never heard about THAT while was aboard, admittedly the only supposed witnesses were the entire flight deck and bridge crew...apparently the "men in grey suits" did a rather good job "hushing' it up, citing `Nat`l Security concerns" Any chance you ever heard about that?


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## Sharp Charge (Jun 24, 2009)

ezbite said:


> i glad you cleared that up shipmate..


:Banane35:


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

Lowell H Turner said:


> Sir the aircraft belonged to Light Attack Squadron VA-72, and I was with Helicopter Anti Submarine Squadron HS-11 at the time. The accident occured starboard forward of Elevator #1 just forward of the NATO Sea Sparrow launcher. LOOK UP "Class "D" fire (flammable metals- magneseum, and other `exotic` materials) and see what it says hosing it with water or foam...you can, but it WILL NOT put out the fire, it burns HOT enough to turn H2O into H and O (NOT GOOD); it may explode from sudden cooling and you WILL very likely spread the fire. As far as legends, look up USS John F Kennedy UFO Incident sometime during the 1970s which supposedly occured in broad daylight; never heard about THAT while was aboard, admittedly the only supposed witnesses were the entire flight deck and bridge crew...apparently the "men in grey suits" did a rather good job "hushing' it up, citing `Nat`l Security concerns" Any chance you ever heard about that?


I went to several shipboard firefighting schools and understand about mag fires. I never said you story isn't true, I just never heard it.


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## Deazl666 (Mar 30, 2012)

I fell into a hole in the Mad River in December with waders on, went in over my head, and thought I was going to die...of embarrassment. Thankfully nobody saw that happen...


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## Lowell H Turner (Feb 22, 2011)

Wasn`t sure who Chief Smith was assigned to, think possibly VA-72 ("Blue Falcons(?)" He was heloed off to NAS Sigonela Sicily for further medical treatment, the front of his pants and bottom part of his floatation vest and lower sleeves were gone with 1st and 2cnd degree burns. As far as the 2(?) buckets of sand, I honestly have NO idea where they came from, but they DID significantly knock down the heat, watched it actually "bubbling' and sputtering before the tow bar was used. Amazingly, the plane itself suffered almost no real serious damage...but the potential for a "Forrestal " event was likely very REAL, if that A-7s landing strut (largely also made of magnesium alloy) had caught fire. And being up on the bow, might have been harder to fight...


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## rickerd (Jul 16, 2008)

Thank you to all the heroes who have replied. This is an interesting post. I wasn't sure I would tell my story but maybe some of you can learn from it and prevent a death also. 

I'm 45 years old now but when I was 39, I went on a 20 mile bike ride one summer morning before work through the Metroparks. I usually ride only 10 miles but decided since I was up early, I could double it. When I returned home to get ready for work, I was running late and didn't cool down as I normally do and I missed drinking more water. This left me dehydrated severely which led to my peril. 

That afternoon at work, I had a pain in my lower right abdomen that felt like someone had stuck a finger in my gut, and was holding it there. It affected my psyche enough that it left me irritable and I was prespiring more than normal. To me I thought I ate something bad at lunch. (Oh yea and my blood pressure was going from 180/ 65 to 100/95 and weird things like that) When I got home my wife who is an ER nurse, thought it might be appendicitis. Either way I went to ER to get checked out and they ran some tests that night. They released me and I went home with aspirin and slept normally that night. The next morning I'm on my way to work as usual, get out of the car and receive a call from ER. I need to return imidiately. Not after work, NOW! When I arrived they admitted me and took a catscan of my abdomen. It turned out to be a blood clot in a main vein to my liver that cut off 40% of O2 to my liver. It would have killed me in days or even less. In fact I had every doctor and resident visiting me during my 8 day stay to find out how I even knew to come into ER. Apparently this syndrome kills men every year and they don't even know what they have until an autopsy. So after my stay I am on Warfarin for a year. Then they retest me and all seems fine. The doctor even tells me there is less than 2% chance it will happen to me again. Well, just before Thanksgiving 2011, it happens again. Same routine, pain, treatment. I dodged the bullet again. Now I'm on Warfarin for life which has some good things and a few risks. Crazy thing is with no family history of this, they cannot figure out what it is. There is not really a name for my syndrome, because mine occurs in the abdomen not the legs.

The reason I tell this to you is what my wife always tells me. Men are too stuborn to go see a doctor. If you are in pain, go see someone, you may save your life. My dad passed away in 1991, because he had signs of a heart attack for about a month. He made an appointment finally and dropped dead of a heart attack while bowling the night before his appointment. Don't let that be you.

I know there is a reason I'm supposed to keep living. I'll keep trying to find good reasons the Lord wants me here. Just last December, I turned 45. An age my father never reached. I've got 3 kids still in school and I want to be there to be a grandfather to their kids someday. That keeps me going.

Oh yea, another moral of the story. Since my father and father in law never made it to retirement, I bought a boat fall of 2007 to celebrate life. I didn't go crazy just got a great Lake Erie boat for the family to enjoy. So every weekend we can, we are on the lake celebrating LIFE! Yea celebrate it people. I live a little bit of retirement every so often with a guys trip for fishing, skiing or whatever. I need that. I take some time off now just make sure I live a little. I definately have a different perspective on life now.

Rickerd


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