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Person Wonders Online: “Who Ruined Their Life In Just A Matter Of Minutes?”, Receives 28 Replies
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On September 24, 1988, Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, set a world record for the fastest time to destroy his own reputation and ruin nearly everything he had - just 9.79 seconds. He did it live, in front of the entire world watching the Olympics in Seoul. Since then, there have been other, equally famous athletes who have been caught doping, but no one has done it so quickly.
However, many people manage to literally ruin not only their own lives, but also other people's lives in just a couple of minutes. And then, even if they survive, their lives are never the same. This selection of ours is dedicated to such examples and sad eye-opening stories.
More info: Reddit
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#1
Neighbor tried to see how fast his new car can go while his wife and their kids were inside the car. Only he survived the crash. .
Littlemiss 5 months ago
I know someone who did this, he wrecked his car, took out 4 family members. Got a big flashy headstone for the dead and was speeding excessively a week later. Moron didn't connect the dots but got a lot of sympathy from his actions.
RELATED:
#2
I know a guy that was a promising baseball prospect. He got in a verbal altercation leaving a bar and threw a brick that ended up hitting a woman in the head and severely injuring her.
Don't let temporary emotions have permanent ramifications.
#3
My cousin Raj thought he'd be clever and fake a work injury to get a few days off. He posted a detailed Facebook story about his "severe back injury from lifting boxes" and even uploaded a photo of himself in a neck brace looking pitiful.
Plot twist: he forgot his boss was on his Facebook friends list.
Double plot twist: while his boss was reading this post, Raj was literally in the background of his friend's Instagram story doing backflips on a trampoline at a birthday party, neck brace nowhere to be seen.
He went from "injured employee" to "unemployed comedian" in about 20 minutes. The firing happened faster than his fake injury supposedly healed.
A few weeks ago, a thread appeared on AskReddit, the author of which, the user u/Away_Bell_8795, asked people the question: "Do you know someone who ruined their life in just a matter of minutes? If so, what happened?"
As of today, the thread has only a couple hundred comments, but this is probably for good. After all, even a couple dozen stories - like in this selection from Bored Panda - actually means a couple dozen ruined lives...
#4
Saw a guy knock out another guy outside a bar. After he went down he got on top of him and grabbed him by the hair and just kept pounding his face into the ground. Few months later saw him in the paper charged with [taking a life]. All because he bumped into him.
#5
A friend of mine got into day trading. Initially he got lucky and cocky. One day he lost $225,000 in a matter of minutes. Wiped out his entire account. His wife was none too pleased.
#6
He decided to overtake a bus stopped at a bus stop at 2am and plowed into a woman who had just gotten off said bus and stepped out in front to cross the street. He was drunk, she didn’t make it. He went to prison at 18. I heard he did his time and turned around his life, never drank again and did get married and have kids so I guess his life wasn’t ruined but I’m sure he sees her face every time he closes his eyes.
Petra Peitsch 5 months ago
Last year I was in Budapest. I was waiting for a tram, got on it, and till I reached my destination, the display in the tram stop said "Next tram is delayed. Sorry for inconvenience". Next day I learnt, after my tram left the station a drunk driver hit my tram-stop, killing a young woman, who was waiting for the next one. It could have been me. It was a matter of just a few minutes.
Interestingly, history knows many situations when a person ruined his own life with a completely spontaneous and ill-considered decision. And then people, even decades later, ask themselves: "What would have happened if things had gone differently?"
A classic example is the story of Len Bias. In 1986, he, a college basketball star, was selected with the second overall pick by the reigning NBA champions, the Boston Celtics.
The ‘green‘ fans were already rubbing their hands, anticipating what would happen when one of the strongest teams in basketball history would add a rising star, comparable in potential to Michael Jordan - but their hopes were destined to live for only three days...
Three days after the draft, Bias suffered a seizure and collapsed after using substances with his college friends. All attempts by emergency doctors to revive him, to restart his heart were, alas, unsuccessful. Bias passed away at the age of 23, leaving behind one of the biggest "What ifs" in the history of sports.
#7
Guy I went to HS with and used to party with was part of the Jan 6 s**t. Was in jail, eventually released, and a week later got into a fight with a cop during a traffic stop and was shot and [died]. Total moron.
#8
This was huge in the nursing world. A nurse overrode all the warnings on the Pyxis (machine we pull meds from) and pulled vercuronium (muscle paralyzer) instead of versed (sedative) and gave it to patient and [unalived] them. Needless to say she lost her job, lost her license and known by all nurses and not in a good way.
#9
Was sitting with my bouncer boyfriend at the bar he was working (German style in the US). A very drunk lady ended up throwing a big a*s stein at a dudes head that had rejected her friend. She fights security. She fights the cops. She tries to break out of the back of the cop car.
Was gonna go to the tank to sober up but not after all that.
She worked for DHS and had like 6 foster kids at home.
Of course, the stories told in this selection of ours are not as famous and socially significant as the story of Len Bias, but a small tragedy by social standards is still a tragedy on the scale of one person or one family.
People who believe that by breaking any rules or recklessly following their own whims and desires, they will not face any consequences - well, such people often become the characters of these stories.
#10
I can't say ruined as he seems to be getting by and adapting, but a cousin tried to rob someone while playing cards and got shot and paralysed.
Edit: My bad, he was cheating in a card game and got shot.
#11
My wife's maid of honor is getting married. The man she is marrying never knew his dad, because the weekend after he was born his dad was celebrating and got so completely smashed he fell in a lake and drowned. Bro never knew his dad because of that.
#12
He drove drunk.
[Took a child's life].
Wife divorced him.
Doesn't know his own kids now.
He was sued for over a million dollars.
Father had to come out of retirement to run his shop.
And of course he lost his freedom.
"In fact, many people, when they break any rules - not to mention laws, have a strong belief in their heads that nothing bad will happen to them," says Irina Matveeva, a psychologist and certified NLP specialist, whom Bored Panda asked for a comment here. "And even if you give such a person some disappointing data, they most likely won’t believe you."
"If they have done this before - and remained completely unpunished, the euphoria from this acts incredibly strongly. A person can feel completely invulnerable, strong, agile - depending on what they actually do. But this confidence ends immediately when a person is faced with a reality check."
"That is why it is so important to follow even the smallest, even the most stupid-looking rules. Just to develop a habit, to leave it at the subconscious level - that no rule can be broken. Because very often it all starts with crossing the street in the wrong place, and ends - alas, with one of these sad stories," Irina summarizes.
#13
Not life ruining but solidly detrimental. Regarding MLK day a C-suite person in my 5k+ person company accidentally hit “reply-all” on an all company email and said “I guess I won’t see you Monday because the holiday for that black guy” 🙄☠️. He got let go the day after lol.
Austzn 5 months ago
It's wild how many times I've heard over the years some co-worker being upset that a company is giving them a paid holiday off just because they don't personally celebrate it. "It's not racist!" Like dude, just take the paid holiday. You'll still be white the next day, 'ya racist.
#14
A guy from my highschool went on a joyride after prom, crashed the car, [ending] his date.
Went to jail for two years after being convicted of reckless driving causing death.
Twenty plus years later everyone in town still remembers.
Fat Harry (Oi / You) 5 months ago (edited)
Well, yes, crashing a car will end a date. Oh, you mean killed her? Well that confusion could have been avoided if we stopped using F*****G EUPHEMISMS FOR EVERYTHING.
#15
Ex wife got her moms name tatted on her forehead , she wanted me to argue with her about or be spiteful, lol not my face not my problem.
We sincerely hope that neither you, nor your friends or loved ones have had to or will have to face anything from what is described here. So, please just read this selection of stories simply so that they serve as a warning to you or someone else. Well, and if we, thanks to this list, manage to save at least one person - then our efforts were definitely not in vain.
#17
Yes, I had warned them for years not to street race.... about 5 years later, they ended up slamming into a tree and totaling their car. They went from having a photographic memory to permanent brain damage in their 20s and very poor memory recall to the point they will never be able to work again.
Lesson? Heed your friends' warnings, especially those that are wise/have your best interest at heart. At least heavily consider, they'll help you (potentially) prevent a catastrophe for yourself.
#18
Got wasted after an argument with his girlfriend, went for a ride on a motorcycle and [ended] himself. That was the first person I lost in my life that I had cried about which surprised me because we weren't close but he was a kind man who had PTSD from service.
Margaret H 5 months ago
Every time I hear a story like this, I am left wondering how much of an accident it was.
#19
A friend of mine in university worked as a bouncer at a bar on the weekends. He was in engineering and had good grades, never drank or got into fights.
One night, while working at the front door of the bar, he denied someone entry for being belligerent. The person began arguing, a scuffle broke out and my friend punched this person in the head. They fell down, banged their head off the sidewalk and died. My friend was charged with manslaughter, found guilty and went to jail (In Canada, you can go to jail for Manslaughter).
#20
My big brother was an amateur MMA fighter and he was about to go to the UFC and get a sponsorship from Red Bull, however while in the talks about all of that he got caught with 1lb of [substances] (which is a felony where we live) and back then, you couldn't get into the UFC with a felony on your record. Life hasn't been the same for him since.
Petra Peitsch 5 months ago
Play stupid games .... No, I'm not against smoking weed (I assume that was, and not h****n), but doing something, what can end your dream-profession is stupid games.
#21
I said, "I do.".
#22
Ignored everyone saying he needed to slow down and get help for his obviously decreasing mental health. Had a breakdown, got fired from both jobs, kicked out of college, 302, and gun charges.
#23
I used to work with college students. One of my former students got into a fight with his ex gf and grabbed her, shook her and she hit her head on the wall which contributed to her death. He got 20 years in prison.
Fellfromthemoon 5 months ago
Something tells me OP is a man. SHE hit her head on the wall, and not HE smashed her head against the wall; contributed to her death instead of causing lethal injuries.
#24
My mother's close friend's son threw an empty asthma puff into the fire...it burst and one of his eyeball came out...
#25
My mates brother beat a guy to death because he thought he robbed his [substances]. Wasn't even 20 years old, no idea how many years he got.
#26
Dude crashed his car into a house while driving with no license and on his way to deliver a quarter pound of [substances]. The crash was in a school zone.
#27
A few scenes are brought to mind. One that stands out was a time I observed someone slice herself open in a motel parking lot during a sort of panic attack/breakdown. It was more like observing someone ruin their life in a matter of seconds rather than minutes. She died shortly thereafter.
#28
Not someone I know but a story I heard in my country.
A guy was about to marry his girlfriend, so they threw a party in their village with the best man and friends.
They got drunk and best man had the good idea to fill the future husband boots with expanding foam. In the morning the future husband could not use his legs anymore and had to get them amputated.
His girlfriend canceled the wedding, broke up with him and the best man [took his own life].
What do you think ?
Scott Rackley 5 months ago
1989, me driving, gf in passenger, best friend in back, coming home from my football game. Sitting at red light, guy on a Honda Interceptor (motorcycle, very powerful one) in front of me, first in line. Light turns green, he nails it and lifts the front wheel up through first and second gears, hits a truck pulling out from a side street just as his front wheel comes down. Flies about 30 yards after impact and centers a concrete light stanchion which caves his head in and rips his right arm off at the shoulder. I try to render aid (useless) while friend runs up to the street corner to call 911. It was a guy who had graduated from our school like 3 years earlier, who was at my game, watching his little brother, my teammate, play. Pretty much broke his brother, he quit football, got involved in d***s and such. Solid downward spiral and I lost track of him.
Robin Roper 5 months ago
My BIL was with a group of his college friends were having a reunion. They decided to go to one of those motorized inner tube boat attractions you see at tourist areas. While waiting their turn, one of the friends decided to push another of the friends into the boat pool. Friend who was pushed into the pool his his head/neck and became a paraplegic. With support, he lived an okay but limited life; about five years later, the friend who did the pushing, unalived himself from guilt.
Scott Rackley 5 months ago
1989, me driving, gf in passenger, best friend in back, coming home from my football game. Sitting at red light, guy on a Honda Interceptor (motorcycle, very powerful one) in front of me, first in line. Light turns green, he nails it and lifts the front wheel up through first and second gears, hits a truck pulling out from a side street just as his front wheel comes down. Flies about 30 yards after impact and centers a concrete light stanchion which caves his head in and rips his right arm off at the shoulder. I try to render aid (useless) while friend runs up to the street corner to call 911. It was a guy who had graduated from our school like 3 years earlier, who was at my game, watching his little brother, my teammate, play. Pretty much broke his brother, he quit football, got involved in d***s and such. Solid downward spiral and I lost track of him.
Robin Roper 5 months ago
My BIL was with a group of his college friends were having a reunion. They decided to go to one of those motorized inner tube boat attractions you see at tourist areas. While waiting their turn, one of the friends decided to push another of the friends into the boat pool. Friend who was pushed into the pool his his head/neck and became a paraplegic. With support, he lived an okay but limited life; about five years later, the friend who did the pushing, unalived himself from guilt.
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