[Sara]

Originally Posted by Mr Tonka

This wasn't me but a friends horrible experience. It's a crazy story, so i have to tell it.

A few my friend (John) and his cousin (Chris) and his cousins friend (Dave) were 75 miles off the gulf coast free diving some large fish.

Chris was down for a little bit and John was getting in the water to begin his dive. As he did he passed Chris at about 15 ft from the surface. When John got to a depth of about 60 ft he stopped to have a look around. When he did a spear gun drifted past him. Surprised, he looked above him. To his horror he saw Chris at a depth of 40 ft or so drifting away from him quickly. He began to swim after him but there was no way he would catch him.

So thinking he was already dead and certainly would be if no one could get to him he did the only thing he could. He aimed his spear gun at his cousin and fired thinking if nothing else his family would have a body to bury. He saw that he hit Chris so he dropped his weights and spear gun and headed for the surface.

When he surfaced he yelled to Dave to start reeling in his gun that Chris was on it. Dave couldn't figure that out in his head and unfortunately he didn't start reeling in the gun until John was at the boat. Once Chris got to the surface they pulled him onboard. He was wearing a white rash guard which was immediately shades of red and pink due to him bleeding out of his eyes, ears and nose. They started doing CPR on him and trying to revive him.

Miraculously, he showed signs of life. Dave had already radioed the coastguard who dispatched a helicopter immediately. They then began headed towards the Coastguard base to meet the helicopter. He was in and out headed towards shore but never was able to speak or acknowledge anyone on the boat.

After what must have seemed like an eternity, they saw the Coastguard chopper and moved Chris to the bow of the boat. The chopper picked him up and took him to the nearest trauma center.

This kid was a victim of shallow water black out and was under water with no air other than what was in his lungs for upwards of 5 minutes before he blacked out with what couldn't have been more than 10 ft to get to the surface. After his black out he was under water for an estimated 5 to 6 minutes. Another 25 to 30 minutes before the they got him on the chopper. And as to him being speared, John's spear hit him in of his fins!

2 days later, in the hospital he was asking when he can get back into the water. He suffered no lasting effects from the accident.

holy ..............wow

So he didnt actually get pierced by the spear gun then right?

[ddk632]

Originally Posted by Sara504

holy ..............wow

So he didnt actually get pierced by the spear gun then right?

Yeah, spear story is pretty crazy, wow.

@Sara504, the spear hit the scuba fin, not his body. Talk about lucky.

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by FwdFtl

^^ Sounds like a miracle! Glad he didn't have any brain damage my goodness.

One part I don't get and may never understand, is the people that go back to the same thing that nearly killed them.

Guy gets mauled by shark and leg bitten off, goes back to ocean with one leg and get other leg bitten off!

I don't get it either. My friend John and i have a mutual friend who's brother died free diving in Abu Dhabi last year. The brother was diving around a wreck and got caught on some fishing net and drown. My buddy hung up his fins after that one.

Originally Posted by Sara504

holy ..............wow

So he didnt actually get pierced by the spear gun then right?

Originally Posted by ddk632

Yeah, spear story is pretty crazy, wow.

@Sara504, the spear hit the scuba fin, not his body. Talk about lucky.

Hard for me to call any of that luck. Blessed, lucky, etc... it was indeed.

[sasha1015]

Nothing too crazy happened to me... Thank God.

When i was 2 i slipped and fell on a glass mug and sliced my whole face open... Im 23 now and can barely see the scar

[playground]

Originally Posted by Dirty Tool

Driving to work in my Dakar E36 M3 Evo. Dont know what happened but the backend stepped out and I hit a tree at around 40mph on my drivers door. The car then caught fire.

The tree hit where the drivers door meets the front arch, if it hit a few feet back it would of hit me and I would of surely been dead. Could of been knocked un-conscious and burned alive. I walked away with a few cuts and bruises.

Now that is one hell of a story...

[pt]

A) In my senior year of high school, I had my car out of commission for a few days installing a new radio (some idiot actually stole the radio out of a '76 530i). I got the car back with new radio and was heading home after working the night shift. In "spirited" driving (over 70 MPH) on a twisty road, the head of my cigarette clipped off the console as I turned off the defroster and fell between my pointer and middle fingers. I looked down as I shook it off my hand and looked up just in time to see I was driving off the road. I managed to cut the wheel left just before hitting a tree just to the right of the hood's center line. About 70 into a tree. No seatbelt. I saw a flash and then I'm awake with the entire car caved in except for a small space above me and some smoke and steam. I had to kick the door a few times to open it. The entire passenger side of the car was practically rendered missing from the hood to the rear door. Nobody ever found the wheel. Me? About 60 stitches to the lower lip, a nervous doctor and an expensive education. Though I got lucky; if I hadn't done that kind of damage to my lip, my parents would have absolutely pounded the sh!t out of me. Song playing at time of accident: In My Time Of Dying.

B) About 16 years old, was out in the ocean surfing. Sitting on my board, I see a fin break the surface. Then another...and another and suddenly, I'm in the middle of a ton of speeding...porpoises. OK, my life wasn't really in danger, but I almost soiled myself. Does that count?

C) About a month after I quit the job I had in above point (A), the guy that took over my shift was shot dead in broad daylight in a robbery (I was pumping gas, nothing glamorous).

[Bobble]

I've done a lot of stupid things in my life, I'm older, so I've had a few ahh sheit moments but the one that stands out most was back in my senior year of high school(35+ years ago). Anyhow went to a Catholic high school in a crappy part of town, we were going to a football game and wanted to buy alcohol so we were hanging out on the side of a liquor store asking people and there's this bum that always hung out there, not really a homeless bum but just a dirt bag scam artist guy, anyhow everybody called him fat Chucky. Well he apparently had ripped off some even scummier guys and while we were asking people to buy for us a car rolled up and shot his fat azz 3 times while we were there at the other end of the alley. Could have been us but worst part was when the cops came they questioned us and of course my dad, lifer military guy hard ass, finds out and just came unglued thought I was going to die twice in one day he was so pissed about me being in that alley.

[Kwando]

Vacationing in Hong Kong I was riding a street car and hanging out the window taking pictures. As soon as I decided I got enough I ducked back inside and shortly after another street car goes whizzing past in the other direction..I don't remember how much room is between the two cars but not sure if I would've fit in between. Hopefully I'll remember that next time.

[will.c]

When I got a ride in a fully prep'd Miata around a racetrack. The guy simply did not like braking for corners

[carve]

Oh- I have a good one. When I was 12, my grandpa was going skydiving and asked if my friend and I wanted to fly up and watch everyone exit the plane, a battered old DC-3. Normally, with an open door you wear a parachute for safety, but none small enough for us were available, so we flew up without. After the exit, the pilots forgot we were back there. They turned the plane sideways, door pointed towards the ground, and stepped on the rudder to point the nose at the ground, accelerating fast. My friend and I were each holding onto window frames (which were now horizontal) with our fingertips to avoid falling out of the plane.

[ddk632]

Originally Posted by carve

Oh- I have a good one. When I was 12, my grandpa was going skydiving and asked if my friend and I wanted to fly up and watch everyone exit the plane, a battered old DC-3. Normally, with an open door you wear a parachute for safety, but none small enough for us were available, so we flew up anyway. After the exit, the pilots forgot we were back there. They turned the plane sideways, door pointed towards the ground, and stepped on the rudder to point the nose at the ground, accelerating fast. My friend and I were each holding onto window frames with our fingertips to avoid falling out of the plane.

Yep, that's a good one! The flight down after a skydiving run is the "fun" part for pilots who fly skydivers -- I've had to take a flight down before instead of jumping out due to gear issues, and the pilots always nose dive those things!

[Litos]

almost drowned in Oceanside California when i was stationed in Camp Pendleton.

got swept in the undertoe...

i was flipping and turning in 8-9ft deep water...

i remember smashing the crown of my head on the seabed...

i also remember looking up and being able to see the bright sun through the water...

came up for one breath of air, arms flailing from the thrusts of crashing waves...

went back down, continued to get tossed around like i was just a meer human in a massive body of overpowering water.

finally, after what appeared to be 30 minutes (which was probably every bit of 2 minutes) i came out of it and crawled back to my wife who was patiently sitting on a blue Cowboys towel in the beautiful SoCal sand...

immediately told her we needed to go home....

told her the story on the way home - she almost shit herself.

only time in my life that i thought i was going to die - seriously.....

[MidwestGolfBum]

Rafting down the American River probably 2002, we hit a hole (formed when water pours over the top of a submerged object, or underwater ledges, causing the surface water to flow back upstream toward the object) in the rapids and flipped the raft. Everybody was thrown out of the raft except me, who was stuck under the raft, in the hole. Apparently I passed out and when I went limp was when my body came out of the hole and one of the guys with me that day (think I still owe him the drinks I promised him that day) pulled me on to shore and I came to. Apparently 3 people had died in that same hole that year and another 23 would go on to die in that year. Never again will I go on a raft.

Seems like most people on this forum and water don't get along well.

[Uber V8]

Originally Posted by MidwestGolfBum

Rafting down the American River probably 2002, we hit a hole (formed when water pours over the top of a submerged object, or underwater ledges, causing the surface water to flow back upstream toward the object) in the rapids and flipped the raft. Everybody was thrown out of the raft except me, who was stuck under the raft, in the hole. Apparently I passed out and when I went limp was when my body came out of the hole and one of the guys with me that day (think I still owe him the drinks I promised him that day) pulled me on to shore and I came to. Apparently 3 people had died in that same hole that year and another 23 would go on to die in that year. Never again will I go on a raft.

Seems like most people on this forum and water don't get along well.

Yea really, I fukn love and hate water.

[Dirty Tool]

Originally Posted by playground

Now that is one hell of a story...

It was pretty crazy...unfortunately I closed a major road in London and I inconvenienced thousands of people including family and friends. I will never know why the back end stepped out as I was just cruising. The real kicker is I have to drive past the tree I hit twice a day! Its all burnt/black and a constant reminder.

[MediaArtist]

Originally Posted by Litos

almost drowned in Oceanside California when i was stationed in Camp Pendleton.

got swept in the undertoe...

i was flipping and turning in 8-9ft deep water...

i remember smashing the crown of my head on the seabed...

i also remember looking up and being able to see the bright sun through the water...

came up for one breath of air, arms flailing from the thrusts of crashing waves...

went back down, continued to get tossed around like i was just a meer human in a massive body of overpowering water.

finally, after what appeared to be 30 minutes (which was probably every bit of 2 minutes) i came out of it and crawled back to my wife who was patiently sitting on a blue Cowboys towel in the beautiful SoCal sand...

immediately told her we needed to go home....

told her the story on the way home - she almost shit herself.

only time in my life that i thought i was going to die - seriously.....

These SoCal beaches are no joke.

I had quite a bit of trouble at Dana Point. Same kind of situation, got caught under the waves, and even though I'm a moderately good swimmer. It took every bit of energy I had to get back to shore. My brother said the life guard was a few seconds from doing the Bay Watch run to save me.

[jaco]

Going up a hill on an ATV without a helmet (smart) then the ATV flipped on top of me. I pushed it over my head with my legs on the seat and got up.

All could have been over at 17.

[daixloxbmw]

I was maybe 16 or 17 at the time, coming out of a Halloween party when I noticed that 2 of my female friends were getting harassed by these 2 guys none of us knew. It was obvious to me that my female friends were not interested and were in distress so I go over to them to rescue them. Naturally, those 2 guys weren't too happy about it, some words were exchanged and a fight broke out. Started as a 2 on 1 but soon my other friends inside realized what was going on and came out to help. The tables quickly turned and now it was a 4 on 2 fight. Probably didn't last more than a minute or so before those 2 guys ran off.

As we regroup, I noticed that my buddy, Dave had a bit of blood trickling down from his forehead so I said to him jokingly "Haha dude, you got f*cked up!"

Background: during my teen years, my group of friends and I were certainly not new to street fights and would routinely engage in fist fights every few weeks or so. Also, Dave is just a big goofball/jokester and could never be taken seriously.

Dave looks at me with the most serious concerned look I have ever seen on him and responds "Nah, you're f*cked up..." I did not immediately understand what he meant because I thought he was just messing with me like usual. At that point, I felt something warm trickle down the back of my neck and on my belly. So I reach back to feel the back of my neck and got my hand covered in blood. My first thought was "Ewww that's f*cking gross! Who bled all over me?" I even remember joking to Dave "I better not catch AIDS from you" because I thought it was his blood on me. Then I look down and noticed the front of my light colored shirt was now also soaked in blood. I pull up my shirt and can see blood trickling down from my chest and side. At this point, I am starting to realize that the blood is mine. Shock sets in once I come to terms that I had been stabbed several times. At this point, I was standing in a puddle of blood, I get really lightheaded and breathing becomes labored and it becomes difficult to catch my breath. I recall collapsing backward into some steps and I end up sitting down. Blacked out.

I wake up momentarily and I am now lying on my back trying to gasp for air. I see someone looking down at me and I could feel that he was doing something on my belly but couldn't tell what it was. I pick up my head to get a better look and was immediately instructed to stay put. He explained to me that he had to cut open my shirt. My first thought was "No, that's an expensive shirt" (Yeah I was clearly not in the right state of mind at this point) Once the shirt was cut open, he inspected me. Now I am starting to realize that he is a paramedic and I am in an ambulance. He looks at me and says "Sir, I need to see how deep these wounds are. It should not hurt but it might feel a bit weird." I can feel him touching me on my side but I couldn't see what was going on. Didn't hurt like he said but it felt really strange. Finally, he moved from my side to my chest. I was really curious to see what he was doing so I picked up my head to look down and saw that he stuck his index finger about 1.5" into my chest. WTF!?! Blacked out again.

Woke up again and now I know I am in the hospital, getting wheeled into surgery. The doctor informs me that I have been stabbed several times and lost a significant amount of blood. I am now stabilized but they are really concerned with the a particular stab wound over my chest (just above my left nipple) because they could not tell if it had penetrated my heart. He informs me that they need to open me up for exploratory surgery to get a closer look to make sure. He explained to me that if my heart was penetrated, I could bleed out and die. We arrive at the surgery room and I gave consent to do whatever he was recommending. He placed the gas mask on me and instructed me to take 3 deep breaths on his count. He counted down and said 3", I took a single deep breath and blacked out before I heard "2".

I wake up and see beams of light shooting toward me and I was sure that I was dead. I even remember thinking "Don't go toward the light, turn around!" No matter what I did, I could not change my direction. At that point, I hear "Calm down, stop struggling". I look toward the voice and saw the nurse and she reassures me that everything went well and my heart was not penetrated. At that point, I realized I was getting wheeled through the hospital and the shooting beams of light was just the fluorescent bulbs passing overhead. Phew!

In the end, I learn of the extent of my injuries.

1.) Stabbed in the back of my neck about 1" to the left of my spine. Any closer to my spine and I would have been paralyzed from the neck down.

2.) Stabbed 3 times in my side. Collapsed my lung and filled with blood, which caused my difficult breathing.

3.) Stabbed in my chest just over my heart. Luckily, the exploratory surgery confirmed that it did not touch my heart.

4.) The exploratory surgery required to break open my breastbone to open up my rib cage to investigate the extent of the injuries.

Shortly after regaining full consciousness, I learn that 2 of my other friends were stabbed too. Ranging from minor stab wounds to collapsed lungs but nothing life threatening and we all recover fully with no lasting side effects, only scars. Still amazed that I escaped death/paralysis that night.

[ddk632]

^^

Holy f$&k!!!



Wow, this one takes the cake. Glad you guys all turned out ok.

[pgviper]

Originally Posted by daixloxbmw

In the end, I learn of the extent of my injuries.

1.) Stabbed in the back of my neck about 1" to the left of my spine. Any closer to my spine and I would have been paralyzed from the neck down.

2.) Stabbed 3 times in my side. Collapsed my lung and filled with blood, which caused my difficult breathing.

3.) Stabbed in my chest just over my heart. Luckily, the exploratory surgery confirmed that it did not touch my heart.

4.) The exploratory surgery required to break open my breastbone to open up my rib cage to investigate the extent of the injuries.

Shortly after regaining full consciousness, I learn that 2 of my other friends were stabbed too. Ranging from minor stab wounds to collapsed lungs but nothing life threatening and we all recover fully with no lasting side effects, only scars. Still amazed that I escaped death/paralysis that night.

Holy sh*t!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Isn't it crazy how once adrenaline starts pumping through your body, you literally feel nothing. It's nuts that you didn't feel anything right after the fight. Thankfully everything turned out ok. It's pretty damn scary when you get into a fight with someone you don't know because you never know what they are capable of.

The people ever get caught?

[pgviper]

Originally Posted by pt

B) About 16 years old, was out in the ocean surfing. Sitting on my board, I see a fin break the surface. Then another...and another and suddenly, I'm in the middle of a ton of speeding...porpoises. OK, my life wasn't really in danger, but I almost soiled myself. Does that count?

THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Scary as sh*t.

I don't think people realize how close to shore sharks come. I'm on long island and most people think that there aren't many sharks close to shore but in reality (my uncle does all of the shark fishing tournaments) there are tons right off the southern coast. My uncle tells me how close some of the fisherman go all the time. He actually got bit by a 197 lb mako they pulled aboard this past weekend, needed 5-6 stitches on his leg. His reponse to it "I got it back" and he sent me a pic of him next to the shark hanging upside down on the dock. Crazy thing is that he was able to see the shore when he caught the shark. Makes you think twice when you're entering their domain.

[Litos]

Originally Posted by FwdFtl

Yea really, I fukn love and hate water.

funny thing is that i grew up at the beaches here in Southeast Texas.

from the time i was 5 or 6, i was swimming in the ocean.

i'd even go waaaaaay far out to where the sand bars would collapse under your feet.

so, i had been swimming in pools and the ocean for about 15 years before the incident in Oceanside.

....and now, believe it or not, i cannot stoamch being in the ocean...

sharks, jelly fish, random fish bumping into your legs, salty water, etc - it just isn't as awesome as it was when i was a kid....

when i take my kids to the beach, i'll walk out to where i can still see my knees and i'll hold my kid's hands.....

then, we'll walk back to the shoreline and sit down HAHA !!!!