How Close have you come to Dying?

[nautical62]

For me the closest was my first ever quasi-lead ice climb. Instructors ahead had left their screws in, to clip into. The first was about 50 feet above a narrow frozen ledge we started on. Just as I was about to clip in climbers above knocked some ice loose. For a second I had only my crampon front points, no axe. I knew the swing of one of my axes would either catch, or knock me off and probably kill me. Not only was it 40 or 50 feet to a frozen ledge, but I might have gone right over it and probably yanked my belayer off as well.

Obviously I'm still here. That microsecond however was an eternity and had more clarity than anything I've ever done in life. It's something to know the consequences of the action you take in the next second will either save you or kill you. Something I hope to never experience again.

At the time I just moved on and thought little of it, but I've had flash backs since.

[wellin]

WOW!!!! About 5 minutes ago.....was below taking a nap when THE ENGINE STARTED. WTF? I jumped up and went to the cockpit to see and smoke is coming out of engine cover. I opened it up and the engine was on fire. Grabbed the extinguisher and put it out. Scary scary because it looked like it was burning for several minutes before the engine started. Had it not started and not woke me from a dead sleep, might be dead sleeping right now. Aft end of yanmar 55hp has some electrical things right next to the air intake. They are all burned up. But why??? The wires are not severed just insulation melted off. Could it have been fuel from the intake pipe? But why? I am unhooking all batteries till i find out what happened. I did run the motor for an hour or so a few hours ago. Knees still shaking...

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[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by wellin

WOW!!!! About 5 minutes ago.....was below taking a nap when THE ENGINE STARTED. WTF? I jumped up and went to the cockpit to see and smoke is coming out of engine cover. I opened it up and the engine was on fire. Grabbed the extinguisher and put it out. Scary scary because it looked like it was burning for several minutes before the engine started. Had it not started and not woke me from a dead sleep, might be dead sleeping right now. Aft end of yanmar 55hp has some electrical things right next to the air intake. They are all burned up. But why??? The wires are not severed just insulation melted off. Could it have been fuel from the intake pipe? But why? I am unhooking all batteries till i find out what happened. I did run the motor for an hour or so a few hours ago. Knees still shaking...

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Wow - That's incredible.

Glad you woke up - sounds like a classic electrical fire - Hope you find out what it was...

[wellin]

The intake pipe looks to have the most heat damage and there is an "air heater" just inside the end. I think this overheated. Still dont know why??

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[barnakiel]

Bloody close enough to count myself born again.

Skipper's fault.

b.

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by Andrew B.

Thanks. I was attempting to count mine until I read your post.

Amen !

Every time I have visited the Vietnam memorial (The Wall) in Washington,D.C. I still can't believe my name isn't carved on it.

Thanks for the memories...

My father's name is on the first panel, about 2/3 of the way down. I have some surprisingly vivid memories of him, even though he died just before my 5th birthday.

A huge THANK YOU!! for your service, especially in that conflict! I'm aware of how returning service members were treated at that time, and that's something that we should all strive to make up for in some small way.

[socaldmax]

For those of you who have had near death experiences, do you feel it has changed you, and how so? Was it really profound?


After my 2 brushes on the sub, a strong sense of confidence - not just in myself, but in the entire crew overcame me. Sure, we had a few guys who started crying or praying, but most of the crew immediately did their jobs as we trained to do, and seeing everyone literally swing into action like a well tuned Swiss watch led to a sense of pride and brotherhood that is still difficult to express. I still carry a strong feeling of confidence that no matter what happens, I'll make the right decision nearly instantly. I don't skydive or fly an ultra light, but I feel if I'm in an emergency situation, I'll be able to stay calm and do what is necessary.

[Kevin84]

Originally Posted by socaldmax

For those of you who have had near death experiences, do you feel it has changed you, and how so? Was it really profound?

Not in any deep seated, fundamental, life altering way. In the 'Stan, it drove home that I was NOT invincible and to listen to the older guys who had BTDT (especially you, SGT James!) Iraq, there wasn't anything I could do differently, cept let a brother die, and that WASN'T an option. Almost getting thrown overboard, just reminded me to use the damn jacklines. All made me slightly more cautious. And I guess at the end of the day, I do appreciate life a little more since it could be said I'm on borrowed time.

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[Adventurebound]

Originally Posted by Dulcesuenos

Of the dozen or so times I've been close to dying the most interesting was in a hot tub with a hooters girl drunk off my,,,,, ,,,,,the heating element decided then was a good time to crack. And GFCI failed allowing raw current into the tub,,,,, not sure which almost. killed me, but would have been a great way to have been remembered.

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Puts a new meaning to 'electric blue'

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by Dulcesuenos

Of the dozen or so times I've been close to dying the most interesting was in a hot tub with a hooters girl drunk off my,,,,, ,,,,,the heating element decided then was a good time to crack. And GFCI failed allowing raw current into the tub,,,,, not sure which almost. killed me, but would have been a great way to have been remembered.

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She's probably still telling her GFs about this one time in a hot tub...

the sex was so good she totally lost control, it felt more like a seizure that went on forever...

[Matt sachs]

Food poisoning in Nepal, Namchee Bazar(sp) for 10 days in 2002. I dont know if I was close to death, but I sure wanted to die.

[SimonV]

More times than I care to remember, now I am retired I wish I could forget.

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[Adventurebound]

This thread should have been named '1001 Ways to Almost Die'. Each incident is a lucky warning that you are crossing the line.

[JPA Cate]

Had to get off boat and into helicopter for a rush job to hospital. If it had happened in Vanuatu, I wouldn't be here any more.

A.