Register | Sign In


Understanding through Discussion


EvC Forum active members: 65 (9162 total)
3 online now:
Newest Member: popoi
Post Volume: Total: 915,815 Year: 3,072/9,624 Month: 917/1,588 Week: 100/223 Day: 11/17 Hour: 0/0


Thread  Details

Email This Thread
Newer Topic | Older Topic
  
Author Topic:   How close to death have YOU been...
iano
Member (Idle past 1940 days)
Posts: 6165
From: Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
Joined: 07-27-2005


Message 1 of 56 (281047)
01-23-2006 7:21 PM


Riding a motorcycle once. It was in the old days, when I was wild. I was careering down a residential street at 100mph or so. Way up ahead in the distance, a car pulled out from the left, heading in the direction I was going in (we drive on the left in Ireland). I pulled out to the opposing traffic lane, with the intention of blasting past him. No sweat....
That is, until I realised that the car wasn't pulling away all that quickly and was drifting over towards the white line in the middle of the road. Something wasn't right - and I was now bearing down very quickly. Then it became clear. He was intending to take a right turn (across 'my' path) into a side road just a little further up from the one he'd pulled out of - which was why he was accelerating so sluggishly. Just as I realised this, he began his turn. At 100mph on a bike you don't turn, you veer ....in long, graceful (but in these circumstances, useless), arcs. Simple computation told me that I was going to T-bone right into the side of him.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I screamed in my head.
As I screamed it, the cars front end lurched downwards on its suspension. The driver must have looked in his side mirror mid-turn and literally slammed on the brakes. I can still see his front end bouncing back up from the sudden stop. I roared safely past
I've had quite a few accidents on bikes - some of which have been at high speed. I've seen most of them coming/happening, but have never, ever been so positive that I was going to die.
Has anyone else been at the point of knowing they were going to die. What went through your mind, was it a nice/not nice feeling, did it change your outlook on life ...
This message has been edited by iano, 24-Jan-2006 12:32 AM

Replies to this message:
 Message 2 by macaroniandcheese, posted 01-23-2006 7:28 PM iano has replied
 Message 4 by purpledawn, posted 01-23-2006 7:59 PM iano has not replied
 Message 5 by cavediver, posted 01-23-2006 8:02 PM iano has replied
 Message 11 by Mespo, posted 01-24-2006 12:50 PM iano has replied
 Message 15 by Jon, posted 01-24-2006 5:57 PM iano has not replied
 Message 27 by riVeRraT, posted 01-25-2006 8:17 AM iano has not replied
 Message 56 by kongstad, posted 01-27-2006 7:19 PM iano has not replied

  
macaroniandcheese 
Suspended Member (Idle past 3927 days)
Posts: 4258
Joined: 05-24-2004


Message 2 of 56 (281049)
01-23-2006 7:28 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by iano
01-23-2006 7:21 PM


one time i had an intestinal blockage that could have burst killing me. it was caused by low potassium that could have instead given me a heart attack.
another time i was freeclimbing in heavy winds.
and as a toddler i stopped breathing, but i don't remember that one.
there's lots of others, i'm terribly accident prone. i'm always waiting for the next time i almost die.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by iano, posted 01-23-2006 7:21 PM iano has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 3 by iano, posted 01-23-2006 7:36 PM macaroniandcheese has replied

  
iano
Member (Idle past 1940 days)
Posts: 6165
From: Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
Joined: 07-27-2005


Message 3 of 56 (281052)
01-23-2006 7:36 PM
Reply to: Message 2 by macaroniandcheese
01-23-2006 7:28 PM


How did it feel...to feel like you were actually, really... going to die...if indeed you got that feeling.
(Glad your still with us btw)
(topic in itself. accident proneness. If the family is together and my sister offers to make the tea and comes strolling back with a tray full of cups of tea, the whole family knows to squirm in their seats as she naviagates her way through the seated family...we've all had scalding cups dropped over us through the years. Mam and Paula (my sister) - "not to be trusted in this regard". That's a family anthem...)
This message has been edited by iano, 24-Jan-2006 12:53 AM

This message is a reply to:
 Message 2 by macaroniandcheese, posted 01-23-2006 7:28 PM macaroniandcheese has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 6 by macaroniandcheese, posted 01-23-2006 8:14 PM iano has not replied

  
purpledawn
Member (Idle past 3457 days)
Posts: 4453
From: Indiana
Joined: 04-25-2004


Message 4 of 56 (281056)
01-23-2006 7:59 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by iano
01-23-2006 7:21 PM


Blew a Tube
I came as close to death as you can get without going over the edge, according to my doctors. I was bleeding internally. It was about 15 years ago.
I didn't think I was going to die. I was very peaceful actually. Kept passing out.

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. -Edith Wharton

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by iano, posted 01-23-2006 7:21 PM iano has not replied

  
cavediver
Member (Idle past 3643 days)
Posts: 4129
From: UK
Joined: 06-16-2005


Message 5 of 56 (281057)
01-23-2006 8:02 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by iano
01-23-2006 7:21 PM


I'm not so active at the moment, but my exploratory cave-diving has made near-death moments scarily common-place. I once spent twenty lonely minutes considering my "inevitable" demise... a twenty minutes I can only describe, wholey inadequately, as life-changing. Subsequent near-fatalities were simply met with "bugger, not again..."

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by iano, posted 01-23-2006 7:21 PM iano has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 7 by iano, posted 01-24-2006 6:10 AM cavediver has replied

  
macaroniandcheese 
Suspended Member (Idle past 3927 days)
Posts: 4258
Joined: 05-24-2004


Message 6 of 56 (281060)
01-23-2006 8:14 PM
Reply to: Message 3 by iano
01-23-2006 7:36 PM


i didn't realize how serious it was until i was checking out of my four day stay in the hospital. i did wonder what made my mom drive into a hurricane to come be with me but whatever.
afterwards it kind of unsettled me. but not enough to really bother me. but now i try not to get too dehydrated again. well. not really

This message is a reply to:
 Message 3 by iano, posted 01-23-2006 7:36 PM iano has not replied

  
iano
Member (Idle past 1940 days)
Posts: 6165
From: Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
Joined: 07-27-2005


Message 7 of 56 (281143)
01-24-2006 6:10 AM
Reply to: Message 5 by cavediver
01-23-2006 8:02 PM


I once spent twenty lonely minutes considering my "inevitable" demise... a twenty minutes I can only describe, wholey inadequately, as life-changing.
Care to elaborate? What happened?

This message is a reply to:
 Message 5 by cavediver, posted 01-23-2006 8:02 PM cavediver has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 8 by cavediver, posted 01-24-2006 8:23 AM iano has replied

  
cavediver
Member (Idle past 3643 days)
Posts: 4129
From: UK
Joined: 06-16-2005


Message 8 of 56 (281150)
01-24-2006 8:23 AM
Reply to: Message 7 by iano
01-24-2006 6:10 AM


Well, in terms of what happened: in cave-diving the "line" is life. I was in new territory to laying my own line. It parted company from my reel, and pinged back under tension into the zero-viz murk behind me. I was in similar territory to that in my avatar... low, tight, constricted. As I stopped, the viz disappeared around me. In total I spent 50 minutes "off the line", the majority spent desperately trying to find my way home in complete brown-out. The last twenty minutes were the acceptance. However, I was too embaressed to think that I would criticised for not trying, so thought I better go out with a struggle.
That struggle got me out... I was using a second reel of line as a search line. This line was 3.5mm and the original line was 4mm. As I searched, the search line spilled and paid out into the cave, so I kept finding the "wrong" line. That was traumatic for the first few times. Finally, I found a piece of line which I was about to discard again as my own search line, when rolling it between my gloved fingers, realised that it was thicker... it was my line. "Oh, I'm going to live" was my simple thought.
It wasn't the end though. By now I was so wrapped and cocooned in my search line that I could hardly move. I took out my knife to cut myself free... the next I remember I am on my way with 300m of passage to negotiate before getting out.
A month later I was back to tidy up the mess I had left. As I collected all of the search line into which I had become entwined, I discovered that it hadn't suffered one cut...
Life-changing: I accepted my death as reasonable as I had had one hell of a life up until that point... I figured I had done more before 30 than most could even dream about in a lifetime. I was immortal for a couple of weeks afterwards. Now I have no fear of death, as everything I have is bonus. I do have to remind myself just how selfish this attitude is, wrt my family.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 7 by iano, posted 01-24-2006 6:10 AM iano has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 9 by iano, posted 01-24-2006 9:53 AM cavediver has not replied
 Message 10 by macaroniandcheese, posted 01-24-2006 10:55 AM cavediver has not replied

  
iano
Member (Idle past 1940 days)
Posts: 6165
From: Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
Joined: 07-27-2005


Message 9 of 56 (281171)
01-24-2006 9:53 AM
Reply to: Message 8 by cavediver
01-24-2006 8:23 AM


Wow! You should have put a warning on this. Just reading it has me in the grip of claustrophobia. I dive myself and have had a few no viz situation in wrecks - horrid feeling - but have never been more than 10 metres away from an exit. But 300m? Arrggggggh.
I took out my knife to cut myself free... the next I remember I am on my way with 300m of passage to negotiate before getting out.
Can you elaborate? If no cut line and completely entangled (especially so with diving gear on), what happened?
Life-changing: I accepted my death as reasonable as I had had one hell of a life up until that point... I figured I had done more before 30 than most could even dream about in a lifetime. I was immortal for a couple of weeks afterwards. Now I have no fear of death, as everything I have is bonus. I do have to remind myself just how selfish this attitude is, wrt my family.
What was going through your mind during the 20 minutes when you 'knew' you were going to die? Fear, sad, happy, etheral, focussed, slow-mo, flashbacks?
Possibly "no fear of death" would better be described as "no fear of departing from life - which is slightly different?

This message is a reply to:
 Message 8 by cavediver, posted 01-24-2006 8:23 AM cavediver has not replied

  
macaroniandcheese 
Suspended Member (Idle past 3927 days)
Posts: 4258
Joined: 05-24-2004


Message 10 of 56 (281190)
01-24-2006 10:55 AM
Reply to: Message 8 by cavediver
01-24-2006 8:23 AM


Now I have no fear of death, as everything I have is bonus. I do have to remind myself just how selfish this attitude is, wrt my family.
it's not selfish unless it makes you behave irresponsibly. no one is promised a tomorrow. that's what i've been living on for 5 years. do what makes you happy now, because you won't have more time.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 8 by cavediver, posted 01-24-2006 8:23 AM cavediver has not replied

  
Mespo
Member (Idle past 2884 days)
Posts: 158
From: Mesopotamia, Ohio, USA
Joined: 09-19-2002


Message 11 of 56 (281230)
01-24-2006 12:50 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by iano
01-23-2006 7:21 PM


A Long time ago in a war far far away
In the Gulf of Tonkin off of Vietnam on a U.S. Navy destroyer.
We were patroling the coast with the task of intercepting North Vietnamese truck convoys going down the coastal highway. We spotted some trucks and closed in, guns blazing, about a mile off shore. The trucks raced into a thicket of trees and skidded to a stop. We thought we had them when suddenly little puffs of smoke erupted all around the trucks. A few seconds later, the screech of artillary shells screamed over our heads and exploded in the water next to our ship.
You know how they say that time slows down? Well it did. My mind slowed down the geyser of water from the first exploding shell. In a terrifying split-second, it climbed higher and higher in the clear blue sky and I could see the shock wave race toward the ship. I had enough time to yell a few choice swear words before I found myself flying backwards.
"This is it". I thought. When I was able to focus my eyes I was staring at the ceiling. I checked myself out and found that all my body parts were still there with the addition of a warm wet spot between my legs. But then, just about everyone else's pants were wet as well. That caused laughter and cursing and nervous chatter as the other crew members regained their feet.
More shells cascaded down around the ship in a terrible cacaphony of thunderous explosions and brilliant flashes. At least we could fight back, so the mood changed from terror to grim determination. I expected the Captain to shout some sort of John Wayne type of war slogan. Instead, I heard him yell,
"Let's get the f*ck outta here!"
And so we did. Flank Speed. I was totally, completely, absolutely, physically spent. Shot. Exhausted. Worthless. And alive. GOD! The air smelled good. And food. And coffee. And a dry pair of pants.
And life can end in a heart beat. In one instant, one flick of time, I lost my youthful immortality. I can die. I lost some of my foolishness as well.
Well, not all of it.
(:raig

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by iano, posted 01-23-2006 7:21 PM iano has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 12 by Omnivorous, posted 01-24-2006 1:33 PM Mespo has not replied
 Message 16 by iano, posted 01-24-2006 7:18 PM Mespo has replied
 Message 22 by macaroniandcheese, posted 01-24-2006 11:33 PM Mespo has replied

  
Omnivorous
Member
Posts: 3978
From: Adirondackia
Joined: 07-21-2005
Member Rating: 7.3


Message 12 of 56 (281248)
01-24-2006 1:33 PM
Reply to: Message 11 by Mespo
01-24-2006 12:50 PM


Re: A Long time ago in a war far far away
Same war, different country. But not far.
Omni walking point. Man Behind keeps getting too close, Omni keeps waving him back.
Omni comes to road, stops stoops looks listens smells feels...nothing, something...
Omni signals, starts across road. Don't step there, Omni, too smooth. Bugs too quiet, birds erupt a klick away...
Man Behind follows too close. Omni about to wave him back, freezes: something smells...wrong.
Man Behind steps off Omni's track to see past Omni. Bad move. Don't step there...
*click*
Man Behind shoves Omni into ditch ahead. Land mine bounces up and blows Man Behind into a thousand pieces.
Omni never liked Man Behind. Too slack, too new, too young, too scared, not scared enough. Screw-up. Get us all killed.
Man Behind saved Omni's life one second, ceased to exist the next.
Omni on his back in the ditch, staring at the blue sky, still. Still.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 11 by Mespo, posted 01-24-2006 12:50 PM Mespo has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 13 by Omnivorous, posted 01-24-2006 3:11 PM Omnivorous has replied
 Message 18 by nator, posted 01-24-2006 8:32 PM Omnivorous has replied

  
Omnivorous
Member
Posts: 3978
From: Adirondackia
Joined: 07-21-2005
Member Rating: 7.3


Message 13 of 56 (281291)
01-24-2006 3:11 PM
Reply to: Message 12 by Omnivorous
01-24-2006 1:33 PM


1st Omni War
The very quiet 6 year old boy heard the shouting and hitting again and hid beneath his bed. His sister knew where he would hide and pulled him out--the boy and his sisters ran with their mother to the garage behind the house.
Why are you crying Mommy? Why are we in here Mommy?
Mommy tells the oldest sister Daddy has been very bad, and Mommy found out, and now Daddy says he will shoot us all.
The little boy thinks about what his Daddy's gun does to rabbits. He likes rabbits. He hates that gun. The little boy wanders around the dark garage until he finds a length of pipe. Then he hides again.
The police come and take Daddy's gun, then Daddy. The police open the garage and Mommy and sisters leave. Then they remember the little boy. When the cop peers into the garage, the little boy almost takes his head off with the pipe: "Whoa, little man! You ready to go to war or what?! C'mon out, it's okay now."
It wasn't okay. It would never be okay. It would be a long time before the little boy stopped haunting that garage.
He hid the pipe under his bed.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 12 by Omnivorous, posted 01-24-2006 1:33 PM Omnivorous has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 14 by Omnivorous, posted 01-24-2006 4:16 PM Omnivorous has not replied

  
Omnivorous
Member
Posts: 3978
From: Adirondackia
Joined: 07-21-2005
Member Rating: 7.3


Message 14 of 56 (281304)
01-24-2006 4:16 PM
Reply to: Message 13 by Omnivorous
01-24-2006 3:11 PM


Another Omni Battle
Omni is 17, footloose and way, way out, man. The very quiet little boy is very far inside now, covered with a decade of tough.
Omni is trucking down Talbott Ave., Naptown's answer to Haight-Ashbury. It is the Summer of Love.
The grand old Victorians and ginger-breaded craftsman houses around him are filled with hippies, yippies, bikers, addicts and revolutionaries. He's there for the drugs.
As he reachs an alley, a man lunges into the moonlight with his arm outstretched--just like Zorro, Omni has time to think, absurdly.
Omni feels the bump and sting on his chest and looks down to see a knife lodged in it; he looks up at the frightened-looking man who seems as startled as Omni, then punches him hard in the nose. The man with the broken nose gushing blood turns and runs.
Omni looks at his chest again. The switchblade is stuck in his sternum, not far in at all, just hanging there by its tip. He pulls it free, surprised at how little blood there is, hardly any pain, and looks at the knife thoughtfully. Nice knife. Lucky knife, really--just an inch to the left and... On the other hand, who knows what other mischief this knife has been up to... He slides the blade between two old bricks and snaps it off, then tosses the lot into the storm sewer.
In half an hour he will buy a half pound of weed, only to have it confiscated right outside the door by the cop working with the bent dealer. They probably sold that half pound a hundred times.
Stabbed and ripped off in one night, he'll think, and shrug. Within a few weeks his chest will look like it never happened. It's all fascinating, really, one long strange trip.
So now he's been beaten and stabbed. He has yet to be shot and burned, he has yet to kill, but Death is already starting to look like an old friend.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 13 by Omnivorous, posted 01-24-2006 3:11 PM Omnivorous has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 17 by iano, posted 01-24-2006 8:01 PM Omnivorous has replied

  
Jon
Inactive Member


Message 15 of 56 (281325)
01-24-2006 5:57 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by iano
01-23-2006 7:21 PM


My family and I arived at the Grand Canyon... and we were walking around the edge of it. I was looking down thinking "woop-tee-doo, a big hole in the ground!" Sarcastically, of course. I tried climbing to parts a wee lower here and there, but nothing significant.
And then, as I was looking over to the other sides, I saw some donkeys carying people down. I thought "if those damn donkeys can do it, then SO CAN I!" So, I walked around to a spot I thought looked like a way down. And, down I began. So then, all of a sudded, I hit a road block. There was a slanted rock, I couldn't stand on it, and the only way to continue was to try to stand on the slanted rock, and work my way over to a more flat surface. At the bottom end of the slanted rock? NOTHING!!!! Only about 1 yrd. seperated me from the edge of nothing...
I tried a couple of times... slipped each one and almost went over. I was shaking so bad. So, I gave up. I tried to get back up, but I was having trouble there. But, I tried a couple of more times and managed to work my way up.
I got to the top and was panting like a nut; the people must've thought I was insane.
In the end though... I saw a cute little squirl, which made the whole thing worth while .
Trék

In considering the Origin of Species, it is quite conceivable that a naturalist... might come to the conclusion that each species had not been independently created, but had descended, like varieties, from other species. - Charles Darwin On the Origin of Species

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by iano, posted 01-23-2006 7:21 PM iano has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 32 by Hal Jordan, posted 01-25-2006 9:57 AM Jon has not replied

  
Newer Topic | Older Topic
Jump to:


Copyright 2001-2023 by EvC Forum, All Rights Reserved

™ Version 4.2
Innovative software from Qwixotic © 2024