How close have you ever been to dying?

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missmacphisto

Refugee
Joined
Feb 28, 2001
Messages
1,957
Location
L.A. suburb , CA ,usa
I know this is an awful topic, but I'm not feeling well these days and i'd just like to know. Did you think you were actually gonna die? What did that feel like? Did you experience anything supernatural, like many who were "dead" for a short time claim to have?
For me, i guess it was 2 years ago this month. I came down with some sort of weird virus( i still dont know for sure what it was), didnt have a Dr or any money to spend on one, so, as usual, i decided to tough it out.
Thing was, i couldnt swallow much without choking, so i couldnt eat and drinking was pretty scary too.
I went over 5 days without fluids of any kind. That night, i was feeling a bit better so i drank a little something and even was able to take a couple bites of pizza.
Then around midnight i suddenly got very tired so i decided to lie down and go to bed. I laid my head down, and this horrid feeling started to come over me. I dismissed it as simple tiredness, but it got worse. And worse. Suddnely it felt, quite literally, as though the life was leaving my body. Like my soul was being sucked out. Scared the f***ing s*** out of me! I stood up, reeling, and started weakly shrieking "I'm dying, i'm dying!" My mom came in and I told her to call 911. But then the odd sensation started to leave me and i stopped her. But it came back, and i told her to call . Once again, it subsided a bit. This continued for some time, till suddenly i started feeling ill in a different way, and promptly got very sick.
I did not want to go to the hospital, because i hadnt been in an ER in over 14 years, and the last time i was treated terribly because we were poor, and i figured they would do it again- that is, not treat me because of not having any insurance. I didnt realise the laws had changed, and that now, all hospitals MUST treat you regardless of your ability to pay.(Though it doesnt always happen...)

So my mom called around trying to find one close by. She did, but i still stubbornly refused to go. Around 5 am, I finally gave in and took a taxi to the ER. This was 5 hours after the onset of my most serious symptoms.
Well, the DR assured me i wasnt gonna die, though they actually freaked a bit when i told them how long i'd gone without water,lol.
They wanted to give me a saline IV, but i hate IVs so i asked them if i'd be ok without it, they said yes, and i decided to go without. Bad move. Extermely stupid thing to do. I went in and out of feeling like i was on the verge of croaking for over 3 weeks. My vision/hearing would fade a bit, everything. And the weakness was unbelievable. It was much worse when i laid down - that seemed to bring about the death sensation, so i slept sitting up. It was awful, i missed Bruce Springsteen in concert, and the Moody Blues because of it. Damn!
biggrin.gif

The other times i have been close to death were the Northridge earthquake in '94, a shootout, when i missed catching an ill fated train, and in April, when i met the band and just thought i was gonna die!
wink.gif


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Look...look what you've done to me...You've made me poor and infamous, and I thank you...

My name is MISS MACPHISTO...I'm tired and i want to go HOME...

"Well you tell...Bonovista,that i said hello and that my codename is Belleview" - Bono before opening night of Anaheim Elevation concert


[This message has been edited by Miss MacPhisto (edited 11-02-2001).]
 
How are you feeling now? Any better?

I was once actually in a situation where I believe to this day that Satan tried to kill me. I won't elaborate, but it was very frightening indeed.
 
I've mostly recovered from that awful experience. I do have this weird problem with low lung volume though, that developed during that time, and its driving me nuts. No one seems to be able to even attempt to find out what it is, or even care. I have had a chest x ray though, and it is not my lungs that are the problem. they said i need an endoscopy.
Also i have several other health problems that have cropped, up, including heart palpitations, migraine headaches(which dont run in my family that i'm aware of,and I've never had those before), vertigo, and a lot of other things.I'm a basket case,lol.
I'm awful concerned, it could be serious and i just dont know what to do. Its not easy for me to get even one problem checked out, let alone several.
frown.gif
 
On Sept 11 that WHOLE day I was literally going around school and telling everyone that I loved them. It was REALLY weird. I seriously thought it was all over.

Also last year I had 4 or 5 panic attacks a month for like 6 months. I don't know why, but each time I SWORE I was about to die.

When I was about 8 my brother got caught in the undertow at the beach, and I pulled him out. He was 9 and I was 8! The lifeguard didn't even see. He was about to drown

Now I'm sad! BACK TO PLEBA with me!

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~*Mona*~
"It's not what you're dreaming
But what you're gonna do.
It's not where you're born.
It's where you belong.
It's not how weak
But what will make you strong."
 
Very close.

A year and a half ago, I got in a very bad car wreck(actually flipped my car over three times). I'm not the most religious person you'll ever meet, but I know somebody was definitely looking over me that night because 9 out of 10 times, the person would have died(that's what paramedics told me). Since then, I have a new outlook on life. I live everyday like it could be my last. I never hold back anymore. I also don't drive like an idiot anymore!
wink.gif


BTW, I hope you feel better Miss Macphisto!

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"I'm gonna start a day care!"-Bono
 
One night, about 3 weeks before I moved out of my parents house, I went over to a friends. We were going to go out to the movies and grab a late bite but not stay out too late because we both had work the next day. I had previously gone out to dinner beforehand and was feeling a little ill, but I went to my friend's house anyway to get ready for a night out. An hour had passed and my stomach cramps had gotten so severe. I thought, "Well, I have food poisoning" and decided not to go out but to crash at my friend's house because I had gotten too ill to drive home. All night long I was sick, and I have an iron stomach so the experience was unusual for me. There was a sharp twisting sensation in my abdomen that was excruciating and every time I moved it felt like someone was puching me with gloves coated in glass shards. By 4 in the morning I hadn't gotten any sleep and my friends were worried. My mother had called and I couldn't even talk to her. About 3 hours later I was dehydrated and passing out my friend called my mom and they both carried me out to the car and drove me to the hospital.

I was released that day, only to be readmitted a couple of days later because the constant pain was unbearable. I was diagnosed with 4 different things, every test came back inconclusive.

Finally, 2 weeks later I had managed to move out of my house. The pain was better but I still felt sick to my stomach all the time. I was on a cocktail of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory pills but they didn't seem to be helping the pain. I had no money, no insurance so I wasn't going to go back to the doctor any time too soon, so I thought.

I came home from work and the pain was pretty bad, really bad actually. I thought a nice warm soak in the tub would do me some good, so I drew a bath. I got in the tub and the pain hit me like a white light and I doubled over. I quickly got out, threw on some clothes, and went to lay down on the bed and wish the pain away. Our cat, a stray, was pawing me and meowing madly. When I closed my eyes he'd start shrieking - but eventually I couldn't keep my eyes open any more. The pain had become so bad, my whole body went numb. I felt a weird buzzing in my head and my body felt completely weightless. After a little while I couldn't feel anything - not the bed I was lying on, the cat nuzzling on my face, my feet, my hands, my stomach cramps, nothing. It was so odd, because I felt like I was losing consciousness but I wasn't. I was aware of everything that was happening to me. The ceiling in my room seemed to disappear and became engulfed in a soft white haze and I suddenly felt very warm and the pain was gone. The cat's meows became more muffled and soon all I could hear what appeared to sound like the blood rushing through my veins and the thud of my heart beating. I thought, "I'm ready and at least the pain is gone." It's so weird, because I knew I should've been scared, but at that time I was so relieved that there was no more pain that nothing else seemed to matter. I seemed to drift in that haze in my room and the next thing I knew I was looking into my roommate's face. She had come home minutes earlier and heard the cat in the bedroom, so she came in to see what was the matter. She said she had been trying to wake me up for about 5 minutes but she couldn't "revive" me. When I got my bearings I became sick, and my friend (who was with me during the first incident) called my mom again and took me to the hospital.

It turned out that my appendix had ruptured around the time I went to take the bath, but had been swollen and seeping toxins (leaking) since my first attack. The antibiotics and anti-inflammatory pills managed to keep me alive for those 2 long weeks, but finally my body just gave out.

I owe my ex roommate big time!

Sorry bout the long story here...
 
wow some of these stories have given me shivers...

Well for me, about 2 years ago, I got in a wreck 2 months after I first started driving. I was not at fault, I was just driving home from a friend's house, minding my business. Then a truck drives right into the side of me and I was shoved into a lane of oncoming traffic. I was so frozen, and just sat there for a bit thankful that a car didn't happen to be crossing at that moment because they were moving pretty rapidly. I didn't experience any actual sensations of life leaving my body, but I did have a few experiences flash before my eyes there.

I was listening to "Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car" at the moment of impact... freaky!
 
Whoah, Adam's Mistress!! I was rushed into the hospital on May 1, 1983, and they removed my appendix BARELY in time. An hour later and it would have ruptured. This was 3 months after I went to the doctor with a pain in my "stomach" and the doctor said the pain was "in my head," that I was stressed about my grandma passing away 3 weeks earlier, and I should see a psychologist! Yeah, right!

Anyway, to answer the question: There were 2 incidents. On May 1 (there goes that date again!), 1991, I was hit by a car while walking across the street (yes, I had the light and the right-of-way!). I was bruised up and my upper left arm was fractured. My backpack saved me from a head injury. Well, a week later, I was on my way to meet a friend for lunch, and I was still on pain meds from the accident. I was sorta dazed, and as I started to cross the street (green light in my favor), a truck driver started honking at me furiously. It freaked me out and I went back to where I started. Then I realized what was going on. I had heard the siren, but it didn't "register" as I was spaced out on Vicodin. An ambulence went flying by. It would have hit me and I wouldn't be here!

The other time was when a mentally-ill neighbor almost pushed me over a 15th-floor balcony rail in September, 1986. I screamed for help and two male neighbors came out and got that creep off of me.

These days, I WANNA LIVE! BTW, I have long since recovered from my apprehensions of the date May 1, the sound of screeching brakes and sirens, and heights! (The Hancock Building in Chicago was awesome...I went there when I went to Chicago to see U2 last month!)

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"You're dangerous...'cause you're honest"

[This message has been edited by MysteryGirl (edited 11-02-2001).]
 
I totally forgotten about it!

I was very close. I don't remember exactly when it happened. I was about 12.

My mom took me and my sis to a "summer trip" from the company she is working ( Now I work there as well). We were sharing table with a friend of mom, and she had 2 kids. I got bored sitting there so I stood up and sat on the edge of the swimming pool. Later on, the oldest kid of mom's friend, came to me and said:

Hey, do you wanna check if the pool is deep?
I said no (because I CAN'T SWIM) and turned away from him. He followed me and repeated the question. I was telling him to back off, when suddenly he PUSHED ME into the swimming pool. I was horrified and thinking: I have to SAVE my self from drowning. I tryed to swim, I tryed to raise my hands for someone to see me, I was battling to keep my head outside the water. I kept doing all that for about 3 minutes (Trust me: It feels like an eternity) and when I got tired and couldn't resist, I said to myself: This is it, I'm gonna die. The memories of all my beloved came to mind. It's odd because at that point I didn't felt scared or sad. I felt so free, so peaceful. I was ready to drown, when (Oh my God, I have tears in my eyes now
frown.gif
) I was ready to drown, when as a miracle, I felt someone pulling my hair up above. I swear it didn't hurt, but in my mind I said: I'm gonna live! I'm gonna live!

I was still conscious. People were surprised because they had seen me in the water, but they thought i was Playing (idiots!
mad.gif
)and I lasted a long time in the water without asphixiating or swallowing water.

OMG! I just realized I'M ALIVE! , what a beautiful feeling. I've been so stupid having worries about things I cannot change. Thanks for this thread. It has enlighted me
*grateful*

*Wishing all of you who had been close to die or in a great danger, a lot of joy and happiness in your lifes, for you and your beloved*

smile.gif


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*~"Bono's Pupeteer"~*

*And if the mountain should crumble
Or disappear into the sea
Not a tear
No, not I...*



[This message has been edited by Ana (edited 11-02-2001).]
 
A life-guard pulled me out of the water half-dead (actually I prefer half-alive) when I was about 7.
 
I have a problem with unexplained fainting...I just faint suddenly without really any warning. People around me usually think I'm dead because it's hard to find my pulse sometimes, and I don't breathe normal when I'm unconscious. Sometimes I hit my head when I fall too, so people freak out and think I have a massive head injury or something.



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"I don't know you,
But you don't know the half of it..."
 
Hmmm....Bonochick, is that like narcolepsy? weird.

Four years ago I was diagnosed with cancer [all better now]. The funny thing is that the form I had doesn't occur that often and mostly in men. Yet I had it and two of my friends who are also women were diagnosed with it. Very odd.

Then two months ago I was in my office across the street from the Trade Center when all that crap happened. I was outside and two blocks away when the first tower collapsed and really thought I was going to die right then and there. I ended up sprinting three blocks until I got to a building to duck in to.

Cancer has more of a prolonged "Hmmmm....I could die." effect whereas running from 110 stories of collapsing building has a more jolting "I'm gonna die now!" kind of effect. Very weird both ways.

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"Things will not be the same in this city for us." -Bono, Dublin, February 1980
 
I can imagine both of those scenarios only too easily... Wow. What a surreal feeling it would be.
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Look...look what you've done to me...You've made me poor and infamous, and I thank you...

My name is MISS MACPHISTO...I'm tired and i want to go HOME...

"Well you tell...Bonovista,that i said hello and that my codename is Belleview" - Bono before opening night of Anaheim Elevation concert
 
Originally posted by Bonochick:

I have a problem with unexplained fainting...I just faint suddenly without really any warning. People around me usually think I'm dead because it's hard to find my pulse sometimes, and I don't breathe normal when I'm unconscious. Sometimes I hit my head when I fall too, so people freak out and think I have a massive head injury or something.


Bonochick...I had a friend at one time who fainted or blacked out some years ago. The doctors thought she was in a diabetic coma. Several years after that, a doctor discovered that she had a BRAIN TUMOR!!! That was more likely what caused her blackouts.

Miraculously, they removed the brain tumor (which was benign, but HUGE!) She healed from that surgery faster tham any other diabetic would have.

Moral of the story: If one doctor can't explain it, find another one and get another opinion. If the second opinion comes up blank...get a THIRD one!



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"You're dangerous...'cause you're honest"
 
Originally posted by MysteryGirl:
Bonochick...I had a friend at one time who fainted or blacked out some years ago. The doctors thought she was in a diabetic coma. Several years after that, a doctor discovered that she had a BRAIN TUMOR!!! That was more likely what caused her blackouts.

Miraculously, they removed the brain tumor (which was benign, but HUGE!) She healed from that surgery faster tham any other diabetic would have.

Moral of the story: If one doctor can't explain it, find another one and get another opinion. If the second opinion comes up blank...get a THIRD one!


Gee, good morning to me...why did I read this?? *lol*
wink.gif


I hate seeing doctors. Some people have told me that maybe it's from stress. It's probably just that.

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"I don't know you,
But you don't know the half of it..."
 
When I was still very very young (about 4 or 5) I went to a little store next to my home one day. I bought 3 glass bottles of Coke. When I was bringing those bottles back to my home, I got tripped. The glass were broken and it cut deeply into my arms. I lost a lot of blood. One of my neightbor soon found that I was laying on the ground unconsciously with lots of blood. She called the police and I was sent into the ER. I was okay but my mom was definately scared.

That's it, not very scary...
tongue.gif
 
last november, omg it's almost been 1 year since this, a friend and i were mugged at knifepoint by some punks on a saturday night in downtown ottawa. the guy told me to take my wallet out so i did but instead of handing it to him i just pulled out the ten dollar bill that was in it and handed it to him, leaving my (unsigned!) credit card in the wallet.
but when that guy stepped into me and rested that blade, and i could feel it was real sharp, i thought it was all over-everything flashed before me: my girlfriend, my friends my parents and family.
they took off without any bigger incident luckily.
it just pissed me off that they did that for $10 canadian dollars, my friend gave one of the other guys his whole wallet which had no money and no credit cards.
on the upside i have savored every moment since.

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always wear your safety belt
 
Damn! Just found out last night that one of my friends from school almost died in a car crash. She was driving back from college when a piece of wood went through her windshield. Both her wrists and hands were shattered and her face is very cut up.

Worst thing is that the guy who was driving the truck carrying the wood fled the scene.

She has a long road of recovery ahead for her. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

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Schabow
 
Originally posted by mikal:
Damn! Just found out last night that one of my friends from school almost died in a car crash. She was driving back from college when a piece of wood went through her windshield. Both her wrists and hands were shattered and her face is very cut up.

Worst thing is that the guy who was driving the truck carrying the wood fled the scene.

She has a long road of recovery ahead for her. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.


You got it.



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"You're dangerous...'cause you're honest"
 
You got it mikal...
Oh my gosh you guys, this thread as scared me, really badly. I'm glad all of you are ok. I'm freaking out a little bit now...
 
When I was 4 or 5, my family and I went to Ocean City, Maryland and we rented an apartment to stay in for the week. It was right on a sort of canal or something. Anyway, one day my mother was sitting out on the balcony (above the water) and I was sitting by her on the floor. And then, somehow, I suddenly slipped through the bars - I can't remember how. But there I was, holding on, dangling...I can still see myself dropping my cup into the water. My mom pulled me up by my long hair.

Another story...this isn't near death but kind of related...I have had problems with depression and social phobia and two years ago, I was seeing a psychologist one day. And in the middle of the session, this faint and soft light kind of blinked above my head...and it wasn't the window because the sun wasn't over at that angle. The psych said "Oh look, something's blinking above you." Maybe someone upstairs was looking out for me.
 
Thanks everone!

I talked to her today and she's in rough shape but has a very positive outlook which will help her recover.

Her accident has really made me think about my accident a year and a half ago(see my above post). I find it weird how I survived when so many other people would have died in the same situation. It makes me wonder if I have an important purpose on this world and it frustrates me every day not knowing what that purpose is. It's weird that such a blessing(the fact that I'm still alive) could disturb me this much.

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Schabow
 
I have a reoccurring prophetic dream that I die in a car crash the January before I graduate--that would be this january. I have the intersection and everything. I dream that someone runs a stop sign and rams into the drivers side of my car going like 50 mph. I mames me and I am unrecognizable even to myself. My psychology teacher says that I should avoid the corner in January (WELL DUH!) because it is a self- fulfilling prophecy. I don't believe that because why would it be self-fulfilling to die!? That's my nightly brush with death...

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Go lightly down your darkened way.
 
Lilly,

Not saying that this is something that should be taken literally or not, but I think that what your teacher means by a self-fulfilling prophecy is that you might get so caught up in that thought that it might actually happen because you would be so focused on it.

I can't come up with a good example right now, but you know how "they" say that before a big event, you should visualize yourself succeeding instead of telling yourself that you're not good enough? That sort of thing.
 
**cass holds her fingers about.005mms apart**
oohh about this close. Car accidents are a recurring theme here it seems. Yep I was in 0netoo.
(((hugs 2U and your puppy)))

[This message has been edited by cass (edited 11-28-2001).]
 
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