Near Death Experiences

[Future17]

Ok, I'm being a bit dramatic with the title of this thread, but I recently experienced, for the first time in my life, a moment where I was concerned I might die.

I remember there was a thread on here about "Worst Pain Experienced" or similar, which I found darkly fascinating, so I was wondering if anyone would like to share stories about times they thought they might die. Step right up!

[Mibbes Aye]

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Ok, I'm being a bit dramatic with the title of this thread, but I recently experienced, for the first time in my life, a moment where I was concerned I might die.

I remember there was a thread on here about "Worst Pain Experienced" or similar, which I found darkly fascinating, so I was wondering if anyone would like to share stories about times they thought they might die. Step right up!

I very nearly drowned when I was six, at the WHEC, had to be resuscitated. To be fair, I recall some aspects of it but really the before and after, less of the during.

You didn’t say what your experience was?

[Future17]

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I very nearly drowned when I was six, at the WHEC, had to be resuscitated. To be fair, I recall some aspects of it but really the before and after, less of the during.

You didn’t say what your experience was?

Jeezo! That's nearer death than mine!

I'm currently on holiday with my wife in the US and we were kayaking on a river in North Carolina the other day. It was beautiful weather for the first couple of hours, but then we started to hear thunder. We saw a couple of flashes of lightning in the distance, but it wasn't raining (or even windy) at this point so we (stupidly in hindsight) carried on down the river. The weather worsened really suddenly though and, in combination with a really strong wind and torrential rain, the lightning strikes were getting closer. Having made the decision to get off the river, we tried to find a spot where we'd be able to scramble up the bank. In doing so, my kayak became lodged on some rocks in the middle of the river and it was a minute or so before it came loose.

After we managed to make it to the side of the river and up the bank, we were soaked through and didn't really know where we were or what to do. After about a minute of walking, there was a lightning strike so close by that the thunder was simultaneous. It was so close, I physically jumped in reaction to it. It was hard to tell, as obviously the flash was so fast, but, to me, it seemed to hit the river. As I said in my opening post, it was the first time in my life I was genuinely concerned I might die; we were so exposed and with little idea of how serious the situation could become so quickly. To top it all off, after the weather cleared, as we scrambled back down the bank to the kayaks, I was bitten on the leg by a spider which, based on my amateur "Google" investigations, I think was one of these:

https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef631

I got lucky though as I actually spotted it sinking its fangs into me and it seems (so far) that I was able to knock it off my leg before it injected any/much venom.

[MSK]

When in my mid 30s I was diagnosed with a heart condition, they took me in for an ablation where they burn fibres in my heart, I had to return for a second ablation as the first one failed (I collapsed up in Dunning Perthshire whilst delivering beer) second ablation was 5.5hrs long and I was wide awake during procedure. I felt every part of that op, very strange feeling when they are mucking about with your ticker and even worse when you are watching it live 😲 not quite near death but with odds at 1/50 for fatality during one of those procedures then I would say that was ****ing near enough 😆

[weecounty hibby]

I came off my bike on a left hand bend doing slightly north of 70. The talk of your life flashing in front of your eyes is, in my experience, rubbish. What flashed in front of my eyes was the silver transit van coming in the other direction as I bounced along his side of the road after landing on my head. I remember thinking please don't hit me, please don't hit me!! I was unconscious and woke up in a field with two old joiners looking down at me asking if I was ok. I genuinely thought "these are definitely not angels so I must be ok!" Pretty sore, and pretty scary with my bike a write off. My helmet undoubtedly saved my life and it was scary to see the mess of it after, the whole left side looked like someone had taken an angle grinder to it. Still have the scars on my arms and legs 12 years after it happened, but I feel very lucky. I have lost friends who have died doing way less than 70.

[hibs#1]

Was working at a factory in Shotts just before Christmas one year, was out the front having a smoke with a couple of other guys during a snow/thunder storm when lightning struck the car park in front of us, seemed liked was within a few metres of us. Not really near death but if we hadnt been tucked in next to building it would likely have hit one of us.the flash and noise were unbelievable.

[Killiehibbie]

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When in my mid 30s I was diagnosed with a heart condition, they took me in for an ablation where they burn fibres in my heart, I had to return for a second ablation as the first one failed (I collapsed up in Dunning Perthshire whilst delivering beer) second ablation was 5.5hrs long and I was wide awake during procedure. I felt every part of that op, very strange feeling when they are mucking about with your ticker and even worse when you are watching it live 😲 not quite near death but with odds at 1/50 for fatality during one of those procedures then I would say that was ****ing near enough 😆

49 out of 50 die or 1 in 50?

The closest I came was when I went through the windscreen, done a somersault and landed in a field. If i'd been wearing a seatbelt the steering wheel would've done a lot more damage as it ended suck right into the drivers seat.

[lyonhibs]

I was in a fatal coach crash at the age of 15, not something I recommend. Was woken up by the highly unsettling feeling of my whole field of vision listing by 45 degrees as our coach ploughed into the road side ditch. By some utter miracle and - thank god - a seat belt I walked out untouched but how more than 1 occupant of the coach wasn't killed I don't know. What a mess.

[MSK]

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49 out of 50 die or 1 in 50?

The closest I came was when I went through the windscreen, done a somersault and landed in a field. If i'd been wearing a seatbelt the steering wheel would've done a lot more damage as it ended suck right into the drivers seat.

1 in 50 die during the procedure if your health isnt great, ie heavy smoker, overweight, other underlying health issues etc, 1-100 if you are in good health. I think the issue is that they are mucking about with your heart in the first place, I signed the bit of paper because either way, if I didn't get it done the odds on me popping my clogs were probably the same 😆

[Peevemor]

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I was in a fatal coach crash at the age of 15, not something I recommend. Was woken up by the highly unsettling feeling of my whole field of vision listing by 45 degrees as our coach ploughed into the road side ditch. By some utter miracle and - thank god - a seat belt I walked out untouched but how more than 1 occupant of the coach wasn't killed I don't know. What a mess.

I take it that was the incident near Bourges? One of my mates (GS) was also badly injured and very badly affected by the crash.

[lyonhibs]

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I take it that was the incident near Bourges? One of my mates (GS) was also badly injured and very badly affected by the crash.

That's the one. Mr S was my BB captain and general legend. Suddenly paying attention in Standard Grade French had its benefits!

[Jack]

At 6 months I was so badly scalded I was given the last rites. I survived the last rites but spent the next 6/9 months in hospital. Still got the scars 61 years later. Can't remember any of it.

I was playing golf at Lothianburn many years ago, it was a lovely sunny day. At the hole going down by the side of the ski slope I was the only one of us to hit the green, a magnificent shot! I proudly left my bag at the next tee and took my putter back up the steep slope to the green. When my friends asked for a line I stood and raised my putter high in the air - just at that second a clap of thunder crackled through the air and lightening struck a water tank just a short chip from where I was standing! I got such I fright I dropped to my knees out of sight from my friends. It was that close they thought I'd been hit and as they ran up the slope were convinced all they'd find was a pile of cinders.

[matty_f]

I was in a car accident just north of Aviemore, it was snowing and when the driver took a corner (not at a great speed) the car just continued straight on due to the slippery road conditions.
I remember one if those wee black boards with the red and white reflectors on it being in front of us and thinking that we’d probably hot that and stop.
Instead, the car went straight through that and flipped onto its roof. Fortunately it wedged upside down in a ditch and didn’t continue its momentum because if we’d rolled, or even continue forward by any kind of distance, we’d have gone straight down a steep hillside.
We all got out unhurt, save from a wee bump on the head when we released our seatbelt and gravity took over.
Ironically, a snow plough cleared the road as we were climbing through the broken car windows to get out.

[easty]

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I very nearly drowned when I was six, at the WHEC, had to be resuscitated. To be fair, I recall some aspects of it but really the before and after, less of the during.

You didn’t say what your experience was?

So did I...and mines was at the WHEC as well. I couldn't swim, jumped in the deep end. Saved by a lifeguard.

[Bangkok Hibby]

When I was 9 or 10 I choked on a gobstopper in Newhaven Road. As the world was going black I was grabbed by a slightly older boy and dragged into his house where his Mother bent me over the sink and battered my back until the gobstopper came out. My memory then fails me. I've no idea what happened next or how I got home. I always think kids these days probably wouldn't act so quickly and decisively. In the unlikely event you're reading this...Thank you.

[Alfiembra]

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I came off my bike on a left hand bend doing slightly north of 70. The talk of your life flashing in front of your eyes is, in my experience, rubbish. What flashed in front of my eyes was the silver transit van coming in the other direction as I bounced along his side of the road after landing on my head. I remember thinking please don't hit me, please don't hit me!! I was unconscious and woke up in a field with two old joiners looking down at me asking if I was ok. I genuinely thought "these are definitely not angels so I must be ok!" Pretty sore, and pretty scary with my bike a write off. My helmet undoubtedly saved my life and it was scary to see the mess of it after, the whole left side looked like someone had taken an angle grinder to it. Still have the scars on my arms and legs 12 years after it happened, but I feel very lucky. I have lost friends who have died doing way less than 70.

Had a bad crash on my bike in Abercrombie Place, was passing a double parked Rolls Royce when it suddenly did a 90 degree turn in front of me to park in one of the head on parking spaces. I hit the drivers door with him at about a 45 degree angle to me, I got thrown over the bonnet of the Roller landed on the roof of a parked car and rolled off that onto the road and underneath another parked car. I can remember every second of it like it was yesterday but was over 40 years ago. Wouldn’t describe it as a near death experience but at the moment of impact to when I came to a halt everything went into slow motion, and every detail is so vivid, tumbling through the air hitting the car roof rolling onto the road seemed to take forever but in reality was probably only a second or two. I broke my foot and other than bumps and bruises came out of it relatively unscathed. Funny side to it I had to get a consultants report for the insurance claim for injuries, I got him to put on it my footballing career was over. I was cr@p at football so no big loss. 😂

[McD]

I also nearly drowned as a kid.

i was in a pool with a massive inflatable that you get on and off, climb all over, etc. It took up around 1/3 of a 25m pool.

also in the pool were several of those large door sized polystyrene type boards. A mate and I were on one of these boards, and I was getting onto the inflatable from there. As with what happened a lot of the time in these situations, I slipped off the inflatable into the water, as I had many times before. On this occasion though, my mate had shoved the board towards the inflatable as I fell, and I got caught under the inflatable, and was completely disoriented about which direction was which. After what felt like an age, and not being able to see anything, I finally found an edge and broke surface. Scared the crap out of me, although my mate hasn’t even noticed I had disappeared

[Hibrandenburg]

I blacked out whilst parachuting, fortunately it was dope on a rope so my chute opened automatically when leaving the aircraft.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

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So did I...and mines was at the WHEC as well. I couldn't swim, jumped in the deep end. Saved by a lifeguard.

That happened to me at Haddington Pool.

[Danny_Hibee]

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Had a bad crash on my bike in Abercrombie Place, was passing a double parked Rolls Royce when it suddenly did a 90 degree turn in front of me to park in one of the head on parking spaces. I hit the drivers door with him at about a 45 degree angle to me, I got thrown over the bonnet of the Roller landed on the roof of a parked car and rolled off that onto the road and underneath another parked car. I can remember every second of it like it was yesterday but was over 40 years ago. Wouldn’t describe it as a near death experience but at the moment of impact to when I came to a halt everything went into slow motion, and every detail is so vivid, tumbling through the air hitting the car roof rolling onto the road seemed to take forever but in reality was probably only a second or two. I broke my foot and other than bumps and bruises came out of it relatively unscathed. Funny side to it I had to get a consultants report for the insurance claim for injuries, I got him to put on it my footballing career was over. I was cr@p at football so no big loss. 😂

Not quite as bad as that but I was knocked down by a car while crossing the road outside Hampden after a Scotland Croatia game a few years back.

I had the same 'slow motion' experience as I got chucked back off the front of the car when he hammered the brakes. I can clearly remember the exact moment I looked to my right and somehow had time to think '*****. He's no stopping. And I'm no getting out the way'. Can still remember the drivers face at that exact point!

Weirdly I can remember pretty much nothing between hitting the ground and getting to hospital despite being conscious, talking and making sense (by my own standards) in that time.

As a side note when I got to hospital Ian Murray and Nishy were there with Scott Smith who had been injured playing for Dumbarton that night.

[Sylar]

Was out and about driving around the Highlands collecting water samples as part of my PhD (really remote, windy roads). After a few dry days, there had been a short shower the night before i went out that made the roads really greasy.

As i turned around a right hand part of an S bend (not at any speed) the back of the car slid: on the right side of the road, was a sheer drop into a gorge below and on the left, the road was lined by really big, old trees. My uncle was a fireman and always said the worst thing you can possibly hit is a tree. In the split of time i had, i threw the steering wheel to the left, hoping id find a gap in the trees. Fortunately, i found a gap but the car bounced on the kerb, hit a large farm gate post (one of the big round log type posts) and flipped twice before coming to rest in a field.

I walked away without a scratch but the car was obliterated. Genuinely feared the worst as i lost control though. Horrible feeling.

[wpj]

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When in my mid 30s I was diagnosed with a heart condition, they took me in for an ablation where they burn fibres in my heart, I had to return for a second ablation as the first one failed (I collapsed up in Dunning Perthshire whilst delivering beer) second ablation was 5.5hrs long and I was wide awake during procedure. I felt every part of that op, very strange feeling when they are mucking about with your ticker and even worse when you are watching it live 😲 not quite near death but with odds at 1/50 for fatality during one of those procedures then I would say that was ****ing near enough 😆

I didn't know thos odds! I have had three, the last one was a success (so far)they put me to sleep last time as well, I kinda begged them

[Peevemor]

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I didn't know thos odds! I have had three, the last one was a success (so far)they put me to sleep last time as well, I kinda begged them

I broke my wrist a couple of years ago and needed some metalwork put in. It was a Monday night and the anaesthetist told me that she preferred to give me a local rather than a general anaesthetic, however if there wasn't a surgeon/theatre available that night it would be the following day and somebody else would take her place.

Luckily it was the next day and I was put to sleep - I was kacking myself at the thought of being awake and aware of what was going on.

[IWasThere2016]

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I broke my wrist a couple of years ago and needed some metalwork put in. It was a Monday night and the anaesthetist told me that she preferred to give me a local rather than a general anaesthetic, however if there wasn't a surgeon/theatre available that night it would be the following day and somebody else would take her place.

Luckily it was the next day and I was put to sleep - I was kacking myself at the thought of being awake and aware of what was going on.

Same late 2017 .. and bone grafted/pin op was Feb 2018. I was knocked out. I stopped breathing during the op and needed the pads to resuscitate me.

I've also fallen asleep while driving - smashed into HGV.. lucky to be here. I walked away with whiplash and damaged knee tissue

[MSK]

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I didn't know thos odds! I have had three, the last one was a success (so far)they put me to sleep last time as well, I kinda begged them

They told me I had to be awake as to alert them of any pain etc, I wasnt particularly overjoyed at being awake when I die 😆 would rather have been asleep, mind you, the morphine they pumped me with was something else 😆

The late Doctor Millar (Cardiac Surgeon) done my first ablation then his young charge Dr (shaky hands) Grubb done my second one. Grubb was funny, honestly, his hands used to tremble, I remember saying to the Nursing team ‘please tell me he isnt operating on my heart with those shaky hands’ the Nurses assured me that when he is ‘in’ he could thread a needle !! 😆

Ironically, I have actually worked directly with Dr Grubb on many occasions in the Cardiology labs at the RIE, I dont look at his hands though 😆

[wpj]

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They told me I had to be awake as to alert them of any pain etc, I wasnt particularly overjoyed at being awake when I die 😆 would rather have been asleep, mind you, the morphine they pumped me with was something else 😆

The late Doctor Millar (Cardiac Surgeon) done my first ablation then his young charge Dr (shaky hands) Grubb done my second one. Grubb was funny, honestly, his hands used to tremble, I remember saying to the Nursing team ‘please tell me he isnt operating on my heart with those shaky hands’ the Nurses assured me that when he is ‘in’ he could thread a needle !! 😆

Ironically, I have actually worked directly with Dr Grubb on many occasions in the Cardiology labs at the RIE, I dont look at his hands though 😆

Been awake for all all but one of my pacemaker operations again the last one my constant thought I had had enough as I had 2 replacements in a year. I go to Barts but am switching to Papworth later in the year after 21 years. Been fantastic to me and it will be hard to leave

[Jay]

I swithered about posting this as it sounds way more dramatic than it was but here goes...

I had a lung biopsy done using a ct scanner and was awake and unsedated throughout. The bit they were trying to biopsy was in a tricky bit and very small so it was taking a bit of time and it was taking all my focus to stay calm. Eventually they got the needle in the exact bit but it caused me extreme pain and i couldnt breathe, at the same time the back of my throat filled with blood and i was gurgling trying to breathe. I couldnt cough as there was a needle in my lung. It went a bit mental for about 30 seconds as they quickly scanned me to see what was going on. I was absolutely fine but for about half a minute while i was in the scanner I actually thought that was it, I wasn't surviving this.

[MSK]

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I swithered about posting this as it sounds way more dramatic than it was but here goes...

I had a lung biopsy done using a ct scanner and was awake and unsedated throughout. The bit they were trying to biopsy was in a tricky bit and very small so it was taking a bit of time and it was taking all my focus to stay calm. Eventually they got the needle in the exact bit but it caused me extreme pain and i couldnt breathe, at the same time the back of my throat filled with blood and i was gurgling trying to breathe. I couldnt cough as there was a needle in my lung. It went a bit mental for about 30 seconds as they quickly scanned me to see what was going on. I was absolutely fine but for about half a minute while i was in the scanner I actually thought that was it, I wasn't surviving this.

Its not dramatic in the slightest, Ive worked alongside Radiology Consultants for years doing CT guided lung biopsies, one of the most common risks is a pneumothorax where we accidentally puncture your lung, that can be a frightening experience for the patient as your breathing is compromised, not only that, you have a 5” needle sticking out of your back. Thankfully the medical team on hand can reinflate the lung quite quickly. Not nice to see and most definitely not a nice experience for the patient, you are a brave cookie, its not something I would fancy 😲

[Jay]

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Its not dramatic in the slightest, Ive worked alongside Radiology Consultants for years doing CT guided lung biopsies, one of the most common risks is a pneumothorax where we accidentally puncture your lung, that can be a frightening experience for the patient as your breathing is compromised, not only that, you have a 5” needle sticking out of your back. Thankfully the medical team on hand can reinflate the lung quite quickly. Not nice to see and most definitely not a nice experience for the patient, you are a brave cookie, its not something I would fancy 😲

I was told one in ten end up with a collapsed lung, a drain and a week in hosp and one in six with the top of the lung collapsing and a night in hosp. Mine was done through the front of my chest wall not my back as was the original plan. Brave doesnt come into it though, theres not really much choice. They did say they may need to repeat it and i suggested they find an alternative

[MSK]

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I was told one in ten end up with a collapsed lung, a drain and a week in hosp and one in six with the top of the lung collapsing and a night in hosp. Mine was done through the front of my chest wall not my back as was the original plan. Brave doesnt come into it though, theres not really much choice. They did say they may need to repeat it and i suggested they find an alternative

Good luck with whatever your next procedure is J, hope all goes well x