Near Death Experiences: Classic or Dud?

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed
Today, I was driving home from my friend Charles's house when the steering column/entire front of my dad's car decided it wanted to fall out. The steering arms decided that they wanted to rust through, swerving me to the right into oncoming traffic. Luckily I was not on the highway or I would likely be dead.

I say: DUD.

Ian Johnson (orion), Sunday, 9 May 2004 00:35 (nineteen years ago) link

One Saturday afternoon I was driving on the 405 freeway in Los Angeles (the world's busiest, FYI) when the bar connecting my left rear wheel to my axle snapped, causing my car to lurch and then spin out across several lanes of traffic, right in front of a semi, between several other cars, coming to a grinding halt in front of two lanes of oncoming traffic that stopped about three yards from me. Two seconds earlier, I would have been dead since I would have spun out underneath the semi. DUD DUD DUD, but classic in that it was a near death experience as opposed to a death experience.

Gear! (Gear!), Sunday, 9 May 2004 00:40 (nineteen years ago) link

I rolled a car and landed on my head. Miraculously I got away unscathed, apart from a tiny bone chip in my arm.

Autumn Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Sunday, 9 May 2004 00:43 (nineteen years ago) link

goddamn. i hate cars. i officially am renouncing all car driving activities in favor of bike & bus riding.

gear! make me your friendster (seriously!!!)

Ian Johnson (orion), Sunday, 9 May 2004 00:44 (nineteen years ago) link

Years ago, I was driving down the interstate to pick up my grandfather from the airport. This was about a month or two after I'd gotten my license. All of a sudden, this beat up car merges onto the highway and forces me out of my lane. That would've been ok, except that there was nowhere for me to go because the other lane was occupied by a huge petroleum tanker. That left me straddling the two lanes in my little piece of crap hatchback, screaming "Oh shit!" at the top of my lungs. I finally slammed on my brake and managed to get behind the tanker, but by that point I must have been on autopilot. I didn't exactly look to see if there was room for me there. (Nor did it occur to me to use my horn at any point, it all happend so fast.)

the krza (krza), Sunday, 9 May 2004 01:06 (nineteen years ago) link

I've totaled many cars, and have had many brushes with death, but the only thing that keeps me up at night is this: When I was little, my friends and I would go down to this toxic beach near my house. The beach was condemned and no one ever went there - the water was brown. Not only did we use this hangout spot to break wiffle ball bats in two and use them to shoot fireworks out of (usually at one another), but we'd do this on slippery, seaweed-y rocks perched 30 or 40 feet above more rocks. It was a miracle no one ever slipped and fell to their gruesome death.

roger adultery (roger adultery), Sunday, 9 May 2004 01:11 (nineteen years ago) link

if everything moved slower, we'd have a lot fewer deaths

chrisco (chrisco), Sunday, 9 May 2004 01:12 (nineteen years ago) link

has anyone here ever had a "real" NDE, like when your heart stops and you go towards the light and stuff?

s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 9 May 2004 04:56 (nineteen years ago) link

Yeah, that's what I thought this thread would be about, 'cos I think it's total BS, but if you've seen 'the light', I'd like to hear about it.

I once skidded on some ice on a residential street with parked cars up and down either side. I was doing 'doughnuts' down the street and somehow managed to avoid hitting every car. The car only stopped when I hit a telephone pole, and I walked away unscathed. That was my near-death experience. That, and when a car blew a stop sign and ran into me.

Kerry (dymaxia), Sunday, 9 May 2004 05:01 (nineteen years ago) link

i drove off a hill/cliff in morocco once due to the "highway" suddenly turning from pavement to gravel without a sign in the middle of the night; the car rolled over three times and came to a stop mid-way down the hill. i was more afraid that i'd kill/hurt the other people in the car than about my own demise (living with that might be worse). it turned out everyone was more or less fine, miraculously, as 3 other cars had fallen off in the same spot that same day & all passengers of all 3 were in the hospital in critical condition.

as the (drunk) police were helping us up the cliff, another car came by and almost fell in, swirved around twice.

i also once picked up a power line that was half down (a branch had fallen on it) to move it out of the driveway, without thinking. i'm not sure how dangerous moving power lines is, actually, but it struck me afterwards as a ridiculously stupid thing to do.

j c (j c), Sunday, 9 May 2004 05:02 (nineteen years ago) link

the last one: as i am now slightly panicky when it comes to flying, i figured the eurostar would be safe. no, when we returned the driver noticed another train coming at us full speed! eek! he was smart enough to *stop* and warn the other one. phwew.

jesus nathalie (nathalie), Sunday, 9 May 2004 06:11 (nineteen years ago) link

i am going to bake a pizza for my friends with pot in it when i get back to school.

*SCORE*

(it will have to be vegan though???!?!?! does vegan cheese melt like regular cheese?!??!! or should i just say "fuck you, vegans!"?)

Ian Johnson (orion), Sunday, 9 May 2004 06:17 (nineteen years ago) link

fuck that was the wrong thread.

Ian Johnson (orion), Sunday, 9 May 2004 06:18 (nineteen years ago) link

Oh god I thought you said venga cheese and I was sore afraid.

Trayce (trayce), Sunday, 9 May 2004 06:37 (nineteen years ago) link

complete dud. The near death experiences i've had haven't taught me anything worthwhile except extreme fear. DUD DUD DUD!

ipsofacto (ipsofacto), Sunday, 9 May 2004 06:44 (nineteen years ago) link

well being hit by a car sure taught me to look both ways and then look again

sandy mc (sandy mc), Sunday, 9 May 2004 07:40 (nineteen years ago) link

i figured the eurostar would be safe. no, when we returned the driver noticed another train coming at us full speed! eek! he was smart enough to *stop* and warn the other one. phwew.

Um, are you sure about this? A Eurostar's full-speed stopping distance is measured in miles.

(well, kilometres)

caitlin (caitlin), Sunday, 9 May 2004 08:40 (nineteen years ago) link

Many years ago, when the seatbelt laws weren't in effect, while travelling on a two-lane highway, the steering came off of our old car too. We swerved went down over an embankment and just stopped short of hitting a tree in the field head on! Dangerous stuff!

Gale (gale2g2004@gosympatico.ca), Sunday, 9 May 2004 08:45 (nineteen years ago) link

I had a NDE. It was calm and peaceful and sort of like being frozen in an empty hinterland of the soul.Sort of ...absence of everything - pain, fear, feeling. Peaceful, but kind of regretful, because there was nothing going on, just limbo.Like my body was there and I could see it and I made a decision to come back to it. i am not sure if it was a true NDE or whether I was in deep deep shock. I am not sure whether C or D

badger Kitten (badger Kitten), Sunday, 9 May 2004 17:01 (nineteen years ago) link

threads like these and the shit I see daily on the roads make me want to just TAKE THE BUS.

uh (eetface), Sunday, 9 May 2004 17:02 (nineteen years ago) link

TS: dying in your own car vs. dying on a city bus?

Ian Johnson (orion), Sunday, 9 May 2004 17:04 (nineteen years ago) link

I think near death experiences are fine. After all, you didn't die.

Aja (aja), Sunday, 9 May 2004 17:23 (nineteen years ago) link

True. But it hurt coming back. Ow.

badger Kitten (badger Kitten), Sunday, 9 May 2004 17:24 (nineteen years ago) link

I had a NDE as a result of a massive asthma attack many years ago. I got the 'bright white light' thing but it seemed more as a result of my senses closing down - my field of vision got smaller and smaller, a bit like the way the little white dot of light disappears into the centre of the TV set when you pull out the plug. If that makes any sense.

My first words on being brought back round again in hospital were "they came for me, but I wouldn't go with them", but that's probably gibberish since they'd pumped me full of aminophyllin and adrenaline etc by then.

C J (C J), Sunday, 9 May 2004 17:28 (nineteen years ago) link

They? Aliens? Angels? The med team?

badger Kitten (badger Kitten), Sunday, 9 May 2004 17:30 (nineteen years ago) link

Yeah, it is pretty telling how many of these are about cars. (xpost)

A non-car (though not "real") NDE that I don't remember myself: when I was a toddler, my mom had left me alone for a second and returned to the room to find me inches from sticking a paper clip into an electric socket. You figure my chances, had she not been there to stop me, were 1 in 2 . . .

the krza (krza), Sunday, 9 May 2004 17:32 (nineteen years ago) link

xpost

I don't really know. I was quite adamant about someone having turned up to collect me, but I think often people are subconsciously influenced by things they've read or films they've seen so it could have been my imagination playing tricks.

I remember the event quite clearly. The 'bright white light' was centred on glass doors leading out into the garden of the house where the asthma attack happened, and I was vaguely aware of two people standing outside in the garden behind this light. It was about midnight on a January night, so there wasn't any real light in the garden at that time, and certainly nobody was out in the garden. There was a lot of activity in the room though, with paramedics hooking me up to oxygen masks etc, so perhaps I was just confused.

The whole episode seemed very peaceful at the time it was actually happening, but know I was very tearful and shaken when I regained consciousness afterwards.

C J (C J), Sunday, 9 May 2004 17:37 (nineteen years ago) link

Hmmm. Well. I've been turning this over in my mind for a long time and have concluded that, whatever death might lead to, whether oblivion or something else, it makes no sense to fear it. It's life that is (as Buddha aptly pointed out) suffering. Also, death is coming to get you, no matter what you do.

As for NDE, I'd say classic. White light. Friendly hands to guide you along. All it lacks to make it perfect are snacks and drinks.

Aimless (Aimless), Sunday, 9 May 2004 17:59 (nineteen years ago) link

i'm guessing that they don't have MOT testing in America...

ken c (ken c), Sunday, 9 May 2004 18:05 (nineteen years ago) link

TS: dying in your own car vs. dying on a city bus?

eh, no one ever dies on a city bus. unless they're in israel.

stockholm cindy (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 9 May 2004 18:09 (nineteen years ago) link

I ddin't see any white light. Or friendly hands. I was just dark and peaveful and feeling-free. Maybe you get the near death expereince you expect. Perhapos you get the heaven or hell you think you deserve?

badger Kitten (badger Kitten), Sunday, 9 May 2004 18:33 (nineteen years ago) link

well, I'd say your chances are better on a bus, unless you topple over somehow...plus you don't have to use your own gas, and, the main thing is, a lot of people would go down with you :)

uh (eetface), Sunday, 9 May 2004 18:42 (nineteen years ago) link

thirteen years pass...

4x4 crossed the divide onto the dual carriageway in front of me today, passed me by inches going the wrong way at full speed in my lane as I swerved onto nonexistent hard shoulder. Both probably doing 70mph. No idea was it heart attack, suicide attempt, a Mario kart shortcut or what but he carried on, I couldn't stop or go back, so called the cops and went on the way. Stopped for a nice shake an hour or so later.

jk rowling obituary thread (darraghmac), Saturday, 22 July 2017 20:56 (six years ago) link

In car with me: wife, brother, niece, so I was all cheery about it once he was safely past. The four seconds until that happened were deeply unpleasant

jk rowling obituary thread (darraghmac), Saturday, 22 July 2017 21:00 (six years ago) link

yikes, glad yr all ok :|

mark s, Saturday, 22 July 2017 21:06 (six years ago) link

you aren't alone, mark

A is for (Aimless), Saturday, 22 July 2017 22:38 (six years ago) link


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.