Recently, IaskedBuzzFeed readerswho survived near-death experiences to share their stories.
“50 years ago, we were in line for tickets to a boat tour.
The boat was a WWII PT boat that’d been converted.
Anonymous
2.
“When I was 11 or 12, I was playing hide and seek with my cousins outside.
I sat in there for around a half hour before I got tired of waiting.
I never heard it pull up.
You should have seen the looks on the trash guys' faces!”
lazygamer141
3.
“In 2022, my three kids and I lived in an apartment with a gas stove.
We got home one night, completely exhausted.
When we entered the apartment, something immediately felt off.
We continued to settle in my kids distracted, playing with slime and it still didn’t feel right.
I couldn’t place what it was.
I asked the kids if they smelled something, and they all said no.
Gas had been filling the apartment for who knows how long.
My kids didnt smell gas.
Here we are in 2024, and I have yet to regain my sense of smell and taste.
So, I ask you this: how did I know about the gas?”
Jen, Texas, USA
4.This happened to my mom.
One day, they accidentally drove off a cliff.
They were stranded but luckily found a tow truck and were able to get home safely.
This story still blows my mind every time my mom tells it.”
brackenleaf54
5.
“Years ago, we had an old refrigerator in our basement garage.
It kept blowing the fuse, so we decided to sell it for scrap.
Being my mothers child, I decided to clean it before the man came to get it.
It had rained the night before, and the garage floor was wet.
It felt like it had a vise grip around my heart.
As I fell, I remember thinking that my hand would come loose.
The refrigerator fell with me!”
“There was a table in front of the fridge that kept it from landing on top of me.
I did what she said, and I was free from the beast!
This happened all in a manner of seconds!
Tracy Garmon, Cumming, GA
6.
“It was my 21st bday.
My friends had arranged a house party and agreed to pick me up at my apartment.
We pre-gamed a little bit, and one of my friends brought a friend, and she didnt indulge.
I chose to ride with her to the party, thinking it’d be safest.
We were going down the highway and needed to merge to make the exit to another highway.
The other driver wouldnt let us in, and the friend merged anyway.
To miss the other driver, she swerved.
The exit to the other highway was an overpass with no guardrails.
After her over-correction, we fell off the overpass.”
“Somehow, in the moment, everything felt like it slowed down.
I remembered a training in driver’s ed that said not to tense up if youre about to crash.
That thought ran through my head, and I believe it saved my life.
The airbags didnt deploy, and the speed gauge was stopped at 85mph.
She survived somehow with a broken back, two breaks in each leg, and severe head trauma.
There are bike ride tours that you’re able to get while on vacation.
I was 12, with my sister (13), and dad.
We woke up early for the morning tour, and it was so beautiful.
Anyway, the tour company provided the bikes for us to go down the mountain on.
I grabbed one, and it was perfect.
I put it down and grabbed another one, but I couldnt get a grasp of the bike.
Unlike the kid’s bike, it was a hand break, which I wasnt used to.
It was too big for me, but I carried on.”
I rode my bike right over the edge.
After hugging, crying, and laughing, my dad asked if I wanted to try riding it again.
I said no thanks.
“I was in a crosswalk, crossing in front of a car that was waiting to turn left.
Thankfully, I wasn’t injured and was just left a bit shocked.
kindly check for pedestrians before blowing through a crosswalk!”
puffytheplatypus
9.
“I was driving my Classic Jeep Cherokee across Florida to visit a relative.
It began to drizzle, which made the road slick.
It felt like I was in a giant blender.
As the Jeep was flipping, I could hear the windows imploding.
When it finally stopped, it was right-side up, but the doors wouldnt open.
I was in shock and moving slowly, but I didnt seem to have any serious injuries.
Two men stopped their car and came to assist me out of the sunroof because the engine was smoking.
They called 911.”
“The Jeep looked like Godzilla stepped on it!
A highway patrol cruiser pulled up shortly before the ambulance.
I was standing on the roadside.
The EMTs pushed past me to run to the Jeep.
I had to call them back to tell them I was the driver.
They couldnt believe it!
I had glass in my hair, and a few very minor cuts, but that was all.
The Jeep was totaled, but I walked away!”
I climbed up the ladder to find my brother up there with a neighbor kid.
Eric K, Clio, MI
11.
“My husband’s two adult brothers lived in an apartment with their mother.
Luckily, they were both upstairs when this happened, and their mom was at work.
This was in the middle of the day.
If they had been anywhere in the line of fire, they would have been decimated.
The guy who fired it faced no consequences.”
casualgoblin56
12.
“When I was 12 years old, I went to a local amusement park called Belmont Park.
As we were watching, the ride spun around and started rotating up into the air.
When one side had rotated up, one of the chairs broke off and hit the ramp.
As the guy running the ride stopped it, the broken cart was at the top of the rotation.
We watched as it hung there, then fell off onto one of the chairs below it.
That day was freaky and life-changing.”
Allan A
13.
My mom let me use her van.
It was raining, and there was an oil patch.
I slid into the grass and spun in multiple circles.
I tried to drive out of the ditch, but I couldn’t.
My friend couldn’t open her door, either.
It was hanging by the running board (a metal step) under the van door.
It had caught on concrete where the highway overpass connected to the ravine.”
“I told my friend to carefully slide out the driver’s side door.
We were lucky, though.
My mom had gotten in a wreck the week before and the running board caved in the door.
If that dent hadn’t been there, we would have landed in the ravine.”
abourque
14.
“I was on vacation in the mountains with my mom, and it had snowed A LOT.
I watched it fall right into the path of my footprints in the snow.
Had I taken only a few seconds more, I would have been severely wounded.
Turns out, the tree also broke a gas line, causing an explosion risk.
Fortunately, though, we and the turtle we had rescued on the way all survived.
Vacations are not always relaxing.”
adhazelett
15.
“I was in my car and had driven up on a vehicle that crashed into a telephone pole.
I stopped when I noticed a woman at the front of the car, stumbling about.
As I approached to help, I put my arm around her shoulder.
At that moment, she stumbled backward, and we both fell into oncoming traffic.
As I hit the pavement, all I could see and hear were bright lights and screeching tires.
Turns out the lady was drunk.
So much for good samaritans.”
Martyn, Indiana, USA
16.
“Back in sixth-grade gym class, I was accidentally hit in the head with a baseball bat.
The biggest guy in my grade miraculously hit a single and caught my forehead in his backswing.
saraho4a20298d2
17.
“Back in June of 2014, Id been dating my now-husband for almost a year.
We were invited on a camping and canoeing trip out near the Ozarks with a big group of friends.
There was a lot of beer involved on the river that day.
Unfortunately, two things worked against me.
First, neither my now-husband nor I had been in a canoe in over a decade.
“We were fine several beers in, but having fun.
We tried to correct ourselves to turn with the river quickly but didnt make it.
This went on for what felt like minutes but was probably only 30 seconds tops.
My now-husband had been swept about 300 yards downriver and was shouting my name the entire time.
Ive not been on a river or in a canoe since.”
KF0504
18.
I now wear a helmet, always.”
Debra, Wisconsin, USA
19.
“I was doing some last-minute Christmas shopping in a shop on Queen Street.
Five minutes later, an out-of-control bin lorry mounted the pavement, killing six people and injuring fifteen others.
If I had turned right, I would have been in the direct path of it.
I narrowly avoided the 2014 Glasgow bin lorry crash.”
ghulgh
20.
“I am 51 years old now, but this took place during my freshman year of high school.
The bus pulled over with its lights flashing for me to get off.
As I was exiting, I felt the bus driver pull me back by my backpack.
She saved my life, and at the time, I was so stunned I never told anyone!”
ntdteach
21.
“My dad was a mechanic and taught me a lot about cars.
One thing he always emphasized was to be safe at all times when working on cars.
‘Avoid shortcuts, son.
Remember to think twice before taking a shortcut,’ he’d always say.
Another frequent piece of advice was to ‘never get under a car with only a bumper jack.’
No one else was home that day, and no one knew I was there for a visit.
While I was under the car, his home phone started ringing.
After about 20 rings, I scooted from under the vehicle and answered the phone.
No one was on the other end.”
When I got back under the car, the phone started to ringagain.
Again, no answer on the other end.
Though I was frustrated, a funny feeling came over me.
Things began to happen in slow motion for some strange reason.
If I had ignored the second ring, I would have been crushed in the chest and possibly died.
I believe a guardian angel called me twice that day.
I almost did not answer, but I am so glad I did.
I was only 16 at the time.
My mistake that day could have cost me my life.”
Alex T
22.
“Ten years ago, I was working for a company as a voice/data/video technician.
A co-worker and I were at a department store that was undergoing remodeling.
After moving these things by myself, I fell to the floor in extreme pain.
My back was killing me.
That next morning, I literally crawled into a hospital ER, begging for help.”
“The staff performed numerous tests and loaded me with pain killers, but I was still in agony.
They decided to give me an MRI to find the source.
He revealed that the MRI indicated I had a form of cancer known as Non Hodgkins Lymphoma.
Fortunately, because I came in after that job, it was caught early enough.
After six phases of chemo, the cancer was gone.
I still have back issues, but the cancer didnt kill me.”
On this day, cars in the first three lanes stopped to let us cross.
The car slammed into the bag, missing me by inches.
My heart was pounding the rest of the way home."
jcs3d
24.
I was kneeling down with the board on the grass when I realized I had forgotten my wax.
So, I went to my car to get it.
I normally don’t forget it, but I was lucky that this time I did.
It turns out someone had parked their car but didn’t put the parking brake on.
The car rolled backward, ricocheted off another car, and then rolled onto my surfboard.
It was pure luck."
“In 1979, I was a freshman in high school.
My sister and I went to a professional hockey game.
We had just sat down in our seats behind the goal.
At the time, the nets were not as high as they are now.
I was hit on the right side of my head, just above my ear.
If I hadn’t been hunched over chatting, I would have been struck in my eye or temple.
People around me were handing us tissues and napkins to stop the bleeding.
I ended up needing 15 stitches.
Anonymous, Colorado Springs, USA
26.
“I had two such instances.
The first: When I was a child, my family rented snowmobiles.
I got on my snowmobile and started off, only to feel a strong snap.
Had the scarf been tied, it would have broken my neck or decapitated me for sure.”
“The second occurred when white water rafting with my husband.
It wasn’t my first-time white water rafting, so I felt confident.
After some difficult rapids, we paddled to the side of the river to swim.
I was drowning, and the harder I tried to get out, the worse it got.
I began to panic.
My husband saw my face and could tell I was panicked.
He swam over and grabbed me.
He didnt realize how bad it was, though.
I had enough breath then to yell for help, and he grabbed me.
After a few minutes, when I thought I had recovered, I got back into the raft.
My interview was on March 22, 2017, in London at 1:15 p.m.
The Westminster Bridge Attack happened at 1:40 that day.
I would’ve walked across that bridge on the way back home, probably around that time.”
We decided to take my (very tall) friends four-runner, which sits pretty high off the ground.
About halfway through the long drive, she mentioned she was tired, so I offered to take over.
I was the only one who saw it, seconds before I smashed into it.
I only had time to scream and duck.
“A huge section jutted down right where my head would have been if I hadn’t ducked.
It cut me on the top of my head and gave me a concussion.
We ended upright in a huge grassy ravined median, a few feet from dozens of trees.
The first vehicle they waved down was an off-duty ambulance, which happened to be driving by.
They tended to us until the state police and EMS got there.
Id say we were pretty lucky that night.
Chelsea P, Maine, USA
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
