HAVE YOU FACED DEATH
 

Pr Capone's thread got me thinking.

How many have faced death or the possibility of dying.(by this I mean certain death without immediate medical attention)

1) Did it change your life


2) If it was due to risky behavior, do you still engage in said behavior.


3) Do you ever wish that you had died.

4) Did it change your beliefs (good question Laz, Yes I meant religious beliefs and or societal belief)


Curiously

Ang

No, but I've seen Davis, Al on TV.

Ive been a Chiefs/Royals/Mizzou fan for 45 years. I have faced death on a yearly basis.

On Sept. 9, 1996 I fell asleep at the wheel driving home from KC. My 1984 Pontiac Fiero ran straight into one of those huge electrical arrow signs (as the lane was narrowed to one lane with construction) ... I woke up going sideways in the median/ditch at 60 MPH. My seatbelt saved my life, or I'd have died.

PS Those arrow signs cost $5,000. Luckily I didn't have to pay for it.

There's been a couple "incidents", although I have no idea how close to death I really was.

1) Did it change your life No

2) If it was due to risky behavior, do you still engage in said behavior. It wasn't

3) Do you ever wish that you had died. No, that's kind of a strange question

4) Did it change your beliefs No

Close enough.

I had an engine failure on a Piper Lance north of Clarendon, Tx at about 1 a.m. in the morning after flying back from Florida. I landed about ten foot onto the end of the runway.
I got nervous but did what it took to get her down.

The next morning we took the cowling off to see why the engine blew. It had a silver dollar size hole blown out of the side of the engine block. That is when I found out how close I came to dying.

Yes, it did change my perspective on life a little bit.

I haven't faced certain death before, but I've been kinda close.

I was mowing with a three section flexible mower behind a tractor on top of a dyke once. The weeds were tall and I couldn't tell that there was a ginormous dropoff there and the tractor would have rolled if one of the sections didn't catch on the dyke as it was going over. It stopped at less than a 45 degree angle. Pretty shitscared after that one.

Another time we were putting up wallboard on the ceiling of our shop and we were using the scoop of the loader on the tractor as a scaffolding, and one of the hydrolic hoses ruptured (first time anyone had ever seen that). Anyway, I went careening down onto the hood of the tractor with the loader coming down on me. It was happening in super slowmotion to me, so I managed to hear dad say, "Get off, Jeff" and rolled off. That would have been a bad deal.

The last time was when I was driving my parent's suburban back from town. (Mom needed one damn egg) I was turning off the highway onto the country road and stopped and waited for a car to pass. There was a car behind me that was slowing down because I was stopped. The semi behind him didnt realize there was a car coming and tried to pass. The car I was waiting on had to take the ditch, and when I started to turn, the truck obliterated the suburban. It hit the back 1/2 of the car, and spun my ass around. If it hits the middle or front of the car, I'm a goner.

1.) Change my life? Probably not much. I get a little antsy when I'm driving the tractor on a slope, but not too much. In each case I did recognize how close I was to harm or death and thank God regularly for it.

2.) Risky behavior? Depends on if you call farm work and driving risky. I still mow for my dad sometimes. The next week, I got back on that tractor to finish the roof. I was in prepare to JUMP position most of the time, but i got back up there.

3.) Wish I had died? NO.

4.) Change my beliefs? No.

How many have faced death or the possibility of dying.(by this I mean certain death without immediate medical attention) yes, couple of times

1) Did it change your life - absolutely


2) If it was due to risky behavior, do you still engage in said behavior. - no


3) Do you ever wish that you had died. - yes

4) Did it change your beliefs - what kind of beliefs?

religious - no other - don't know

In a way, yes.

One day a buddy called me and said he needed me to bring an extra tire i had that fit his car. As he had flat tire on the freeway (35 going through downtown KC area.)

So i get there. Barely any room for the car off the freeway. And the flat tire was on the front drivers side, facing the very busy of rush hours.

So we jack up the car and change the tire it must have been record time i have ever done that with cars wizzing by, you could feel your clothes rustle as the cars were inchs..maybe a couple feet away.

i was kept praying through it, saying "god. don't let anything happen..please..please.

Let's see . . .
Dec '96, passenger in 4X4 which rolled on my side. Looked bad (lost a lot of blood), but in truth appearances were much worse than actual injuries.

9 days later, head on collision with a drunk driver. Both vehicles were totalled. Walked away from accident without even a scratch, although the drunken fools were seriously injured.

3 months later contracted a bad case of malaria. Once I went to the doctor he told me I'd be dead in 24 hours if the medication he gave me didn't work. He was upset that I had waited so long before I went to see him. Fortunately the medication worked.

I prayed for death during my bout with malaria. That was much worse than the dengue fever I had a year later.

Needless to say, that was a rough 4 months!

Once, definitely... a second time, maybe.

The first time - Nov. 2, 1995. It was a misty morning on my mother's birthday, senior year in high school. I was headed to class around 7:30, not running late, and surprisingly, not speeding. Doing about 45 behind a guy in a 55 mph.

There was this spot on the way into town where you could see for a mile. I pulled out to pass the guy - got next to him and someone made a false start out of an intersection (it was an unmarked intersection). Scared me... I jerked the wheel to the right, then immediately realized the guy I was passing was still there... pulled back to the left and went into a ditch. I managed to pull the car back onto the road, but once back on the road, the car started hydroplaning sideways down the highway. At some point, my front wheels caught traction and the car went nose first into a 6-foot-deep ditch. Flipped the car end over end. On the second go round, my front left fender clipped the ground and the car rolled twice more.

I walked away with a small piece of glass in my head, a bruise on my chest and a few minor scratches. I had pieces of my car 100 yards away. Looking at the scene, my dad said he was afraid I was dead, even though he spoke with me on the phone just after the crash.




A second time... I was covering a story at Whiteman Air Force Base. I wasn't allowed on base, so I parked my car across Highway 23. Just as I got to the other side of the road, I heard what could only be described as an explosion. I turned around in time for a 4-wheeler ATV literally flew in front of my face.

The security guard on duty said a head-on collision occurred about 50 feet in front of me. A truck was involved, carrying the ATV, which was catapulted my way.

The only reason I count this as a close call is because I'm not certain how close the ATV came to hitting me, but I felt the wind it created against my face. The guard estimated within two feet.

Dec. 15 2006. Died. Went to work that morning feeling a little tired, about noon started having trouble drawing a deep breath. In fact my chest felt like it was burning every time I tried to draw a deep breath. Had been tiling a kitchen floor for a buddy the night before so I just thought that maybe I had breathed in too much tile dust and was paying for it, never thought it was much much more seious than that. Long story short one of the guys later told me that my lips were turning color and I was extremely pale and told the owner of the dealership I needed to go to the hospital. I remember him coming in to my office and immediately had someone put me in a car and take me to the hospital. I didnt want to go.. just wanted to catch my breath.... anyway... we get to the hospital and literally ten seconds after I went in the emergency room, I fell on the floor. Dead. 100% blockage in a major artery and a couple others that were partially blocked. Doctor later told my family that I had been clinically dead for a little over two minutes... they broke three ribs and knocked out my front teeth during resucitation, and had burn marks all over my chest where they used the paddles.... told my wife that I had flatlined seven times while trying to revive me... had to life flight me to a hospital 70 miles away and told my wife and kids that I probably wouldnt make it ... anyway.... here I am.... I thank God every day that he put the people in the places he put them and that I was taken out of the decision process because I know I would not have voluntarily gone to the hospital.

yes it changed my life and how I view things
yes it brought me closer to God.

That's 2 feet closer then pr_capones near death he had the other day. :eek:

Seriously though i think we have angels watching out for us from time to time.

Catastrophic auto accident. I compound fractured my right femur, shattered my kneecap, tore all 4 ligaments, fractured my right tibia (shin), fractured my right humeros (upper arm), shattered my left wrist, fractured my pelvis in 3 places, and lacerated my kidney and liver.

I spent 2 years of my life learning how to walk again and during my physical therapy I would pray for death in my sleep because I was afraid of the horror that awaited when I woke.

I'm a much better person, friend, and family member now than I was before.

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