Have you ever been close to death?

Dauphin · 09-11-2007, 09:33 AM

A while ago we had a "Most stupidest thing you've ever done" thread but I'm wondering if anyone might want to share some stories about how they came close to death and lived to tell the tale.

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For me, I was 11 and my father took me down to the Yarra River for a scenic helicopter flight over Melbourne one Sunday in a little Kawasaki KH-4. We had just taken off and were high up over St Kilda Rd when it all went crazy and we autorotated (glided) down into the city Alexander Gardens amongst picnickers.

The media and police came and we were picked up by the company's car and driven home and given a refund.

I found the official CASA accident report and it started that it was transmission failure but I tracked down the pilot last year, who now flies Chinooks in PNG, and he told me all about it. It was a rare, massive wind gust that shoved us up and caused the rotor disc to lose its ability, causing us to sink and become inverted, literally falling out of the sky.

After hearing this, I now remember seeing the Yarra River out the TOP of the helicopter's windows, and so does he. I remember having a vision of fire engines attending the scene of our crash somewhere in the city.

The pilot managed to regain control and glide us in, narrowly missing some raised light wiring set up for Moomba. He said we were twice lucky that day, once with the recovery from the aircraft out of control, and two as we glided in with no power and he almost didn't see the wires.

CASA didn't take the pilot's report of weather phenomena seriously and he feared for his reputation so he let it go.

Despite this, I still love choppers and aircraft in general.

I'd like to read other people's stories...

Duke · 09-11-2007, 09:48 AM

I feel like every time I go up in a plane I'm close to death - I hate those things! How the hell does that new enormous jumbo stay in the air, it's as big a building.

Apart from that, no near death experiences but yours was interesting to read.

King Nothing · 09-11-2007, 09:53 AM

A few years ago we had taken our boat out to sea, nothing out of the ordinary. At the time we had a 19 foot tri-hull fishing boat, weighed about 2 tonnes.

We had been fishing out wide for years without any problems and knew what we were doing (still go regularly with the new boat). It was me, my dad and my brother, I was about 15-16 at the time.

We were about 15km out to sea and Dad was driving. He noticed that there was water starting to bubble up through the front kill tank. The tanks are all plumbed to the bilge, so Dad asked me to open up the bilge and have a look. Damn thing was FULL of water. Dad got me to start bailing, 9 buckets and it didn't make a difference, the water was still slowly rising.

The water had raised above the level of the front kill tank and started to flow down the deck. At this moment, Dad realised he had made a very stupid mistake.

When we prepare the boat in the mornings at the ramp, one thing that needs to be done is to put the bungs in place. They are just screw in plugs that allow you to drain the bilge when the boat is out of the water. I had done them up that morning, but Dad wanted to drain it a bit more. So without telling us, he undid the bungs when the boat was on the slope of the ramp and let it drain more. He then forgot to do them back up, and my brother and I had no idea.

We were out Marlin fishing, moving at about 2 knots. This allowed the water to slowly get in, but not at such a great rate as we were moving along. So we were out on the water, slowly sinking for about 5 hours! It was when we pulled up that the water really started gushing in.

Dad, after coming to the realisation that we were 15km out to sea and sinking, told us to bring in the lines and gunned the engine. The boat, really struggling due to the extra weight of the water, slowly managed to get up onto the plane (where the boat sits at an angle to the water). When we got there, the water started to drain out and we started making more and more speed.

Through some miracle we made it back to the boat ramp and managed to get it back onto the trailer. The water drained out of the hull for almost an hour.

From then on I loved that boat, it got us home through a hell of a lot. I still miss it!

Powdered Toast Man · 09-11-2007, 10:05 AM

Nearly drown as a little kid. Was at the beach in the water walking out and there must have been a shelf and I stepped off it. I couldn't swim so under I went. I remember seeing all the bubbles and stuff under the water and then the next thing I remember is my cousin and brother carrying me above their heads to the beach.

I'm still not a big fan of the beach to this day, although I can swim now (not very well but enough to get out of trouble).

AU2PWR · 09-11-2007, 10:24 AM

i was in teh back seat of my mums car and there was a truck that ran over our old HQ , I was trapped for a while ///

fmc351 · 09-11-2007, 11:21 AM

I had Maccas once.

james22 · 09-11-2007, 11:23 AM

I was riding around my grandmothers property when I was about 16 with a mate.

That morning we walked out to the bikes like usual, I picked my helmet up off the ground, as it had fallen off the handlebars sometime during the night, and put it on.

30mins later, I was getting this real bad stinging feeling on my right ear. So I pulled up, and took my helmet off to have a look. Couldn't see anything, so I kept riding.

20 mins after that, the stinging was getting real bad, and I was getting a headache, so i pulled up at the farmhouse, and had another look in my helmet. It felt like my mate had put a stinging nettle in my helmet, but I still couldn't bloody see anything in it.

I layed down for another 15mins, as at this point, I was starting to feel very ill, and my head was burning like fire. I got the shits and said it. Something has GOTTA be in that helmet. I walked outside, and proceeded to pull all the padding out of the helmet, and look what I find.

A redback hiding behind the padding in my helmet. The little bastard must have made a nest when my helmet fell off the bike the night before. (so what did i do??? I panicked, and ran 500m to the silo where my uncle and nan were, making things worse) So all up, it took me a little over an hour to figure out I had been bitten. By this point, I was very ill, and to make matters worse, we were on a farm in between forbes and grenfell, approx 40mins to the nearest hospital. By the time we arrived, I was on the border of unconscious . 3 days in intesive care later, I was alright, but I"ll never forget the sheer panic I felt when I first seen the bastard

aye you · 09-11-2007, 11:25 AM

walking out across a road when i wasn about 12 and having some jerk come flying around a blind corner, drifting. woud have cleaned my up to if he hadn't of plowed into a truck first, came to rest about 2 meters from me.

Pinkbits · 09-11-2007, 12:49 PM

Working at Mooroolbark railway station in 1982 operating the signal box, all of 19.
Was assaulted, bashed and stabbed by a group of youths that tried to rob the ticket office. I could'nt give them the keys quick enough as i had a habit of keeping them on my index finger whilst out of the office, hence them being impatient.
Spent 2 days in intensive care at Box Hill hospital as the knife had punctured my lung and came very close to my heart.

And some Karma to finish. The older brother of the main offender gave him up due to him being such a coward. The others? Lets just say, due to local knowledge and contacts the score was settled and the scales were tipped heavily in my favour.

BENT_8 · 09-11-2007, 01:19 PM

Had knee surgery two weeks before the 03 footy GF, was sitting all day watching the pre game and the Brissy Colingwood clash when i started feeling sick.
It felt like i had a bit of wind trapped so i just ignored it for hours, went to bed but couldn't lay down flat and so sat up all night.
Early hours of the next morning i woke my wife and asked her to take me to hospital as i couldn't breath properly.
Doctor took one look at my knee and said i had a blood clot (Pulmonary Embolus) lodged in my right lung as a result of the knee surgery.
he said i was damn lucky as it can either lodge in your lung or in your brain which is usually fatal.
i was airlifted to the Royal Adelaide and pumped full of Morpheine for the pain but it was so bad i eventually passed out.
Was the worst day of my life as i believed i was going to die and had to say goodbye to my mum, fiance and kids, very emotional.
I was so relieved when i came too 3hrs later and as soon as i knew i was alive i asked my then fiance to marry me and we did 3mths later.

Chamelion · 09-11-2007, 01:28 PM

Jesus mate, emotional would be a massive understatement.

Quasi · 09-11-2007, 02:02 PM

Jacking up an FMX in my 1976 LTD, to flat tow her to my new house, when the thing gave way, and dropped on my head.

I had already had what you would term 'A Bad Day', as I'd had to put down my Bull Terrier x Blue Healer that morning, and wasn't thinking very clearly. I had already removed the engine (for other reasons), and instead of standing in the empty engine bay, I was laid under the engine crossmember, to jack up the auto. A bottle jack was all that was needed, as I was only lifting it far enough to tie it off around the bonnet hinges for the flat tow (bonnet was off).

Whilst jacking up the auto I got to thinking about my dog and went too far, actually lifting the front half of this 2 tonne beast off the car stands. As there were no front wheels fitted I chocked up the front end with bricks, but the jack went sideways and so did the car. I saw it all shift, and with a yell of "F-*-*-*!" I pushed backwards toward the front of the car.

Alas, I was quick enough to not get the crossmember across my neck, avoiding a permanent set of wheels under me, but when the car came down it landed on the back of my head, pushing my face into the cement floor.

I couldn't breath, could only see red out of one eye, and knew I was starting to drown in my own blood.

It was one of those moments you see on some crappy american TV semi-reality show, but I put my shoulders under the cross member, and lifted the car off me enough to turn my head to one side.

My step-father was with me, and being a country boy thought quick, whilst a mate ran around like Henny Penny. My step-father pulled a brick and a pine log out of the garden and levered the car off my shoulders (yes I was still holding it up), and I wriggled out backwards.

When I stood up I looked at my step-father and said "S-*-*-* mate, I think I've broken my nose". He pulled his flannelette shirt off and whilst turning his head away, passed me the shirt to put on my face and wipe of the blood.

Now, I figure it must have been bad if a builder from Taree couldn't bare to look at me.

Turned out that in fact I had broken my jaw at both ends, shattered both cheek bones cracked my skull in a couple of places, and pretty much wiped my nose off my face. There was blood everywhere....that dark red pulpy stuff, so I knew it was serious.

They operated the next morning, and the mood post-op was quiet to say the least. For some reason nobody has ever spoken to me about the operation itself, just that I healed so quick I was released 4 days later, straight after the stitches were removed.

Mind you I had a metal brace drilled into my skull for 6 weeks, or something (my mates kept wanting it as the whole setup looked like chrome accelerator linkages).

That's the closest I've come, and ever want to.

digitalpunk · 09-11-2007, 02:06 PM

I had a stroke back in '94, I was 13 and will never forget it. I was just at home on a normal Friday night when I began feeling weak all over and had a strange feeling of pins & needles in my left side. At the same time I had a huge headache, stomach pains, felt hungry, thirsty, had a high fever and extremely tired. I went to get up to get a drink of water when I realised by this time my left side was completely numb. I called out to my parents who instantly called 000. The ambulance took forever to get to our place and by the time I got to the hospital I was apparantly dead, they called my Dad in to the room and he says I was about to be read my last rites. I don't remember much from getting out of the ambulance. The next few days were like a dream, I was drugged up constantly.

Luckily I made a full recovery (apart from slight numbess in my fingertips and toes) and I don't have the full functions on my left side. But it makes me appreciate life so much more now just realising not only how close I came to dying, but how close I came to never having feeling in my left side.

Dazza XLT · 09-11-2007, 02:19 PM

Almost drowned when I was 4.
Was at The David Motel in Rockhampton CQ with my Mum and Sister having a swim.
I dived in, undies and all.
Could barely swim, and started to struggle straight away.
Mum dove in, fully clothed and grabbed me out. Coughed up water for a while, other than that I was ok.

Cheers

Darran

Quasi · 09-11-2007, 02:39 PM

I think, above all else, that it's the psychological scars that take the longest.

After my 'little mishap' I had to use a walking stick for a couple of months, as my balance was crap. I had that happen in 1989, and up until then I was working with my step-father in the building industry, and doing demolition and maintenance. I would quite happily walk around the outside of multi story office blocks with no safety equipment, yet even now climbing an outside starwell, or scaffold above 2 storys high is an experience.

It's the same with drowning, and it can stay with you for many years in some cases. I know I would relive what happened to me night after night in my dreams, and had a lot of sleepless nights.

loxxr6 · 09-11-2007, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Powdered Toast Man

Nearly drown as a little kid. Was at the beach in the water walking out and there must have been a shelf and I stepped off it. I couldn't swim so under I went. I remember seeing all the bubbles and stuff under the water and then the next thing I remember is my cousin and brother carrying me above their heads to the beach.

I'm still not a big fan of the beach to this day, although I can swim now (not very well but enough to get out of trouble).

I had exactly the same thing happen. I couldn't swim properly and luckily kicked around enough until i made my way back to some footing.

Another time I was in a car (HG Kingswood) with some mates on the Hume Highway near Casula on the way to Liverpool. It was raining and all of a sudden the car starts spinning and heading towards the oncoming traffic. The car does a couple of 360's and then the wheels dig into the medium strip bit and lock the car in place just as 3 other lanes of traffic start passing. While it happened I was laughing big time but when we pulled over to get out my legs wouldn't move. I think the realisation of what could have happened kicked in and scared the crap out of me lol.

jcxr · 09-11-2007, 02:50 PM

Ive met Sourbastard!!!!!

DJL351 · 09-11-2007, 02:50 PM

Felt crook for a couple of days.... headache, sore all over, felt like chucking every 10 minutes.
Just thought it was a cold/flu and continued on as normally as I could.

Finally got to the point, after taking to loads of rubbish to the tip for the olds, I just could keep going.
Went home, and passed out on the bed.
Old lady came in to check on me, and I was hot enough to boil an egg.
She woke me and I couldn't move. My body had just stiffened up completely.
They rushed me to the Local Hospital where it was found I had Viral Meningitis.
Spent a couple of days in Freo Hospital, the first night, they didn't expect me to make it.... and if the old lady had let me "sleep"..... well I wouldn't be here annoying you lot.

DJL351 · 09-11-2007, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fmc351

I had Maccas once.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcxr

Ive met Sourbarsted!!!!

These two are leading for sure. lol

[Tonko] · 09-11-2007, 03:19 PM

Mine happened when i was about 10 i think...
Riding my bike to my Nonna's house, (literally the street behind ours) on a Sunday arvo, and these 2 kids (about 16-7) stopped me, and they had a picket or something in their hands aswell...
so they chatted for a little while and told me to get off my bike because they wanted it, and when i tried to take off, i got hit in the back and fell off, and the heroes that they were, beat the crap out of me and left me there.
My Nonno found me about 1hr later, unconscious.
I spent 9 days in hospital, about 6 months in re-hab because i got kicked in the head and back..
No-one was prosecuted because they boys were underage.
My Nonno's friends were calling for their blood, and i still get support to this day from them. Massive respect for them.
But i never forgot their faces, after all that... 3 years ago i found out who they were, and now they know who i am....
That happened 10 years ago, and i remember every single second of it, thats why i never go anywhere alone in public....

fatxagt · 09-11-2007, 04:33 PM

As a youngster i fell off my bike quite harmlesly( as you do). Thought little of it. About 6 hours later i was in much pain. Mumsy took me to emergency by the time i had turned white. Turns out my rib was broken and had gone through my liver. 7 hours of internal bleeding took me a bit close for comfort. Got a nice scar to remember that day.
Good Times

bowsaw · 09-11-2007, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fmc351

I had Maccas once.

ROFL, luv it. Nearly drowned once, and everytime I am in a burning building, a burning car etc, thats half the thrill, and i do it for free, ah adrenaline rush.

sfr rob · 09-11-2007, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcxr

Ive met Sourbastard!!!!!

LOL!!!!!! most end up in the boot and don't get to share their stories, thanks for coming forward.

jameslinton50 · 09-11-2007, 06:43 PM

lol................................

Beetus · 09-11-2007, 06:45 PM

I ran out onto a heavy duty rifle rang when i was 4 and got shot in the foot...... also had appendacitus, parents were 400km away, was waiting for them to get back, were expected back at 2pm, but didnt make it back till 5pm becuase they stopped for a sleep, rushed into surgery and my appendix had a pulse but they also couldnt find it, 10 mins from exploding they said because they couldnt find it, if it had exploded i would of been dead because they wouldnt of been able to clean me out.......

StealthAu · 09-11-2007, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by james22

I was riding around my grandmothers property when I was about 16 with a mate.

That morning we walked out to the bikes like usual, I picked my helmet up off the ground, as it had fallen off the handlebars sometime during the night, and put it on.

30mins later, I was getting this real bad stinging feeling on my right ear. So I pulled up, and took my helmet off to have a look. Couldn't see anything, so I kept riding.

20 mins after that, the stinging was getting real bad, and I was getting a headache, so i pulled up at the farmhouse, and had another look in my helmet. It felt like my mate had put a stinging nettle in my helmet, but I still couldn't bloody see anything in it.

I layed down for another 15mins, as at this point, I was starting to feel very ill, and my head was burning like fire. I got the shits and said it. Something has GOTTA be in that helmet. I walked outside, and proceeded to pull all the padding out of the helmet, and look what I find.

A redback hiding behind the padding in my helmet. The little bastard must have made a nest when my helmet fell off the bike the night before. (so what did i do??? I panicked, and ran 500m to the silo where my uncle and nan were, making things worse) So all up, it took me a little over an hour to figure out I had been bitten. By this point, I was very ill, and to make matters worse, we were on a farm in between forbes and grenfell, approx 40mins to the nearest hospital. By the time we arrived, I was on the border of unconscious . 3 days in intesive care later, I was alright, but I"ll never forget the sheer panic I felt when I first seen the bastard

On Australia day I got bitten by a red back on the back of my neck, at the time my logic was - considering how messed up I was the venom from 1 spider had no chance of effecting me. So I put some ice on it and kept drinking.

Creampuff · 09-11-2007, 10:03 PM

Been bitten twice by Red-back....kept me off my legs for 4 days!!
Scariest story...Swollen river in Queenstown, white water rafting, thrown out on first of 5 mini waterfalls, 2degree water, missing for 25 minutes in river, smashed my thigh and couldn't walk or drive for 3 days....true story.

normxb · 10-11-2007, 06:42 AM

fmc351, now that is scarry !

Other than that my heart has "stopped "twice , bit of a worry.

Norm

scoupedy · 10-11-2007, 09:56 AM

Had an old guy run a stop sign in a 100kmph zone, the triton duelcab ute (work car) i was driving did an end for end flip over the old guys car and then spun down the road on the roof i got out ok but the passenger side roof was wrapped over the seat if it had been the drivers side i would have been rooted....other than that many near drownings due to surfing

Bent8 · 10-11-2007, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fmc351

I had Maccas once.

That's nothing...I've had KFC

But seriously I was riding my mountain bike on some dunes when I was 18...so I decided to go down this really really steep part (about 40m downhill) and as I'm heading down the dune, I can feel the rear wheel lifting off the sand!!!...

That was a very scary few seconds for me, I though okay any moment now my bike's gonna tip *** over end and I'll probably end up with a broken neck or something...

Anyways, all this talk of fast food is making me hungry, time for some HJ's I think...if you don't hear from me again, you'll know why