Near Death Experience

Off Topic
41

I ended up under my mates car because someone didnt give way at a small bridge. It was dark, wet, cold and I was on my bike about 20 feet behind my friend. Out of nowhere, someone who must have been doubling the speed limit didnt give way and my friend slams his brakes on, snaking with his wheels locked. At this point, my front end tucks but I manage to get off the brakes soon enough for it to stay up… after three locks, I lay it down and flatten myself on the floor and get wedged under his car.

It’s amazing how much time you seem to have when these moments happen.

I was pretty much fine apart from my helmet got stuck and burnt on his exhaust and I had to undo my lid and GTFO out of it cause all I could smell was burning and I thought his car/my bike was gonna explode in the panic.

It’s at that point, I realised all the skills/observation in the world will not stop the unexpected.

With that said, I still love bikes and still go too fast on the road - thats the thrill of it. I cant stop myself. I realise what has to be my biggest love could make me a huge mess at the expense of everyone else having to deal with my actions, but I try and keep it toned down on the road. You have to enjoy SOMETHING dangerous!

42

[quote]athomefitness wrote:
Holy Crap! In that video it looks like the guy on the motorcycle is trying to commit suicide…just slowly driving into the path of a tractor trailer.[/quote]

Nah. Look closely. He’s looking to the right for an opening in traffic, while completely oblivious to the traffic to his left (he may have looked left a bit earlier and made a mental note that it was good to go). He probably didn’t hear the truck over the hum of his bike.

43

[quote]apwsearch wrote:
Wow. A friend of ours was not so lucky. Got hit downtown while walking in a pededstrian zone crossing the street by a guy who didn’t even hit the brakes. Fortunately, she went over instead of under. Almost killed her and she will probably limp the rest of her life. Guy turned himself in the next day after he saw blood on his car and watched the news. Stated he didn’t even realize he hit her…

Two things come to mind. Falling asleep behind the wheel in the Allegeheny mountains. Woke up to the screaming of my engine (speedo was pegged) just in time to brake and swerve avoiding a 100+ mile collision with the guardrail and one hell of a drop if I would have gone over.

The other is one I will share because I think it is avoidable and was caused by my stupidity.

I had a similar experience, but I was a little bit luckier than you. I was lighting a fire at my parents’ house which had what I assumed to be a natural gas starter. I was wrong. It was liquid propane. When I struck that match I was instantly engulfed in flames. Luckily it burned off very quickly. I was left with a slight burn, missing eyelashes and eyebrows along with the hair at my hairline.

I attached a new propane tank to my grill. While tightening the nut, it cracked. I checked it with soapy water and it wasn’t leaking. Wrapped it with duct tape to tighten it up as we had people over and I was getting ready to cook and didn’t want to have to stop.

I came out to flip some potatoes that we grill in foil. Heard kind of a pop and a crazy whooshing sound.

On this grill, the tank is enclosed in a cabinet underneath. It’s kind of one of those things where your brain is telling you not to do it but your body does it before it can stop.

I opened the doors to see what the hell was going on and was fucking engulfed in flames. The crazy part about it was I saw my reflection in the glass doors and thought my whole body was on fire. This would have been a big problem because I was on a deck on the second story and my only path off was past the grill.

So, the grill is now spewing flames about 10-15 feet high. I ran inside and told the wife to get the kids out of the house and call 911 because I didn’t know if it was going to blow or not.

The whole right side of my face and head were charred. I remember thinking how fucking hot the flames were.

I ran inside and doused my head with cold water in the tub and basically rubbed all the hair on the right side of my head off. It was a singed mass and I lost my right eyebrow and eyelash, as well.

Paramedics showed up and were really concerned I had inhaled fire and scorched my lungs. They wanted to take me in but I refused.

When they left and the adrenaline wore off my nose and eye on that side were running non-stop and I was in absolute agony. Literally, I would put an ice pack on it and it would melt the ice in about 2-3 minutes and when I took it off the pain was damn near unbearable.

Told the wife if I couldn’t do something for the pain would have to go to ER. She went to Walgreens and spoke to a pharmacist who sent her home with a can of spray Lidocaine.

She sprayed the hell out of my head and it relieved the lion’s share of the pain so I was alright.

The next day I looked like I had the worst mat burn in the history of sport and I still have about a 1" long by half inch wide scar on my forehead from where the burns were the worst.

I looked like a GD leper for about 3 weeks but compared to what could have happened, it was OK.[/quote]
I had a similar experience. I was lighting a fire at my parents’ house with what I assumed to be a natural gas starter. I was wrong. It was liquid propane.

When I struck that match, I was instantly engulfed in flames. Luckily it burned off fairly quickly and I fared a little better than you. All the hair burned off my face, including eyelashes and most of my eyebrows along with the hair along my hairline. My face was red and hot for a few days, but I was very lucky to have nothing worse than 1st degree burns. Scared the crap out of me, though.

44

Almost took my hand off removing factory windows in brooklyn. First day on the job a 200+lb window started to shift on its dolly, put my hand out to stop it and wound up cutting pretty much every thing and fracturing the bone(luckly the window didnt actually fall or it would have been good by hand). Was soaked in blood when we finally got to the ER(took about 15min)

Ya know your in the shit when the door guys reaction is “oh fuck”

My employer failed to supply gauntlets so workers comp footed the bill.

45

I shot myself in the face with a high pressured paintball gun.

Not bad considering the paint and plastic clogged up my nose and in the panic I forgot to breathe through my mouth.

46

Growing up in the Bronx during the early 90’s was some dangerous shit the crime rates were through the roof and the news channels had a weekly murder count. One night during a house party in Tracy Towers a couple friends of mine got into a scuffle in the hallway over this chick. It was broken up and at the end of the night thinking that was the end of the story we went back around our way and was chilling on the corner like all upstanding teenagers do at 3am in the morning.

Next thing you know this green honda accord pulls up to where we were hanging out and a hand comes out the passenger side window with a revolver and starts shooting at us. I dove behind a car and curled up into a ball and heard a loud bursting sound above my head. And tires screeching and laughter coming from inside the car as it drove off. My ears were ringing from all the noise but I was unharmed. I checked around and my boys were cool as well(the ones that didn’t run off anyway) when I stood up I noticed the car tire that was right by my head was blown out from a bullet that just missed my head by inches.

I can’t really say It changed my life because shit like that was just status quo back then and it wasn’t the last time me or one of my friends were shot at. It was when I saw a good friend of mine get gunned down in front of my house a year later over a fucking video tape. That was when I had to re evaluate things and try not to end up a statistic.

47

I had a near-death experience back in the day when I was banging 7-gram rocks, and FINISHING them but since I have tiger blood I…oh wait, that was Charlie Sheen. Never mind.

48

[quote]ladieslove wrote:

i’d imagine he would feel pretty guilty about almost killing you [/quote]

I’ve run into the kid I was hanging with since then a couple of times. He breaks down into a crying pukey mess every time I see him, and seems bent on drinking himself to death, but that may be unrelated.

I told him that I’m OK now and that life is good, but he won’t let it go. Last time I saw him his eyes were getting yellow and he was losing weight fast.

The ironies of life, huh?

49

[quote]athomefitness wrote:
I had a similar experience. I was lighting a fire at my parents’ house with what I assumed to be a natural gas starter. I was wrong. It was liquid propane.

When I struck that match, I was instantly engulfed in flames. Luckily it burned off fairly quickly and I fared a little better than you. All the hair burned off my face, including eyelashes and most of my eyebrows along with the hair along my hairline. My face was red and hot for a few days, but I was very lucky to have nothing worse than 1st degree burns. Scared the crap out of me, though.[/quote]

Like I said, the main thing I remember is thinking how hot it was. I truly believed for a split second there my whole body was on fire…very humbling.

Propane and gasoline are 2 things to never take lightly. I had a friend burned to death in a basement prepping a tiling job. They were removing adhesive from a linoleum job on concrete and it was coming up real hard so the guy running the job decided to use gasoline on the last couple of spots that wouldn’t come up.

The water heater turned on and nuked him. The other guy was upstairs getting more so he gets to live with the whole fucked up mess.

I think he got a Darwin award. No shit. This was in the papers in Chicago.

50

Hit by a truck when the driver blew through a red light. I ended up across the intersection, landed on my neck. All the damage beyond some cuts was internal. Docs said that my non-functional bodybuilding muscle saved my life. Interesting to not having any external signs of trauma but not being able to feed myself without making a mess. Still have multiple issues that can affect everyday activities to this day.

The biggest thing to come out of it is to try and not to be judgmental of others because you never know what they have been through of what they have had to, or still, deal with.

I have been shot at four times, never hit.

51

[quote]Ben_VFR85 wrote:
I ended up under my mates car because someone didnt give way at a small bridge. It was dark, wet, cold and I was on my bike about 20 feet behind my friend. Out of nowhere, someone who must have been doubling the speed limit didnt give way and my friend slams his brakes on, snaking with his wheels locked. At this point, my front end tucks but I manage to get off the brakes soon enough for it to stay up… after three locks, I lay it down and flatten myself on the floor and get wedged under his car.

It’s amazing how much time you seem to have when these moments happen.

I was pretty much fine apart from my helmet got stuck and burnt on his exhaust and I had to undo my lid and GTFO out of it cause all I could smell was burning and I thought his car/my bike was gonna explode in the panic.

It’s at that point, I realised all the skills/observation in the world will not stop the unexpected.

With that said, I still love bikes and still go too fast on the road - thats the thrill of it. I cant stop myself. I realise what has to be my biggest love could make me a huge mess at the expense of everyone else having to deal with my actions, but I try and keep it toned down on the road. You have to enjoy SOMETHING dangerous![/quote]

off topic, do you ride a VFR? honest question not mocking your username.

52

I’ve had more than my share over the years, serious car accidents, gun shot wounds and close calls galore.

I was about 10 and at a RR crossing waiting for a train to go by. At that age it was customary to walk right behind last car on the train as it went by. Well… this time, there was a train going by the other way at speed and I was a matter of inches away from it. I could feel the heat of the cars as they went by in a blur. I could feel it pulling me in and I just threw myself back. It was gone in a flash and people were asking me if I was okay, I was a bit shook up but never told my parents about it. I took it as a lesson learned.

53

I’ve had “a few”. Every experience you have changes you in some way, some more than others. If I listed half the shit I’ve survived I know I’d just get into an e-argument because some asshole will start calling bullshit and calling me a liar, and then I’ll have to waste a bunch of time fighting on the internet, so I’m gonna pass.

Lately T-Nation has gone down hill because of that shit. I know I’m not the only one who feels this way too, several people I know here post less or hardly at all anymore because any time you try to offer something that someone might find valuable or useful, the trolls come out to play. It’s disappointing.

54

[quote]angry chicken wrote:
I’ve had “a few”. Every experience you have changes you in some way, some more than others. If I listed half the shit I’ve survived I know I’d just get into an e-argument because some asshole will start calling bullshit and calling me a liar, and then I’ll have to waste a bunch of time fighting on the internet, so I’m gonna pass.

Lately T-Nation has gone down hill because of that shit. I know I’m not the only one who feels this way too, several people I know here post less or hardly at all anymore because any time you try to offer something that someone might find valuable or useful, the trolls come out to play. It’s disappointing.[/quote]

I’ts been a long winter lol, weather will change, so will attitudes. There’s always the NFL thread, bullshit free zone. I know you like the Ravens but i’ll look past that BOOM!

55

When I was 8 we used climb trees and play tag on them (the genious of 8 year olds). One time I lost my balance, slipped, gripped the branch but it was wet and as a result of me gripping it the force turned my body parallel to floor, it was about a two story fall. When I got up I couldn’t breath for what seemed like forever (in reality it was no more than 10 seconds) but I got the wind knocked out of me when I fell so I though I was going to suffocate. Started breathing eventually and walked away with a broken back, compressed three vertebrae in the upper back, and a broken arm (not bad considering I fell on concrete).

Was hospitalized for 1 in a half months. Had to learn how to walk again, that was fun. My mother cried when I first tried to walk because I looked like I was never going to walk again never mind run, jump or lift. But I was playing tag with the kids in the hospital (one kid was running around with his IV drip attached to him while holding it, he had liver failure or something similar, he was yellow because of it) within a few weeks.

How it changed me? Due the physical therapy that I had to do and the therapists telling me that for the rest of my life I would have to exercise my upper back, I am pretty sure it played a huge role in me being into strength training.

Also residing in a hospital for 2 months I’ve literally seen it all in terms of people brought into the intensive care unit, made me pretty indifferent to injuries like broken bones or disfigured limbs or massive amounts of blood gushing from a person. Basically I tend to remain calm when others panic.

56

[quote]fighting_fires wrote:

[quote]Ben_VFR85 wrote:
I ended up under my mates car because someone didnt give way at a small bridge. It was dark, wet, cold and I was on my bike about 20 feet behind my friend. Out of nowhere, someone who must have been doubling the speed limit didnt give way and my friend slams his brakes on, snaking with his wheels locked. At this point, my front end tucks but I manage to get off the brakes soon enough for it to stay up… after three locks, I lay it down and flatten myself on the floor and get wedged under his car.

It’s amazing how much time you seem to have when these moments happen.

I was pretty much fine apart from my helmet got stuck and burnt on his exhaust and I had to undo my lid and GTFO out of it cause all I could smell was burning and I thought his car/my bike was gonna explode in the panic.

It’s at that point, I realised all the skills/observation in the world will not stop the unexpected.

With that said, I still love bikes and still go too fast on the road - thats the thrill of it. I cant stop myself. I realise what has to be my biggest love could make me a huge mess at the expense of everyone else having to deal with my actions, but I try and keep it toned down on the road. You have to enjoy SOMETHING dangerous![/quote]

off topic, do you ride a VFR? honest question not mocking your username.
[/quote]

Used to have a VFR400 [NC30]

Currently got a bandit 6 cause I was sick of having to rev the nuts off it and cause they’re so cramped. The corner speed is amazing on those bikes though.

In the process of swapping the bandit for a 600 sports - I’ll never be able to push anything over a 600 on the road so I dont see the point.

57

Sudden Cardiac Death. remember Reggie Lewis, very similar, except i woke back up. no underlying heart condition, just an electrical issue that day. collapsed in a yoga class of all places. no breathing or pulse for several minutes. they had to shock me 7 times to get my heart started again, it kept starting then failing.

i woke up from sedation on Christmas Eve in 2004 after being down several days, no brain damage (hehehe), docs still don’t know how to explain it. team of docs thought if i did awake my brain function would be very compromised/vegetative even. GF was a first yr med student at the time…fucked up her 1st yr real good :slight_smile:

after the heart recovery i needed time to mentally make sense of WHY. i was rail thin @140lbs and i thought…fuck this, i will not live a life walking on eggshells. started lifting, doing mma, bjj, and pushing to do more art, something i’d let fall into the background.

i have an icd/pacemaker now…just in case it ever happens again. i’ve gained 80lbs since then it has never happened again. the icd shocked me in an mma class, circling to the right sparring i got hit in the jaw flush, the adrenaline + the cardio had me up to about 180bpm (heartrate). the fucking device had the variables set up wrong, it double counted my t-wave and thought my heart rate was damn near 400bpm!!!

the shock it gave me (5 total) was far worse than the big overhand i was hit with! it felt like an electrical steel devil bull running down a steep hill had gored me in the chest. not fun. they’ve since adjusted the specs and i’ve been fine.

life is a crazy fucker. glad to be on this side of the grass. cheers fellas!

58

Most of mine were caused by sheer stupidity. Like when I was 15 and skipping class I crossed a street and didn’t look. Sure enough I put some dents in the hood of a Taurus.

And I did all the work on my '82 Camaro, including the exhaust. I didn’t know a damn thing about welding,but for some reason I thought I could weld the pipes together and it’d be awesome. Carbon monoxide leaked in and knocked me out and I hit a tree at 80. A lot of time and money down the drain, and more scars in one sitting than I thought possible.

Recently I flew about 60’ off of a Harley. All I’m going to say is this: Riding without the proper PPE is fucking retarded. If I hadn’t been geared up I definlty wouldn’t be here now. Funnily enough, it was the first time I actually put on all the gear.

I’ve come real close to just being done with it all once. I don’t know if that counts, but it’s there.

59

Not quite like people on here who’ve actually spent time in the hospital and whatnot, but here’s my 2 cents.

Doing 85 mph in a 1994 Camry at night on US-40 between Utah and Colorado, heading home to CO for a hunting trip, when two big-ass elk trot out onto the road about 100 feet in front of me. I step on the brake and start sliding, then at the last split second they part just enough for me to slide between them with a few inches on either side. Took about 15 minutes for my heart to calm down, and I definitely am a much more careful driver at night now.

During that same hunting trip, my cousin (he’s like a best friend to me) and I were joy riding on ATVs. We’re cruising down this winding trail along the top of a ~150 foot cliff. My cousin was riding in front of me and got going a little too fast and didn’t quite make an unexpected sharp turn. As he goes flying off the trail, there’s not much between him and the cliff about 10 feet off the trail, because this is an area where there’s a lot of scrub but not many trees. Luckily, his ATV somehow got snagged in a big gnarly bush and it stopped him from sailing off the edge, with me watching from 30 feet behind.

60

Wow… some of these stories are mind blowing, seriously makes you think.

SkyzykS … since you brought it up, what are your thoughts on charlie sheen? serious. Just another star gone off the deep end or do you think he may be somewhat on to something?