Touched by the Angel (Of Death)

[Sausage_Boi]

Has anyone else had any close encounters with Azrael? I had seen Ikari's post about nearly being run over, and it reminded me of the time I have been in near fatal situations, including:

Waking up to my room on fire, FILLED WITH SMOKE. I didn't even have a smoke detector, so it was pure luck that I woke up from my dream about tiny volcanoes. (Seriously, I was dreaming about looking at a live volcano that was about 3 feet tall, and it was popping and lava and hot rocks would fly everywhere. I woke up, and heard that same popping noise. Mind you, I had my head under the blanket (its how I sleep) and so I tried to go back to sleep, and I kept hearing that blasted popping noise. Finally I grew frustrated and threw off the blanket, and as I did, I seen at the foot of my bed, a gray haze and a bright orange light. Then I heard the popping noise and had seen embers fly... "OH ****! FIRE!" I bee lined for my door, went out and CLOSED IT BEHIND ME! I was going to throw water on it, but it was out of control, so I got my housemates out and we called 911. I was black as night from the smoke and soot, wearing a pair of pants. The firefighters were shocked I had woken up with no detector. So was I, frankly. After the damage was done, I went back and looked. It was just the one room that burned, the fire climbed the wall by the foot of my bed, burned the ceiling across the other side of the room, and MELTED my laptop on my desk. It seriously make a big black line to my laptop from one side of the room to the next. I wish I had pics, but I have since lost them. For some reason, the fire destroyed my laptop, but the milkcrate of vinyl records that belonged to my friend in the airforce were UNSCATHED. they were like 2 feet away from my laptop. (I think that machine was cursed, because not much else was damaged before the firehose blasted in gallons of aqua.)

I have nearly drowned from being stupid. I couldn't swim in 4th grade, but I didn't want to be the only person in the shallow end, so I jumped right off the diving board. Needless to say, I plunged. It was my cousin who pulled me out, while the lifeguard stood on the sidelines watching like an idiot.

And when I was in 1st grade, I had pneumonia so bad the doctors gave me a spinal tap, and told my parents I was most likely not going to make it through the first night in the hospital. I don't remember much of that period other than I.V.s and a superman coloring book...

I have also been stalked by mountain lions... which are freaking scary, because they are so sneaky and quiet. 

Those are my significant encounters. Anyone else?

 

[mlogan]

Wow, that fire sounds crazy. I'm guessing the way it traveled in a line to your laptop, it must have been an electric fire.

As for me, my daughter and I were actually almost ran over just yesterday. We were walking through a parking lot and this car started to back out. She never saw us. I was trying so hard to pull my daughter out of the way, but she didn't understand what was going on and was resisting because this lady did not see us and was not stopping. Also, my hurt leg is still weak and almost gave out on me. It was one of those moments that felt like you were moving through mud - nothing was happening fast enough. I finally managed to get us out of the way and it was not until she'd backed out enough that her window was even with us that she realized we were there.

She rolled her window down and said "Sorry, I looked but didn't see you."  Not sure how you miss a 5'7" woman directly behind your car.

 

[Warpmind]

Well, there've been a few incidents, alright...
Such as when i was a wee snotling, perhaps seven or eight years old, and decided to try to hook up my 1.5V DC electromotor (for model boats and such) to 230V AC, by way of, well, thrusting the wires (which were rated for single-digit voltages) into the wall outlet...
There were sparks, alright, but no harm done.
Also been a few incidents where I've been maybe an inch or so away from severe head trauma while not even noticing the proximity of massive, fast-moving objects near my head...
And the time I slipped on ice on the sidewalk and saw both feet rise past ly field of vision before gravity took hold... I was "lucky" and managed to tense myself up to the point where only my dignity hit the asphalt, and my head scarcely even brushed the ground - but I spent the next three days in bed with a full frontal muscle strain, crotch to chin, and about a square foot of bruising across the, um, well, aforementioned dignity.

Mostly, though, I've managed to avoid the emotional stress of the situations and remained calm due to... not realizing the peril until well after the fact, when everything had been processed anyway.
 

Frankly, I'm pretty much convinced I have a Guardian Angel walking by my side. Who is drunk. And weeping.

 

[Alexander Amnell]

I've almost been run over a couple of times; some near misses when I worked at walmart, the worst of which had me dive-rolling on asphalt to dodge a jackass spinning their wheels as they fly out of their spot and take the turn at at least 30 miles an hour. If I hadn't looked around as soon as I heard him/her peeling out I might be dead right now so I guess that counts.

There was another incident maybe 5 years ago where I was approached at a mall parking lot by some kid with a pocket knife, though a cz75 trained onto him within a second of flashing his knife(Gun was in my trunk that I was putting bags in at the time; I'd either just gone to the range or had in days prior and forgot to get it out.) had him sprinting for safety. Don't know if that was a near death experience for me, but I had a toddler with me and if the dumb kid had hesitated a moment before running off I can't necessarily say he'd have lived. Now I'm rarely out after dark, just don't trust people anymore; they're to stupid.

Animals on the other hand, at least you can predict. I've been camping and hiking since I was a small child, been close enough to watch bears, coyotes an bobcats in the wild and the closest to death I'd come was to be bitten by a cotton mouth. (Snakes kill like 5 people in U.S a year). Give me dealing with animals anyday, at least you can completely understand (thus mostly avoid) when they try to kill you.

 

[Bastrophian]

Well....easter last year we had this guy bunking with us and he decided he would stay up late and make easter eggs....he fell asleep while the were boiling and the next thing I know, I'm waking up to a thick noxious veil of smoke, confused as heck and scrambling to figure out what was going on. Well, the fire wasint really that big, it didint even spread past the stove top, but the dude sure got chewed out by my sis.

So....im'a call this one "near death, by sqauting Dodo".

 

[Warpmind]

<snip> though a cz75 trained onto him <snip>

As a firearms enthusiast (in the sense that I admire the engineering of a well made firearm, not so much that I want a substantial collection, or that I shoot a lot), I gotta ask - is that one of the original, "super-steel" (and yes, I know, that's slightly exaggerated from the actual steel quality) CZ75s, or a later variant?

 

[Dalph]

I mentioned this one already in another thread:

On a mountain.

Years ago I got lost on a mountain during a trip with a few friends, it was late night, the visibility was poor and I was forced to go down from a cliff without ropes or anything to get out from there. I got scared to death, one mistake and I would've probably died, I don't know how I managed to do it but I did it.

Also this:

On the beach.

I was 16y old and almost drowning because "like a real IDIOT" I decided to go swimming even if the sea was very agitated and the wind violent and when I got distracted for a few seconds, a sudden hard wave crashed on my face and made me fall underwater. I had a lot of troubles in getting out of the water at first, the waves were too strong and the pressure kept me under, I felt weak, I panicked for a few seconds and I couldn't coordinate my movements anymore. In that exact moment I said to myself: This is it, I'm dead. A few seconds later I got an idea though, I basically made a very big and strong jump to get out from there and it worked! I was able to breath for a few seconds, I calmed down and I was able (in some way) to resume swimming slowly and return to the surface again.

Moral of the story: Don't attempt to swim when the sea is too agitated.

 

[Clord]

I mentioned this one already in another thread:


On a mountain.


Years ago I got lost on a mountain during a trip with a few friends, it was late night, the visibility was poor and I was forced to go down from a cliff without ropes or anything to get out from there. I got scared to death, one mistake and I would've probably died, I don't know how I managed to do it but I did it.


Also this:


On the beach.


I was 16y old and almost drowning because "like a real IDIOT" I decided to go swimming even if the sea was very agitated and the wind violent and when I got distracted for a few seconds, a sudden hard wave crashed on my face and made me fall underwater. I had a lot of troubles in getting out of the water at first, the waves were too strong and the pressure kept me under, I felt weak, I panicked for a few seconds and I couldn't coordinate my movements anymore. In that exact moment I said to myself: This is it, I'm dead. A few seconds later I got an idea though, I basically made a very big and strong jump to get out from there and it worked! I was able to breathe again for a few seconds, I calmed down and I was able (in some way) to resume swimming slowly and return to the surface again.


Moral of the story: Don't attempt to swim when the sea is too agitated.

I wouldn't be surprised if someone has tried to surf tsunami.


Edit: Yup. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2349213/Surfer-Garrett-McNamara-cheats-death-person-ride-tsunami-wave.html

 

[Oddball]

Iv'e almost been swept out to sea twice...

the first time i was able to get out of the current and swim back. The second time, someone had to swim after me and help me back

 

[captainproton]

I almost hit a cow one night on the highway. It was a black cow, and was pretty much invisible until it turned it's white face towards me.

 

[Alexander Amnell]

As a firearms enthusiast (in the sense that I admire the engineering of a well made firearm, not so much that I want a substantial collection, or that I shoot a lot), I gotta ask - is that one of the original, "super-steel" (and yes, I know, that's slightly exaggerated from the actual steel quality) CZ75s, or a later variant?

Full steel frame military issue from 1982. Saw the piece banged to heck in a gun and pawn maybe 6-8 years back asking 250. I was fascinated by the way the slide fit into the frame and bought it on impulse; probably the best impulse buy I've made, head and shoulders above my other pistol(a glock 22) in all areas except size. With it's weight the recoil is so negligible that a nine year old can keep aim while firing it. Definitely a fun firearm to take to the range, and dependable to, it just looks like it shouldn't be.

 

[Omega Weapon]

A car ran over my foot, that is the closest I have ever been.

 

[kj3400]

I almost drowned when I was 4, at Adventure World (it's Six Flags now). How or why I was in a pool much too deep for me will remain a mystery to me.