A DU Series... Storytime: Near Death Experiences

[retrowire]

Ya know, I believe that one of the most amazing things about life are the stories that we all live. There are over 7 billion of us on this planet right now, and each and every one of us have stories that have never been told. Some are similar, some are truly unheard of.

I think story telling is one of the most valuable things in our world. It has been since the beginning of civilization.

So I'm creating a series of OP's called "Storytime". In these threads, I'll set up a topic. Tell my own story, and then everyone is free to comment or share their very own.

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For the first OP in this series, I thought I'd start off with something that's kind of scary, kind of exciting. But this topic can also have a lot more depth to it than a "Whew! That was close." Sometimes, it can be a little bit darker.

I don't want anyone to feel obligated to tell their own story, or even read my own. You can just read, comment or even carry on with your day. No worries.

Ahem... Here we go.

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I'm going to tell you the story... Of my first near death experience.

So when I was about 15, I lived in a cul de sac with a group of friends. We all had bikes and were quite adventurous so we liked riding around our city, looking for places of interest. Those places included vacant houses, abandoned buildings, bodies of water, abandoned work sites, etc...

Well one day we went to explore a pond nearby that one of us had spotted while riding in a car, so we set off to find this neato place. It turned out that the pond was behind an abandoned house as well! Double jackpot!

So we did our usual thing, we ditched the bikes and began seeking ways inside the house. It indeed was abandoned. No furniture, barren wood paneled walls and old moldy green carpet. The most interesting thing found was an adult sized UNICYCLE!

We all took turns trying to ride the rusty old thing, but to no avail. I also found an ancient looking keychain that had the oldest looking keys on it. They looked like those old thick metal skeleton keys from the movies. Really cool. I kept 2. I still have one, the other I gave to my wife.

So the house was checked out, now it was time to look at the pond. We went through some trees on the side of the property and came over a small hill to see a pretty ugly looking pond. It was as scummy and swampy as you could imagine. We walked around the pond a bit more, thinking we could build a boat and try riding across it sometime when SUDDENLY....

Down the small hill we had just climbed, we heard the roaring engine and screeching tires of a truck in the driveway of the home we had just toured. Uh oh.

An old looking man hopped out of the drivers seat and after reaching into the bed of the truck he pulled out a mean looking SHOTGUN. He exclaimed into the air, "Who the F$%^ is on my property!?!" And fired the shotgun into the air.

He could not see us because he didn't know where to look and we were behind trees at the time. But we could see him. He was red faced mad, and very obviously intoxicated. We knew better. No way in hell were we about to come out of the woods, run past this man and grab our bikes.

So we exited the woods down the road and walked the street back to the mans property. From a safe distance we approached our bikes... He yelled "What're are you kids doing on my property? Y'all stealing anything?!"

"No sir." I replied. I figured honesty WAS the best policy. "We only wanted to see the pond behind the house, we didn't think anyone lived here."

Now here's the part where I nearly DIE.

All of my friends left their bikes in the front lawn of the property. But not me. My bike was in the backyard. I would have to pass the crazy shotgun wielding man in order to get my bike back.

I continued, "I'm sorry but, my bike is in your back yard. Can I get it?" I know it was my bike and all, but when confronted with a man that likes to shoot guns into the sky, you ask permission for about anything. He replied, "Come on and get it then."

He seemed sincere through his drunken slur. It didn't seem like he was very angry then. So I slowly went for my bike while my friends watched from the road. Remember that I was only a 100 pound, scrawny 15 yr old boy as you read the next line.

As I neared my bike, the man pointed his shotgun at me. I decided to stay calm. As I bent down slowly to pick up my bike, he got closer and kept the gun trained directly on my head. He yelled at me, "Didn't you boys see the 'No Trespassing' sign?!" I avoided eye contact and was silent as I began walking my bike down the driveway to my friends. I knew how to deal with drunks because of my dad.

Once I got to my friends he said to us, "Next time y'all wanna see the pond, just ask!"

We nodded and agreed that we would totally ask next time, (yeah right!) so we got on our bikes and hauled ass back home and NEVER went back to that place again.

If only I could have ridden the unicycle back home. That would have been epic.

----

THE END

So there you have it. My first, near death experience. I have others too, but this was always my favorite story. What did you think? Did you like where the story took you? Remind you of anything? What about your story?

Thanks for reading.

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. "I knew how to deal with drunks because of my dad. "

That is the part of the story that stood out.

[retrowire]

2. Another story for another OP sometime I suppose.

Until then, thanks for reading.

[cherokeeprogressive]

3. I looked William Bonin and Vernon Butts in the eye on a weekday afternoon while hitchhiking.

Stood next to the van and told Bonin "no thanks", that I didn't need a ride. He circled the block 4 times before giving up on me. The last time he stopped, I saw Vernon Butts behind the passenger seat.

Strangest part of all... I had met Vernon Butts before on the steps of Keystone Lanes in Norwalk doing his magician act out of a briefcase sitting on a TV tray. He actually went to my high school.

[retrowire]

4. As soon as I saw you place names like that

I had an idea of what you had avoided. Being that they were before my time I had to google the names.

You were very fortunate weren't you?

I myself had never accepted a ride during my own transient days and only once did I give a ride to a stranger who was carrying a duffel bag that I'll never know the contents of.

I set the tone of that ride by brandishing the bayonet I had at my side should they try anything funny. But the ride culminated in us listening to Nirvana on the CD player and him stating that he believed "Come As You Are" is one of the wisest songs ever written.

I dropped him off at his location that night, feeling richer for the experience. Both of us unscathed.

[hermetic]

5. Back in '59

A young girl had gone missing and was later found brutally murdered. Police were said to be looking for a dirty, black sedan.

My girlfriend and I, both 11, were on our school track team (thank goodness). We would sometimes go to Presidio Park to hike and run the paths. One time we decided to take a path that went into some deep woods. We hiked along, seeing no one, until a man came towards us. He walked by, smiled and said hello. I think we gave a little smile and kept walking. After a bit I looked back over my shoulder and saw he was now coming back towards us. So we walked a little faster. He did the same. We started to jog. So did he. Then we hit full stride and tore out of there.

When we got back to civilization he was no longer to be seen so we bought a drink and sat down on a bench by the road leading out of the park. Then we saw him drive by, in a dirty, black sedan.

We never went back to that park.

[retrowire]

6. Good story thanks for sharing.

Goes to show you that a buddy system helps, but especially so when you both run track.

Track at 11yrs old?? wow, impressive! School was so different back then.

I'm glad you got out of that situation!

[hermetic]

7. Thanks, me too.

School WAS different back then. Being in California, schools were quite progressive. For PE we got a choice of basketball, baseball or track. As a major klutz with long legs, track was the obvious choice for me.

[shanti]

30. are you referring to GAA?

i grew up in so cal in the 60's/early 70's. in hs, we had a choice between PE and GAA. GAA (girls' athletic association) was basically intramural PE. different season, different sport to choose from. i took field hockey, softball, basketball, volleyball, and swimming, but there was also track, badminton, and modern dance. we even got spiffy uniforms to wear on game days.

it definitely has changed a lot.

[Enthusiast]

24. Jeez, hermetic, I'm glad you were on the track team!

[retrowire]

8. bump! nt

[davsand]

9. I had a naked man point a shotgun at me.

He was drunk and vanished into the bedroom. He came back out --nekkid as an egg--carrying a shotgun. Pointed it at me and said he was gonna shoot me unless I agreed to sleep with him. I was drunk myself and not in any mood to put up with his bullsh*t. I told him put the gun down, I could see he clearly didn't have the balls to use it. (I shudder at that memory of how stupid I was when I was drunk, BTW.) He put the gun down and started screaming at me that he was gonna beat me for being such a bitch. I told him go for it, it'd probably make my day to get to kick the shit out of a dumbass.

I found out later that his "thing" was to get women alone and beat them while raping them. He liked to hear them cry and beg him NOT to hurt them. I think the only thing that saved me was that I was drunk and pissed off. Had I acted afraid it might have ended badly...



Laura

[retrowire]

11. It's a good thing you made it through that.

Thanks for sharing this story. Was the perpetrator ever dealt with?

[davsand]

13. Not by police, but yes, he "payed" for his behavior.

There were other women who were not as lucky as I was. They had brothers, boyfriends, and friends.

He left town shortly after his run in with me. I was told only that a "conversation" was had, and that it was strongly urged that he leave town. I didn't ask any questions.




Laura

[retrowire]

15. That's good to hear.

Thanks, I needed a bit of closure after that one. I don't appreciate men like that. At all.

[Initech]

10. I almost got run over by a Mercedes in Germany.

True story. Thankfully one of my buddies I was with was able to pull me out of the way before it happened.

[retrowire]

12. Short and sweet story.

Where were you? in the city? Taking in the sights?

[Initech]

14. We were out bar hopping, and headed back to the hotel.

And of course my slow ass couldn't keep up with everybody else, so by the time everyone else got to the other side of the street, I was only halfway and then this Mercedes comes barreling down the road.

[retrowire]

16. Ahhh...

So you were enjoying yourselves. You had good friends that day! I'm glad you're alright.

[Initech]

17. Yup!

I think I remember posting about it here after I got home from the trip. But yeah glad I was with people that week!

[doc03]

18. When I was working in the steel mill I had a 30000 pound coil, crane block and cables fall

about ten feet in front of me. The cables on the crane broke and down came the lift and all the cables raped around in front and back of me and I was not touched. I work out on a regular basis so when my leg got sore I just thought I sprained a muscle a little. I took a trip to the Hocking Hills in Ohio and walked several miles on backwoods trails. The next day my leg even hurt worse so I got an appointment to see the doctor. He took one look and told me to go to the hospital immediately I had a blood clot in my leg. Another time in the mill a hydraulic cylinder blew on a coil hoist and the 30000 pound or so coil on the hoist came right towards me somehow I jumped out of the way before it crushed me. Had a couple other close calls in the mill.

[retrowire]

19. Gah!

Industrial accidents scare the shit out of me.

Whew! Glad you're alright!

[doc03]

20. I think everyone in the mill had some kind of close call at

least once. I had a 1500 pound steel plate fall and catch me on my right heal back in 1976. I was lucky it tore the skin off my heal and tore my achilles tendon a little no broken bones. Had a skin graft on my heal and it didn't take. Had a second and it came out OK. For that I got a partial disability of 8% from the state of Ohio and a one time check for $785.

[Enthusiast]

25. Dang!

You have been lucky!

[Kashkakat v.2.0]

21. two of my closest calls

Interesting stories - thnx for the invitation to participate. I was expecting these stories would be the classic NDE - you know, leaving the body and moving to the bright light - which Ive not experienced, except possibly on acid once in my wild youth when there was this annoying bright light following me around. But it looks like NDE can be defined many ways.

My two are somewhat similar in that they both involved flying through the air and crashing to the ground, and experiencing time slowing down ...

One time was... I was walking on a dark lonely stretch of back road, to get from a funky old K-mart to the bus stop. It was early 80s and at the time my Midwestern city was known as being ridiculously safe- there wasn't anywhere you couldn't go or be afraid of, at any time of the day or night. At least that's how it was until this experience. It was every woman's worst fear - you hear the footsteps coming up behind you and you wonder what's going to happen. Usually its nothing, but this time the footsteps quicken and before I could really run, there's the hand clamped around my mouth, I'm picked up by what I later realized was two guys and thrown to the ground. In the eternity before Im thrown to the ground its like Im watching the scene and I wonder .... where are they taking me, what are they going to do with me? It's like - it could be anything! Rape? Murder? No, thankfully they just wanted my shoulder bag so they were just grabbing and wrestling it off of me before throwing me to the ground and running off with it. Only then did I see clearly that it was two guys. Then I see that my wallet (containing money, bus pass etc.) had fallen out and I picked it up and went back to Kmart to call the cops.

It was about 3 hours before I stopped shaking and 3 months before I could tolerate anyone standing or walking behind me - even in full daylight with a lot of people around. Even now I hate the sound of joggers running up behind me on the sidewalk.

Second time was.... riding my bike in winter. People say you can do it, and yeah.... spoze you can, if you have the right tires. I didn't. I hit glare ice right as a bus was passing me --- as Im flying through the air I could feel the bus grazing my leg. Again as Im airborne there's that same sense of time slowing down, wondering wtf is going to happen, is this the day I die? Thankfully, it wasn't.

[retrowire]

22. Whew, that first one is a heart stopper for sure.

I'm glad you're alright.

The second one, also a close call!

I, too know the feeling of time slowing down in the instant of a chaotic moment. But I'm saving that story for another day.

[Enthusiast]

26. Incredible...

[mnhtnbb]

23. I was 16 in 1967 and had moved from NJ to southern California two years previously.

I grew up swimming in the summer in an old cow pond that had been converted into a swim club. They had categories
of swimming skills--for which you were tested--and given badges that you wore on your swim suit so that the life guards
could see at a glance just what skill level any kid had. There were privileges associated with each level that allowed
you more access to things--like the dock, diving boards, water slides, the raft out in the middle of the pond. You get the
idea? There was also a swim team (I was a member), and a diving team (I was a member). They also taught the Red Cross
water safety and life guard training programs. I had attained the highest level of swimming skills badge as well as a junior
life saving designation from the Red Cross that was as far as I could go given my age--14--before we moved to California.

So, two years later in Southern California we had a backyard pool to swim in--not a 3 acre pond--or the ocean. Our next door
neighbors from where we had lived in NJ were visiting, so the kid from next door I grew up playing with (a guy) and I go
down to Moonlight State Beach in Encinitas. We're out in the water, goofing around, but he gets tired and decides to
go sit on the beach but I decide to stay and play in the waves a little longer. All of a sudden, I'm aware that I'm being
pulled out farther and farther each time I dive under a wave and that I'm beginning to get a little far out. So, I try to
catch a wave and body surf back in. But the wave crashes on me and pulls me under. When I come up, I'm farther
back out. By now, I'm getting pretty tired. I'm not making any progress toward the beach and simply trying not to get
pulled farther out. I realize I'm in trouble--big trouble--so I start screaming "help" and waving at my friend on the beach.
He just waves back. He can't hear me. The lifeguard station is about 20 yards down the beach and they haven't spotted
that I'm in trouble. I come to the realization that if I'm not going to drown, I have to get myself out of this rip current by myself.
So, the Red Cross water safety/life guard training kicks in and I remember that I need to swim parallel to the shore to get out
of the rip current. I let myself be pulled out past where the waves are breaking and start swimming. I go about 30 yards and
try riding a wave back in again. No deal, pulled under when the wave breaks and, holding my breath, am pulled back out.
I start swimming again, farther along the beach, maybe another 20 yards. Ride the wave in, and this time it dumps me
out close enough to the beach that I can stand. Only my legs are rubber and I'm exhausted. I stay there a few minutes, just breathing, realizing
how close I came to drowning--in sight of a friend and a lifeguard--neither of whom recognized the danger I was in. Finally,
I get up, get out of the water, and walk back to my beach towel and plop down next to my friend. Turns out he didn't have a clue
of the trouble I was in.

I never did go back in the ocean at Moonlight State Beach. I went on to become PADI open water certified for SCUBA when I was
in my early 30's, but I have never really much liked playing in the waves in the ocean ever since that near drowning experience.


The swim club still exists https://www.noepondclub.org/DisplayPage.aspx?PageID=7

And brochures about beaches in southern CA warn about rip currents http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/662/files/sanelijosbpdf092309.pdf

There's a youtube video of a lifeguard rescue at Moonlight State Beach

[Enthusiast]

27. That must have been terrifying.

[Ohio Joe]

28. Mine was just last year...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026529599

[mnhtnbb]

29. I missed your story when you posted it: my OB nicked my bladder when he did a C-section

to deliver my second son. That pregnancy is a story in and of itself ( 4 1/2 months on bedrest to keep
from losing the baby--with a circlage--AFTER our daughter had been stillborn at 22 weeks a year earlier).
Anyway, our first had been delivered C-section and after a trial of labor with this baby, OB said, no,
let's do the C-section.

So, he nicks the bladder when he opens me up, but does the repair, so no leaking into the abdominal cavity.


BUT, almost 2 years later I'm admitted to hospital with a raging bladder/kidney infection and really high temp.
After an allergic response to the IVP dye (that was weird, I started sneezing uncontrollably, my throat is tightening and all of a sudden
the radiologist is brought in and administers Benadryl) and other tests, the urologist discovers that when the OB nicked my
bladder he also cut a nerve that controls emptying the bladder. So for the last couple of years, unbeknownst to me, my bladder
does not empty by itself and a small amount of urine remains providing a great place for bacteria to grow.

Long story short--I told the urologist "no more surgery" and I've lived with this situation ever since (about 25 years). I use the heel of
my hand to press on the bladder in order to fully empty it. Screw surgeons. I won't have surgery unless it's absolutely necessary (and I waited
as long as I could before having a hip replacement in 2007).

Scary stuff.