Cheating the Grim Reaper.

[Liquorice]

Reading the topic 'What was your scariest moment in Thailand', I wondered if anyone had a real life or death experience, but through luck or fate are still around to tell their story.

I'll start with mine.

From an early age I was quite adventurous as a kid and loved to climb.

By the age of 11, myself and a small group of friends would go rock climbing around Cheshire and Derbyshire. We soon discovered there were a lot of pot holes around this area and started to venture underground. By the age of 14, I was doing some serious rock climbing and pot holing with limited safety equipment...........stupid when I look back and think about it, but as kids we rarely see the danger in our actions and just enjoy the buzz and adrenalin rush.

That Summer during the annual school holidays, one of my mates and his family had a caravan in Caernarfon, N. Wales, and invited me to spend a week there. Apart from beaches, the sea, countryside and mountains there was little to do for two 14 year olds and after 3 days we were bored out of our skulls. Then day 4, we stumbled across an experienced mountaineering group of around 8 people (complete with all the safety equipment) that were attempting to climb a cliff face just for practice.

This cliff was accessible from the local beach and protruded out into the sea. The idea was to climb up one side, then belay down the other side onto another beach that was normally only accessible by dirt tracks.

After 4 hours of climbing we all reached the summit, took off the safety harnesses and they broke out the refreshments before attempt to descend down the other side. All was well until I stood on a patch of moss covering the rock floor and slipped on my arse. As I tried to get up I just slipped more and more until I was hurtling towards the edge on my backside.

That was it.........freefall.

I remember being face down, it looked a long way down. I thought it was the end, in one split second I said 'sorry' to my Mother, and 'goodbye' to all my friends. There was no noise, other than the whistling sound of air around my ears............then I blacked out!

I remember a large bump, followed by another bump, then silence.

I opened my eyes to see blue sky's and clouds, for a second I wondered if it was heaven?

My senses quickly came back and I realised I was alive. I could hear faint voices calling my name but I couldn't see anyone.

At first I didn't attempt to move, then started to wiggle my feet, then move my legs, then twist my body gently from side to side, before turning my head from side to side. I decided to try and roll to my side and sit up. There was an excruciating pain from my left arm and some discomfort to my back. My left wrist was 3 times the size of normal, I instantly knew I'd broken it. I also realised I'd hurt my back but it only appeared to be muscular damage. I turned to my right side, sat up, then stood up. I could see the front of my t-shirt was covered in blood. I felt my head, not knowing where the blood was coming from, but my hands soon became covered in blood so it was impossible to know what I'd done although I suspected I'd split my head open. I took of my t-shirt and tied it around my head.

By this time ropes were appearing, and a couple were abseiling down the cliff face.

I shouted I was ok, and waited what seemed an eternity, although it was probably only 10 minutes or so.

Looking around I could see I'd landed on a flat ledge, some 6' wide, maybe 30' foot from the bottom, directly above the sea. As larger waves crashed into the rocks I could feel the spray from the water.

Eventually help arrived. The blood was coming from my mouth, not my head, which was a relief. My teeth had literally been forced into my gums which had bled profusely but was now actually stopping. I ran my tongue around my mouth and it felt like a bag of marbles, but not one loose tooth.

Luckily this ledge ran on a downward slope as far back as the edge of the beach, so I was able to walk down far enough so the beach was below our position about 20' from the sand. Someone had already made a 999 call and within 10 minutes a helicopter arrived.

I was whisked off to Bangor hospital, where after a full medical and x-rays, I was diagnosed with lacerations to my gums, torn twisted back muscles and a broken wrist.

The hospital staff told me that cliff was over a 1000' high and that I shouldn't be alive, let alone have minimal injuries.

It was a miracle and someone was surely looking down on me favourably that day.

I was released after one night in hospital.

I sent my Mother a post card the following day saying, "having a great time, but fell off a cliff".

She thought I was joking until I got home and she had a meltdown.

To this day I believe it was the fact that I blacked out that actually saved my life. I don't know why I blacked out, it's never happened before or since. I think it's the bodies self preservation mechanism that kicks in automatically. Instead of tensing on impact, I bounced just like a baby does when it falls. That is the only explanation I can give, but I'm glad to be alive. I was one of the lucky ones.

[WitawatWatawit]

Does diving away at the last split second from a rampaging All Black lock forward tearing down your wing constitute a lucky escape?

Good yarn, mate. You're certainly a lucky guy. BTW, before you blacked out, did you spot any nice caves to live in?

[Liquorice]

Not a yarn, a completely true story.

Before I blacked out I didn't see any caves, only graves.

[lovelomsak]

I had mine here in Thailand.

I was walking home after going to Walking street in Pattaya. Two women approached me near the walking pier. They ask if they could talk to me . They told me they worked in a shoe factory and had 3 day holiday in Pattaya. They said they wanted to have sex with a farang before they went back to the factory and were leaving in the morning.They ask me if I would be so kind as to help them and have sex with them.It sounded odd but hey they were in their early 30's and polite.

Once in my room they kept insisting I chew gum they had. One girl went to shower the other started the foreplay. When the girl from the shower came out in a towel she climbed on top of me and rubbed her towel in my face. I smelled some like ether on the towel and panic set in. I immediately thought I could die here right now. Then many things from my past flashed before my eyes. Then everything went black just about instantly except for a small spot of light. My last thoughts were I must bring the light back And i was out for 26 hours. I woke up robbed and in pain.I spent the whole day in the fetal position on the bed in pain. I reported it to the police,nothing came of it. Once I was mobile I couldnot seem to consume enough fluids everything I ate or drank appeared to instantly absorbed by my body. It is hard to explain in writing how the light went out but I will try. It was like a whirlpool of dark startng at the edges quickly swirling to the centre. When i passed out all the light left was a pinhead.

I am sure I robbed the grim reaper.

[lovelomsak]

I had mine here in Thailand.

I was walking home after going to Walking street in Pattaya. Two women approached me near the walking pier. They ask if they could talk to me . They told me they worked in a shoe factory and had 3 day holiday in Pattaya. They said they wanted to have sex with a farang before they went back to the factory and were leaving in the morning.They ask me if I would be so kind as to help them and have sex with them.It sounded odd but hey they were in their early 30's and polite.

Once in my room they kept insisting I chew gum they had. One girl went to shower the other started the foreplay. When the girl from the shower came out in a towel she climbed on top of me and rubbed her towel in my face. I smelled some like ether on the towel and panic set in. I immediately thought I could die here right now. Then many things from my past flashed before my eyes. Then everything went black just about instantly except for a small spot of light. My last thoughts were I must bring the light back And i was out for 26 hours. I woke up robbed and in pain.I spent the whole day in the fetal position on the bed in pain. I reported it to the police,nothing came of it. Once I was mobile I couldnot seem to consume enough fluids everything I ate or drank appeared to instantly absorbed by my body. It is hard to explain in writing how the light went out but I will try. It was like a whirlpool of dark startng at the edges quickly swirling to the centre. When i passed out all the light left was a pinhead.

I am sure I robbed the grim reaper.

Sorry to late to edit .

I forgot to mention that just before the black swirl came everything went clear and bright it was the clearest white light i ever saw I cannot explain how clear and white it was it was beyond words.

Sorry for the poor posting procedure but it was 25 years ago and memory fades.

[pgrahmm]

Well.....

Not as exciting as some of those but I used to ride a Goldwing - great bike......I had a gentlemens ranch in Sonoma,CA.....Which means it's not a working ranch but you have horses and other toys - but as well as doing all the chores/repairs/maint. you also have to work at a job to be able to pay for all that stuff.....

The roads were great for riding.....

One morning I took the Goldwing to work.....The road was wet and I was going too fast......there was a set of 4 railroad track I had to cross and following the tracks was a group of animals.....Hit the brakes and started going down when the wet steel rails of the tracks I lost angle/balance with each contact - tried to yank the bars up like a dirt bike but too heavy.......barreled across a cross street - under a guy wire - over 7/8's of a 20 foot wide drainage culvert hitting the other edge of the culvert which catapulted me off the bike as me and the bike went airborne into a grove of eucalyptus trees - I flew about 25-30 feet and landed just as the bike landed a few feet away from me.....The bike had hit the lip of the culvert so hard that tools I had loose in the fairing went through the fairing body from the inside out.....Luckily I had on a heavy jacket and ski bib which I did in the cold/rain and a good Bell helmet = I landed on a bunch of fallen branches and must have been as limp as a rag doll in the air and not tensed up.....nothing broken - but I felt like a bent metal coat hanger and walked around like one for about 3 weeks........had been thrown off horses before but this was a whole other level of hurt.....The HP officer at the scene said he couldn't figure out why I wasn't dead and warned me to stay off "murdercycles".... I was about 37 then and had riden for 21 years - haven't been back on since....and I surely wouldn't ride here.....

Or - Used to play ball for a Nightclub in the Hollywood area....I was the team star & the drinks and meals were free & the women willing - like being a mini-celebrity in a place that movie - TV - stuntmen and entertainers went to relax, eat and drink and we all mixed.......

In one area the bar went into an L shape with a small area that had a pool table....I was sitting the along the bar with a gal when WHAM - something/a person hits me hard in the back ..... I turn around and there's a fight at pool table and a big guy was shoved into me - the only thing he had was a pool cue which he was holding by the the thin end getting ready to swing it at another guy a few feet away - which was a bad thing because HE had a 44 Magnum pointed right at the guy with the pool cue - who was right in front of me ..... any shot would have gone straight through both of us.....I wrestled the pool cue away from the guy in front of me to take away the threat to the guy with the gun which wasn't easy as he was fighting for his life - but I was fighting for both of our lives - we all survived.....they got banned from the place.....

Edited July 5, 2015 by pgrahmm

[NickJ]

Faz....The same exact thing happened to me but I missed the ledge. splashed into the sea......The next thing I remember was waking up on a beach in Thailand........

[Stan42]

Around last Christmas I was rushed to the ER. On the way there I went into cardiac arrest in the ambulance and they had to zap me back to life. That is what the doctors and my family told me once I regained consciousness. I myself have absolutely (and thankfully) no recollection of the events at all. One moment I went to bed, the next, I woke up in hospital hooked to a bunch of machines. Cause: Imipramine overdose.

[Liquorice]

Faz....The same exact thing happened to me but I missed the ledge. splashed into the sea......The next thing I remember was waking up on a beach in Thailand........

What! So you went to heaven and came back reincarnated as a Crab.

[dddave]

Many years ago, my life and my companion's was saved by an overheated radiator. It's a long story.

1976: I was trying to become a professional photographer in Boston and my then GF taught school in New Hampshire. For the past few years, as soon as her summer vacation started, we'd hit the road in our converted van and head "out west".

Past years we'd used the Trans-Canada Highway but this year we decided to cut through the US. We deadheaded through the Mid-west and into Colorado. Our plan was to go to Rocky Mtn. Natl. Park, the gateway to which was the town of Estes Park. To get there, we had to travel from the flatlands up the Thompson Canyon Road, a 50 mile ride up a two lane road hemmed in by steep canyon walls and the Thompson River running alongside...really scenic, twisty-turny and fun to drive.

We needed gas and a bathroom break so we pulled into an isolated general store/gas station named "Glen Haven". It was old and rustic and on the walls were posted maps of local mountain trails leading to abandoned gold mines and ghost towns. Those maps caught our eye and we quickly decided to change plans, rent one of the campsites they had and spend the rest of the day exploring in the mountains, driving the dirt roads on the maps, looking for ghost towns.

We left a milk crate on a table to claim out site and headed up into the mountains.

The roads were steep and very twisty..never past 2nd gear but it was really beautiful and a beautiful day as well; we were having a great time. We found a few old mining camps and had a great time exploring them. Later in the afternoon, after a particularly steep, 1st gear climb, we came upon a stunning mountain lake called "Bear Lake". As it was getting late in the afternoon, we decided to take a hike around it, then head back to the campground.

As we completed the walk and headed toward the van, I detected the telltale smell of overheated coolant. Sure enough: water was still dripping down into a large, green puddle under the engine.

The combination of steep, 1st gear climbing and high altitude had taken it's toll.

As we waited for it to cool down, we sat at a table and had a snack. I took a picture of some beautiful cumulus clouds rising behind the mountain peaks in the distance.

It began to rain and soon began to rain hard. The sun was getting lower and it quickly became dark. I realized it would be really dangerous to try to drive down steep, slippery wet dirt roads in the dark so we decided to just stay where we were and sleep in our van.

We didn't sleep much:...the rain became torrential, thunderously pounding on the metal van roof.

We finally dozed off at some point, only to be woken up by somebody pounding on the side of our van...scarred the hell out of us. It was just about dawn and the person was a uniformed cop or ranger...I never knew which.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded. "Where did you come from??"

I explained what had happened.

"You planned to camp at Glen Haven??" he asked incredulously

When we replied "Yes" he said:

"You guys are very lucky...Glen Haven is gone and everybody who was there is lost and probably dead. There was a flash flood down the entire length of the canyon last night. The road is wiped out and maybe hundreds are dead"

We were stunned. He gave us a map and told us that we would have to wind through a maze of mountain roads and try to get to Nederland, a town on the other side of the range...it was the only way out. Fortunately, I had enough gas and after about 8 hours of difficult driving we got there with the gas guage now past empty.

We then headed to Boulder where a former colleague of my GF lived.

It was in Boulder that we found out just how fortunate we were. !35 people died that night in the Thompson Canyon Flood. Were it not for that overheated radiator, it would have been 137.

[i claudius]

I divorced my first wife.

[Jingthing]

At age 12, I was being swept out to sea on Miami Beach where there were no lifeguards and not to mention recent shark sightings. Two foreign sounding hunky Macho Men men swam out and saved me. I reckon if not for them, no Jingthing, as there was nobody else.

[pgrahmm]

I divorced my first wife.

Thereby avoiding a fate Worse than death.......

[i claudius]

I divorced my first wife.

Thereby avoiding a fate Worse than death.......

that was reserved for her next 3 husbands and an even worse one for the poor sod she lives with now,

[bannork]

The grim reaper, bearing a majestic presence, nearly bore down on me at the tender age of 17,.

Waiting to cross the road in Hull, the police were holding everyone back as Princess Anne's convoy passed on their way to some ceremony.

A couple of cars passed so I thought that was it.

Impatiently, I started to cross the road when a policeman shouted at me,.... but it was too late.

Suddenly this black car hurtled round the corner and was right on me, I couldn't go back being in mid- flight.

Hurling myself forward, the car missed me by inches. I remember the shrieks and gasps from the crowd lining the road to this day.

A stupid youth who was lucky to survive.

[pgrahmm]

Well.....

Not as exciting as some of those but I used to ride a Goldwing - great bike......I had a gentlemens ranch in Sonoma,CA.....Which means it's not a working ranch but you have horses and other toys - but as well as doing all the chores/repairs/maint. you also have to work at a job to be able to pay for all that stuff.....

The roads were great for riding.....

One morning I took the Goldwing to work.....The road was wet and I was going too fast......there was a set of 4 railroad track I had to cross and following the tracks was a group of animals.....Hit the brakes and started going down when the wet steel rails of the tracks I lost angle/balance with each contact - tried to yank the bars up like a dirt bike but too heavy.......barreled across a cross street - under a guy wire - over 7/8's of a 20 foot wide drainage culvert hitting the other edge of the culvert which catapulted me off the bike as me and the bike went airborne into a grove of eucalyptus trees - I flew about 25-30 feet and landed just as the bike landed a few feet away from me.....The bike had hit the lip of the culvert so hard that tools I had loose in the fairing went through the fairing body from the inside out.....Luckily I had on a heavy jacket and ski bib which I did in the cold/rain and a good Bell helmet = I landed on a bunch of fallen branches and must have been as limp as a rag doll in the air and not tensed up.....nothing broken - but I felt like a bent metal coat hanger and walked around like one for about 3 weeks........had been thrown off horses before but this was a whole other level of hurt.....The HP officer at the scene said he couldn't figure out why I wasn't dead and warned me to stay off "murdercycles".... I was about 37 then and had riden for 21 years - haven't been back on since....and I surely wouldn't ride here.....

Or - Used to play ball for a Nightclub in the Hollywood area....I was the team star & the drinks and meals were free & the women willing - like being a mini-celebrity in a place that movie - TV - stuntmen and entertainers went to relax, eat and drink and we all mixed.......

In one area the bar went into an L shape with a small area that had a pool table....I was sitting the along the bar with a gal when WHAM - something/a person hits me hard in the back ..... I turn around and there's a fight at pool table and a big guy was shoved into me - the only thing he had was a pool cue which he was holding by the the thin end getting ready to swing it at another guy a few feet away - which was a bad thing because HE had a 44 Magnum pointed right at the guy with the pool cue - who was right in front of me ..... any shot would have gone straight through both of us.....I wrestled the pool cue away from the guy in front of me to take away the threat to the guy with the gun which wasn't easy as he was fighting for his life - but I was fighting for both of our lives - we all survived.....they got banned from the place.....

Actually forgot about the most lethal one......

I've had pneumonia twice.....First time got treated and all ok......2nd time got sick - went to my doctor -- only he had a sub there as he was an officer and had been called in for Desert Storm.....this other doctor - no xrays ..... gave me some meds and set a follow up - got sicker so tried to go back a few days later - office closed ....... Went home but so weak my GF had to literally prop me up ...... I decided to go to another doctor and was even weaker yet.....

Found one closer to my house - he took xrays and blood work in his office and set up treatments ...... It took awhile a by that time I couldn't support myself to get in and out of bed ...... after about the 5th visit and tests the doctor was all excited and took me into his lab showing me the before and after xrays and bloodwork results......I didn't know what I was looking at/for......He was grinning from ear to ear - telling me he had never seen any One lung as bad as my two ...... That is was a combination affect od both pneumonia AND legionaires desease......He told me if I had gone to bed instead of going to see him that afternoon I would have died within 8 hours - that my body was so weakened it could no longer manufacture white blood cells by the time of my first visit to him - his exact words were "we stole you from the grave".......

Sadly - he sold his practice to retire a couple of years later & the pig that bought it never paid him - but stole all the medical coverage patients - killing the practice......

But I will always be eternally grateful to/for that doctor that saved me ..... he deserved a better ending...

[geronimo]

I could say that I have flaunted with Mr. Reaper on many occasions and thankfully, I always came out on top (up to now)