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“What Moment Made You Say ‘Yep, I’m Definitely Dead’, But Survived With No Major Injuries?” (30 Answers)
Article created by: Indrė Lukošiūtė
"All I remember is looking at the ground and waiting to die..." Those were the harrowing words of one person who firmly believed they were in their final moments of life. But miraculously, they survived.
For many who have had a brush with death, the experience isn't easily forgotten. Some are haunted by the "what ifs," while others are reborn with a new sense of purpose and a fresh lease on life.
When a netizen asked, "What moment made you say, Yep, I’m definitely dead' but survived with no major injuries?" a surprising number of people had stories to share. No less than 24,000 comments came pouring in. From near-drownings, to fires, choking, horrific accidents and other terrifying experiences, these survivors recalled the seconds they were convinced they'd soon be taking their last breath. And the relief of realizing they'd been spared a second chance.
Whether they survived with the help of others, their own quick thinking, or pure miraculous intervention, these tales are reminders of how fragile life can be. And how things can change in the blink of an eye.
Bored Panda has put together the best responses for you to scroll through as you reflect on your own years gone by. May they motivate you to live life to the fullest because you really never know when your last day will be... We also share some expert survival tips and you'll find those between the images.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Warning- this is a very scary story, esp for parents, but has a happy ending. Many details fuzzy, inconsistencies, misused terms o plenty I’m sure.
When my wife was 14 she was riding in a car with four other kids. Nobody was wearing seatbelts, because, early 1980’s. They T-boned someone going very fast. My wife went through the windshield (head, neck) and then went back into the car (whiplash I guess). The damage to her face and neck happened on the way back in. She got the worst of the damage.
After the EMT’s saw her, they told the LifeFlight (helicopter) not to bother flying her to the ER based on her condition. She was driven to the ER as she barely clinging onto life. Her mom (my MIL) told me that when she was in the waiting room of the ER a nice lady sat and talked with her for quite a while. She was very nice/pleasant and was trying to calm my MIL down. My MIL later figured out this was the person who would be giving her the news that her daughter (my wife) didn’t make it. That part of the story hit me the hardest. My wife was in an induced coma for a long time, required a ton of blood, and had a long recovery process.
Because I’m speaking of her in present tense, you know how the story ended. Mild neck/face scarring was the most notable remnant of the accident. The only signs of brain damage is suspected based on her choice of husband.
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#2
I ate one of those Brach’s oval shaped hard candies (think they were called Sparklettes) at home alone when I was 6. Got stuck in my throat. I stood there in shock for a few seconds as I started to realize I couldn’t breathe. I ran crazily around the room and ended up colliding hard into the back of the couch which caused the candy to go flying out. Best accidental Heimlich ever.
#3
Wife was pregnant and we went away for the weekend to house we rented in the mountains. Second day she went to bed early and I stayed up drawing. At 3am she comes downstairs and says she’s in a world of pain and is worried about baby (2 months before due date).
We head out and there is no cell reception. By the time we can call her doctor we realize the time needed to get to a hospital that has the right level NICU we might as well head back to our hospital. Two hours later we are there and due to Covid restrictions I can’t come in.
It was freezing outside and they wouldn’t let me be anywhere in the hospital where I could lay down so I talked my way into some room in the lobby and tried to sleep while sitting. Got kicked out of there and just bummed around waiting for an update. Around noon they say they’ll be keeping her for observation but I still need to clear out from the rental.
Driving back two hours and it starts snowing pretty hard. It’s a semi rural area and if they do plow the snow they haven’t gotten there yet. I’m being careful and fighting off sleep. The roads are super winding and high in the mountains. At some point car starts drifting across the double lines.
I did my best to even out but it completely got away from me. Slide through the opposite lane and continue to the shoulder. I see the ledge and realize if the car doesn’t stop I’ll plummet to my death. Have a brief moment where I think about my daughter and the kid in my wife’s belly I haven’t met yet. Felt like a stab in my heart and that second go off the road completely.
Fortunately there was enough snow in the space between the ledge to trap my car. I passed out in the crash but luckily a couple was a minute or two behind me and their honking snapped me out of it. They pulled me out of the car and went to get help (no service on the mountain). A couple of other people stopped including a guy who had a big pickup. We dug the car out some and rigged the rope so he was able to pull me out.
Despite Covid I had to be physically removed from both these guys because I was hugging them so tight. I was able to make it back to the hospital without anyone knowing. Told them after the kid was born. Sent my guardian angels pictures and $100 gift cards as if that’s adequate.
#4
I was at the end of a 2 hour journey about 10 mins from home, pretty rural and I was probably complacent because I took that road everyday. I took a bend at 40MPH (legal limit was 60MPH so wasn’t breaking any speeding rules) which I’ve done many times before, probably faster which looking back was really reckless.
Didn’t see until it was too late that a car had spun out on the other side of the corner and another car had pulled up to help. I slammed on but I wasn’t going to stop in time before hitting the cars pulled up/crashed. I was hurtling straight towards the other cars and people who where stood in the road from the other crash. It was like time slowed down and I was at a cross roads; in my mind I had three choices. Continue on my path and hit the other cars and people, veer to the right and go into a field but there was oncoming traffic and there was a chance I’d hit them or veer to the left and fly into a wooded area. I chose the last option, and in that moment I knew the chances of me surviving or not being seriously injured after a 40MPH head on collision to a tree in a 10 year old Ford KA was pretty slim. I just felt a complete peace come over me, turned the wheel and woke up slumped over the steering wheel to some poor man shouting ‘OMG I THINK SHES DEAD’
Turned out I passed out from shock or something before the impact so when I hit the tree I was completely floppy and this contributed to me having no serious injuries. The front of my car was completely disintegrated, after coming to I tried to put my clutch down to take the car out of gear out of habit and my foot hit the tree trunk. The tree was absolutely fine. I drove past that tree everyday for years after and you could see the chunk my car took out of it.
#5
I was pregnant and got meningitis. At work I fell ill and they sent me home because apparently I looked grey. That night my head felt like it was going to explode to the point. I started slamming my head against the wall to relieve it. My husband was absolutely terrified and wanted to call an ambulance but I refused thinking it was a bad headache.
Fast forward to things getting worse and to being taken to the hospital and them saying it's probably a migraine. I have migraines and this was no migraine. A quick witted nurse saw how confused I was (couldn't remember my birthday or our sons bday or even how to sign my name) and she took my temp and did a urine test. As she's taking my temp she goes whoa whoa have you taken your temp before? Your temp is 104! Suddenly all these alarms go off and I can't move. My body felt like I was locked up in a giant cramp-I was having a fever induced seizure but was conscious for the 1st bit. I saw just a storm of drs and nurses and equipment rushing in the assessment room, I thought omg my husband is going to get a call that im gone or a vegetable and my son won't have his mother and this kid in me won't know life.
Then nothingness. Lucky for me they just covered me in ice to bring down my temp that stopped the seizure. They took me to ICU and sent me for an MRI and all I remember is them telling me they may have to put me in a coma and do I want my life to take priority over the life of the baby. Sitting in that icu room in total isolation (they didn't know if it was bacterial or viral for a day or two so no one could visit) I had alot to think about and really had to come to terms that I may not make it out of this and my baby may not either. You have to make your peace and stop fearing death and kinda get to work. I wrote letters to loved ones thanks to a very brave and kind nurses help. Happy to report it ended up being viral meningitis. I fought hard and both myself and now my perfectly healthy 3 yo son are doing great. Still have the letters in my safe and hope I never need them handed out. It was a long road to recovery but I've never taken my health or life for granted again.
#6
Boyfriend finally woke me up shortly after we had fallen asleep in a small upstairs bedroom that had a smouldering fire. After we collapsed on the floor and couldn't find the door that was not even five feet away, we kept hitting walls and corners and started to not comprehend anything.
After feeling like I was baking in an oven I laid my head down on the floor thinking I'd never see my son again and how sad it was to die. It felt like eternity and felt very lonely. My boyfriend somehow found his phone on the floor, called 911. Fire department showed up in what felt like two seconds but couldn't break down the front door. They shined the flashlight up to window so he could kick out the AC unit, which he did. They finally came upstairs and we crawled to them and they took us straight to the burn unit since they didn't know what shape we were in. I'm pretty sure the entire hospital toured through our room since they've never seen anyone make it out and look the way we did.
#7
So way back in the year 2004, I went into labor with my first (and only) child. I was a month shy of 19 & basically went in blind due to a sketchy support system.
So I do the pushing bit, hear the girl cry, but feel a LOT of pain still along with a... gushing sensation. Me, not having any point of reference assumed this was normal, but started to get woozy & sort of disconnected feeling. Then I hear my aunt, who was with me, say, "Should she be bleeding that much?" The doctor said, "No, but I'm trying to stop it." I remember a feeling of confused panic, then I passed out from blood loss. Apparently as soon as the pushing started, my uterus ruptured & I nearly bled to death.
#8
Had a paintball fight on Christmas morning with 2 cousins and their neighbor kid at around 13 years old with our brand new guns we got as gifts. The neighbor got mad, ran home, came back with a shotgun, and pointed it my face. All I remember is looking at the ground and waiting to die.
The kid was 11-12. He did have his own paintball gun, and had already shot me a couple times before I got him. He was my cousins neighbor. I think it was the first time I ever met him. It was 20ish years ago, as I'm 33 now, so I can't even remember if I told my parents. I don't know if anything happened to him or not. I'll ask my cousin.
Cousin said we never told parents. Maybe we were scared of retaliation. I know I never touched that paintball gun again though.
#9
Tire popped going over a two lane road with steep drops on both sides. My car jerked to the side hard, and my car went sideways. Half my car hung over the side and luckily it's low so it bottomed out. I climbed into the back seat and jumped out the back door.
Some dude in a truck pulled me out and I drove on a flat to the other side and swapped my tire out.
#10
I went out for a surf on a stormy day and thought to myself, “no one else is out, those idiots.” Before being held down by 2 waves after eating it on the first wave of the set. First wave of the session. Was thrown down and held under and while being tossed around my leg rope wrapped around both my legs and one of my arms so I was probably being held at around 5ft under with only one arm free while my board tombstoned (board tip is barely visible at the surface but floats vertical like...a tombstone.) finally managed to catch a breath between sets before taking another 3 or 4 on the head and for sure just thought...well this is it. No ones out, fishermen will find my body or my board. Managed to get my other arm free and got to shore very quickly and then avoided the ocean for a few days even though the waves were absolutely perfect. There’s a reason no one was out, everyone else was 10 minutes down the road at another beach where the waves were smaller and cleaner.
#11
Fell asleep driving through the night with my brothers. They were supposed to stay awake and help me stay awake, but were out cold. I woke up as the right front tire kissed the gravel on the side of the highway, ripped the wheel to the left, and managed only to spin out. Weird thing was, while it was happening, I was crystal clear, fully focused, and totally in control -- as if time had slowed down -- but thinking that we were all dead.
#12
Went white water rafting on the Gauley river and my raft flipped on pillow rock (one of the most famous class v rapids). Scariest moment of my life but, other than unexpectedly swallowing some water and almost vomiting, I came out completely unharmed.
#13
I was driving down a highway, doing 65 MPH, and suddenly my car started to shake. I tapped the brakes in reflex and my entire car flipped 180 degrees. I'm now facing oncoming traffic, including a semi truck. I was so close I couldn't see the driver compartment. I screamed and jerked the wheel, bringing me in front of a sedan with two people screaming as they watched me appear out of nowhere. I kept screaming and floored the gas pedal. Made it to the side of the road and cried for a long time.
I had blown a rear tire. Hitting the brakes was a terrible terrible choice.
#14
When I was about 10, I went on a hiking trip with my family. I was walking ahead of everyone else, and on the path I saw a small snake. Snakes being my favourite animal when I was a kid, I exclaimed "oh look, it's a dead baby snake!". I grabbed a short stick and gave it a poke, at which point it lifted it's head up and hissed me before slithering into the bushes. I responded to this by exclaiming "oh look, it's an alive baby snake!". As it happens, snakes in Australia I generally quite venomous, and I'd say I was quite lucky in my encounter.
#15
I once ran into two grizzly cubs while working a forestry job in Northern Canada. I got out of there quickly and unharmed but for a moment I was sure mama bear was going to come sort me out. I remember saying aloud " well this is it ".
#16
I was driving home from college on one of those highways with only one lane in either direction and no shoulder. A guy in the oncoming lane didn’t see me as I was in a small car. He thought he could pass 4 18 wheelers in one go and pulled into my lane going at least 90. There was nowhere for me to go.
He flew off into the ditch to avoid hitting me head on, likely did severe damage to his car, but I lived!
#17
Parachute deployed but failed to open. That was one of those moments, then training kicked in. Cut away failed chute, deploy secondary. But for a brief moment life was about to be over in my mind.
#18
Daisy chain IED attack when on a convoy in Iraq in 2003. I saw two go off in front of me, and felt one just behind. They didn't just miss injuring me and the people in my vehicle, no one else in my convoy was hurt. The only "injury" I had was a wicked ringing in my right ear for a week, followed by some hearing loss. Not bad considering.
#19
Got stuck in the backcountry in Colorado. It was -20F outside.
All our water slowly froze. At around 10pm, my friend and I collapsed. We were dehydrated and hypothermic. I couldn't stand up.
Most the day we hadn't had cell reception but I was able to get a few bars. I called 911 then my parents to let them know we were probably dying. Then we had a lot of time to sit there under the stars and be with my thoughts while experiencing the later stage effects of hypothermia.
Rescuers found us at 7am. I had lost 15lbs in a day (dehydration). My ski boots were so frozen to my feet they had to cut them off.
I did have to spend a few days hospitalized and had pretty bad frostbite, but I made a full recovery. Another in the group lost a full 25lbs just in water weight. A few others did get toes or fingers amputated, but everyone is alive and happy today.
#20
My friend and I just spent a few days at a beach shack. My friend just got her P plates, she was super excited so she wanted to drive us home, this was one of her first times driving alone. Being 17 we didn’t really see an issue. I rang my dad beforehand and told him I was getting a lift. He said “I don’t think you should do that. I can come pick you up. I can drive some of the girls home too. I think you guys should wait until she’s had more experience”. Of course being 17, thinking I knew everything, I said it was fine and I was hopping in her car.
We were on our way home, playing music and chatting, there were 5 17-year-olds in this car. I was sitting behind the driver's seat. My friend pulls out onto a two one expressway, from a country road (like an intersection)
We notice she’s turned the wrong way and tell her to make a u turn. She pulls to the side and decides to go for it (through 2 lanes) She didn’t check her mirrors properly and a large truck was coming up behind us. My friend got frightened and put her foot on the break in the middle of both lanes. We were all screaming at her to keep driving. But she was frozen.
I remember, it was like slow motion. I looked at every single one of my friends, we all kind of shared a moment of fear, like ‘this is it I guess..’ the exchanged looks haunt me tbh. We could hear the truck horn blaring at us. I looked out my window to the truck driving toward us, I locked eyes with the truck driver. Luckily the truck stopped about 5 metres away from us.
She pulled away and was really upset. The car was silent the entire way back.
It was honestly the scariest moment. I am from a really small town and I think losing 5 people at once would really rock it. Seeing my friends faces in that moment... it was actually horrific.
I did have a moment of ‘okay, here comes the truck..’ it was oddly peaceful.
After that day I have a real understanding that I’m mortal and can go at any minute, oh and to trust my dad...
Edit: I never told my dad! I was too scared... also my friends and I never spoke of the incident again..
Edit 2: we were coming off a country road and turning onto a two-lane expressway, she turned left when we were meant to turn right. She pulled over and tried to make a u-turn so we could go in the right direction, but she didn’t look behind her before turning, she then braked and stopped in the middle of the road, so we were sideways on the expressway!
#22
Growing up, I️ was always overweight. As a result, my parents would always try to find opportunities to get my sister and me to be more active. My mom even went through a phase where she was convinced that my city dwelling family could become outdoorsy and adventurous.
During said phase, she decided we would go tubing in a river in West Virginia. Basically, you sit in a tube like in a water park but you’re in a river and have to paddle with your hands. We were given detailed instructions about what to do and what not to do, including the direction we were supposed to go in. We were supposed to follow a white sign that was very large and impossible to miss.
Another thing about my mother that I️ should include is that she loves “shortcuts”. Even if she’s unfamiliar with an area, she’s always convinced that she knows a better, faster way to go somewhere. So, she doesn’t follow the sign. The rest of my family follows her because we’re not just gonna leave her by herself.
Right after we deviated from the path, we get caught in a fast rip current. My mom screams at all of us to abandon the tubes and get on rocks, so we all did. As I️ stood on my rock, watching the tubes and one of my shoes float down the river, I️ wondered how long it would take for us to die and then how long it would take for someone to find our bodies.
Turns out that despite how dramatic I️ was as a child, when you register for an activity like that with a reputable company and don’t come back they do come looking for you. So, we were found and rescued, but nobody has let my mom live it down to this day.
#23
I survived a car crash that wrecked my car. Rolled twice, landed upside down, learned the hard way that I didn’t have airbags (or at least they didn’t deploy). Did have my seatbelt on though, that probably saved me.
Paramedic said he hadn’t seen a wreckage like that and have it end well.
Not even a hairline fracture.
#24
Shortly after my dad died, I was convinced I was having a heart attack and was so depressed I just went to sleep. I was certain I wasn’t going to wake up.
In retrospect, I was possibly having an anxiety attack.
#25
I'm a skier. On a few occasions I have caught an edge at a pretty high speed (50+mph or more). That moment when you feel both skis leave the ground when they're not supposed to is horrifying. Somehow I've never had anything more than some moderate whiplash and a sprained wrist (knock on wood).
#26
I was driving on the turnpike in my Mazda 3 in the hard rain. It was 3 lanes and I was in the left lane doing 55, and then I hit standing water and hydroplaned. I did a FULL 360 spin across all 3 lanes of traffic and ended up in the shoulder stopped. I didn't hit anyone or anything, no one hit me, and one car was so scared with me they also pulled over, but didn't check on me. To this day I'm still a bit scared in the rain.
#27
When both the stewardess and pilot at different times came on the loud speaker of the plane saying they are doing their best to land safely. Then seeing the fire engines and other emergency vehicles on the runway waiting for us. The plane landed fine but as it was going for the landing a weird calm came over me because I knew I wasn't going to make it and that was fine.
#28
I fly paramotors as a hobby. A friend of mine wanted to shoot a mini documentary for his school project on the sport, so we attached his 360 camera to my helmet and I took off to get some good footage for him. I started showing off for the camera doing barrel rolls at a lower altitude than I ever would have done normally.
My paraglider took a major collapse during one of the barrel rolls and I sunk out of the sky like a rock. I fully recovered from the collapse less than 50 feet from the ground, from about 600 feet.
** for those of you who want to see it**.
#29
When I was younger my dad set up a zip line in my backyard, and I volunteered to test it first. I started out fine, but right at the highest point, the line snapped and I fell straight down probably like 7m (~20ft). Luckily the ground was soft and I was fine, but the moment I felt the cable break I thought I was done for lol.
#30
Sliding off a 14 foot high gazebo roof on to a black rod iron fence with with the pointy metal triangles on top.
Slid off, fell about 6 feet down to the fence, both legs hit between the rods which caused me to back flip and land on the ground between 2 big green garden spikes. I could have been impaled several different ways. Ended up with minor scratches.
My brother was also on the roof painting and can verify everything. He said it was the most amazing thing he's seen.
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