Some people say that the media has desensitized us. But if you’ve ever been in a truly life-threatening situation, then you know as well as these Redditors that it’s totally different when something terrifying happens to you in real life.
When I was 17, I still lived at my moms house. We were in a middle class neighbourhood, so it wasn’t necessarily a bad area. I was taking out the garbage one evening when the sun had just gone down.
I walked the first garbage can out and noticed these two men arguing on the other side of the street. I went back and grabbed the second one, but when I turned around, I saw one of the men raise a gun and shoot the other in the head, point-blank. The man with the gun stared directly at me, then turned and fled.
I was surprisingly calm about it until I was on the phone to the police. Then I suddenly starting freaking out and panicking.
As far as I know, they never caught the guy.
jack-shit
We pulled up beside an Army Captain who was covered in blood. He was shaking and asking if we would help him because everyone in his Humvee was dead except for him. They were working with the Iraqi Army and had hit an IED while doing a manoeuvre.
We explained to him we specifically came out there to help him, and he just wouldn’t stop thanking us. It was obvious he was in complete and utter shock. He was the only survivor in that truck.
It was Christmas Day.
PickleInDaButt
I worked at a gas station when I was eighteen. One night, at the end of my shift, the graveyard guy just didn’t show up. I called my sister to see if she would come hang out with me until I could get hold of someone.
At about 4 in the morning, an ambulance slowed down right in front of the station. As it came to a stop at the light, the back doors opened up and a guy jumped out. (continued…)
Keep reading on the next page!
A paramedic hopped out of the back, and ran after him. The escaped patient ran right up to the station, looking terrified. He turned to the left to run away again, and we noticed that his head was missing a big chunk in the back. There was blood running down his back.
The medic continued to pursue this man through the parking lot next door. We called 911 and explained the situation. The dispatcher answered, “Yeah right.”
About twenty minutes later, police arrived to take a statement from us. Apparently, this patient was high and badly injured, and trying to get away. I don’t know if they ever caught up with him again.
AbigailHardscrabble
My car skidded on the ice near an interstate toll station in 1989, spun 180 degrees. The car stalled, facing the wrong way up the interstate into the headlights of an 18-wheeler coming toward me.
He stopped in time.
Alleline
My family was at the beach. My brother was body surfing when a major storm began to roll in some miles offshore. Huge waves began rolling toward my brother, breaking toward the beach. He was basically picked up and pounded into the sand head first.
I remember my mother giving my brother CPR on the beach after he broke his neck and almost drowned. He was in the water for about 4 minutes.
I remember watching a helicopter take him away, not knowing if he was dead or alive. He defied the odds and went on to live another 36 productive years as a quadriplegic.
DootDotDittyOtt
I woke up completely covered in blood. (continued…)
Keep reading on the next page!
I was walking to class and got hit by a car. I’m not sure what happened in the moments leading up to the event, but remember waking up in the middle of the road, cradling my head.
I distinctly remember lifting my head and looking at my blood-covered arm, thinking “Ill deal with that later,” putting my arm back under my head and going back to sleep.
QQuixotic_
I saw a car crash as a child. My dad stopped the car to go help. He made me stay, but I saw one body on the ground with a pool of blood around it, and another body hanging out the window of one of the cars. Blood, glass, and car chunks were everywhere. Horns were honking; I heard a lot of screaming.
My dad came walking back to the car shortly after he got out. I asked what happened. He said there was nothing he could do, pulled into a parking lot, and waited for the police to come.
I remember being impressed by how fast the firefighters cleaned everything up. You would think seeing the bodies would stick with me, but what stuck with me was the pale, deathly look on my dads face when he came back to the car.
GirlsGoneSkiing
I saw a 5-year-old girl fall about 30 feet from a chairlift while I was skiing. When she landed, I was about 15 feet away.
I called ski patrol immediately, but the time it took them to get there felt like an eternity (it was probably not more than 5 minutes).
I had no medical training other than very basic “do not move the injured person” type stuff. Since her face was directly in the snow, I took my jacket off and I held her neck/head still and had a nearby person slide my jacket under her face.
It was shortly after Christmas, so I tried to distract her by asking her what she got from Santa, and I sang her favorite Christmas song. I kept holding her neck still until ski patrol took over and sent her away in an ambulance.
Later, I found out that although she had some bad bruising, she walked out of the ER later that day.
msuupnorth
I saw the second plane hit the World Trade Center from my 35th floor office window about half a mile away. (continued…)
Keep reading on the next page!
The first one happened behind me and I guess I didn’t hear it. But afterward, I was looking out the window at the smoke and the papers floating everywhere. I still thought it was some small plane accident, and I couldn’t see the hole because it was on the other side.
I was wondering if it was caught on video and picturing what the crash would have looked like in my head when the second one hit right in front of me, on the side facing me.
It slid in like a coin into a slot and, after a moment, a ball of flame shot out in various directions.
A moment after that, my window shook. It looked just like I was picturing the first one in my head at that moment, and my mental gears turned for a full 10 seconds, wondering how my eyes had just shown me what I had imagined.
It wasn’t until someone ran into my office asking what happened and I heard myself answer that I came to my senses. I descended 35 flights and walked home to Brooklyn.
hoardingjeggings
I live in northern BC, Canada and I was going for a run through some rural roads around my house. I turned a corner and immediately ran into a moose, with her calf behind her.
Now for anyone who doesn’t know, moose are actually enormous and not remotely scared of humans. They will stomp you to death just because they feel like it, let alone when they are actually protecting their young.
In this case, I was literally less then 10 feet away from them. I was lucky in that it just stood its ground and glared at me, never breaking eye contact. So I was able to back away slowly, cut my run short and go home. If I had taken one step closer there is a very real chance it would have attacked. I wouldn’t be here today.
-GregTheGreat-
When I was younger I kicked a ball over the fence of my dads friend’s house, so naturally I stepped on the fence and poked my head over to see how far it had gone. I had no idea what I was getting into. (continued…)
Keep reading on the next page!
I saw a man a decent distance away in the backyard, so I called out asking if he could pass my ball back over. He wasn’t responding ,so I asked my sister if I was seeing things. She looked and thought it was a scarecrow.
I went to tell my dad and his friend. They looked at him and called out but still nothing. They jumped the fence to check it out and it turned out I was calling out to a man who had died sometime earlier.
IIPHO3NIXII
I once caught a young woman on meth who was rummaging through the tools in my Dad’s garage. The face she made when she realized she was trapped in a confined space was one of pure terror. She was ready to claw my eyes out to survive what she most likely perceived as a threat.
When she turned to run out of the garage, my police officer dad caught her by the arm and held her down until an on-duty officer arrived.
Biggs62
When I was a kid, I was heading up to the barn loft on the family farm to feed my rabbit. It was after dark, and when I pulled on the cord to turn on the light bulb, I saw a GIANT raccoon about three feet in front of me. It ran off.
My family did not believe me until I told my granddad. He confirmed that he’d seen this thing too, and told me to stay out of the barn after dark. Which made the whole thing scarier to me.
8337
I had just come from seeing a movie at the mall with my two teenage sons. We had arrived separately and parked our cars in different sections of the lot. After leaving, I was driving up a ramp and saw, out of the corner of my eye, my sons car with the front end smashed in. Smoke was billowing from the front end.
I quickly u-turned. As I drove towards them, I could see my older son, 17 years old, standing outside of the passenger door with my younger son, 14, in his arms.
The passenger air bag had deployed so the my 14-year-old had a nasty scrape on his face,but thankfully they were both okay. I hope I never feel fear like that ever again.
Sevenitta
Keep reading on the next page!
The scariest thing I ever saw was actually a video of myself when I was blackout drunk. The “me” that everyone knew was gone. I was gone.
Yet my body was standing and talking. But it wasn’t me and I don’t remember any of it. It was okay for a while and then you could see a switch flipped. Blackout drunk me got mad. Really mad. It seemed as if I’d trash anyone at any second.
My wife though, without a shred of fear for this zombie monster version of her husband, walks up and grabs my hand and takes me away like I was a child.
I never want to be that person again.
Pun-Chi
The scariest thing I ever saw was a hand grenade flying through the passenger window of my Humvee. I was already on edge to begin with – that was definitely the most terrifying thing I’ve ever experienced.
The second most terrifying thing was the aftermath of that grenade. I lost a hand, broke both legs, and ruined part of my foot. Guess what I didn’t lose: consciousness.
After seeing my hand missing and my feet and legs pretty much mangled, I definitely struggled to stay “with it.” I remember how either my brain or body or something made me feel like dying was okay. It was kind of a dreamy peaceful feeling. THAT scared me!
Skeevy1983
Was taking my yellow lab for a walk with my dad when I was maybe 8 years old. About halfway back to the house, a bear appeared in the middle of the street. It was standing on its hind legs standing, about 12 feet tall and furious.
My dad put me behind his back upon noticed a bear cub on the side of the road because he knew this bear wasn’t messing around if it thought its cub was in danger.
Next thing I knew my dog charged at the bear full speed and tackled it down the hill off the side of the road. My dad and I both thought that that was the end of our dog until about a minute later we see her strolling up the hill without a scratch on her. She wrestled a bear all the way down the hill and won.
OrganizedChaos16