Hi, everyone. I'm new to the forum and this is my first post. I know the topic is a bit random but it was something that has been on my mind recently. Especially since I was involved in car crash about a couple weeks ago. I live in Chicago and the weather is kind of erratic, it can go from 60 degrees and sunny during the day to a freezing 20 degrees at night. It all happened as my friends and I were coming home around midnight after a concert. I want to mention that I almost always drive when I go out and I always buckle my seat belt. Except this particular night I wasn't driving but was another passenger in car driven by a mutual friend. I also always believed in the idea the everything happens for a reason, I mention this because on this night for some reason I remember I didn't buckle up. So as we drove home everything was normal until we hopped on the express way. We were approaching an on ramp and I noticed that we were going a little bit too fast for the turn. Then before I could say anything to the driver I felt the rear end of the car kick out and lose traction. Everything slowed down at this point and the danger of the situation hadn't hit me, that is until the back end of the car hit the barrier. From that point on I can't really remember everything but what I do remember is the car bouncing from barrier to barrier like an over sized pin ball. All the while me without a seat belt tumbling around in the back seat, I remember my vision spinning and I felt like a piece of clothing in a dryer. The car made a final thudding impact and came to a stop. One of my friends immediately jumped out of the passenger seat and asked if I was okay. When he asked me I was still trying to grasp what just had happened, when I noticed that I was all sprawled out with my legs tangled with the two front seats. I wiggled my way out of the car and noticed that my glasses were still intact, and was apparently okay. That's when the driver stepped out of the car and we all realized that everyone was okay. It turns out that with the driver going just a little bit too fast was enough to lose traction on the recently iced over bridge road of the on ramp. I walked away of a high speed car crash with nothing more than a couple of bruises, some scratches and a feeling of being really tired that lasted for about a week. Looking back it was a miracle (and believe me I don't use the term miracle lightly) that anyone of us wasn't killed. In the end I found out that none of us were wearing seat belts, so that means that at any point we could have been tossed out the windshield to go splat on the blacktop. Also because we were on the E-way even after the crash we could have been hit by an on coming car but we got lucky.(There were some close calls though, especially with this Volkswagen who was flying on the road nearly hitting the crashed car) So ever since that day I been thinking a lot to say the least. Although something that has been bothering me is the fact that I appear to be over it. I didn't get the urge to enjoy life and take in all its beauty or any of that stuff. I just kind of been going about my business as usual, as if it wasn't a big deal. So I was wondering if this is a common feeling or if anyone else has had any sort of near death experience. I know this is a heavy topic but it was just something on my mind.
neard death experiences happen all the time. I have had a couple and I do not quite recall that I was in any long term trauma. I think some people recover faster then others that doesn't mean they won't take risks or worries again for a while. Again trauma is a kind of a funny thing because one of the initial symptoms could be that you do not feel anyhting or worry about anything. You might experience some kind of worry or nervousness, only maybe, you got on someone else's car and drove pass that road again. No one knows only you would. Or you might develop some kind of fear or never develop. It depends on the individual so I would not worry about it. Try and rationalise it if you think one day you might experience discomfort or speak to someone about it. The important thing is to make sure you talk about it.
KidFable, During 9/11, some people on the other side of the country from where the tragedy happened, went for counseling for PTSD after watching the events unfold on television. Others weren't affected beyond righteous anger or sadness for the loss of life. We all process differently and what might be traumatic for one may simply be an interesting event for another. I'm not trying to minimize your experience with the crash but it doesn't have the potency for me of something that would qualify as a near death experience. Could you have died? Sure. Nearly every accident has that potential. Too though, how many near accidents have that potential? It was no doubt frightening, but it is significantly different than say, falling overboard and getting sucked below a ship, holding your breathe as long as you can and eventually drowning - only to wake up after being hauled to shore, given CPR and brought back. By way of an example, I'm a combat vet who has seen significant fighting. Shortly after the US invaded Granada I ran into a couple of guys at veteran functions who, upon finding out that I was a combat vet offered up that they were too as they had served in Granada... a three day campaign characterized by the locals running up to US servicemen and handing their weapons over. The greatest danger US servicemen faced was being crushed by the sheer weight of the surrendered weapons. Were they afraid? Surely at some point; walking into an unknown situation prepared for fighting will do that to you - but we did NOT have the same experience. I think that near death experiences are the same. A situation that causes you to reflect afterwards and see that you very well may have been killed in the situation will not have the same effect as being in a situation where you KNOW you are going to die and then somehow don't.
If you happen to come across death (in a situation such as yours, rather than bumping into him at a bar, which would be cool but unplausable) or come close to it yourself, then you will start to ponder your life and everything that you do in it. It's human nature. Because Religion is fading and we're beginning to understand the world more, more people are becoming inclined to think that this life is all we get. Which is what I think. I don't believe there is an afterlife or any such thing, and because of that, i'm making damn sure that I enjoy this life and do whatever I want to do while I still can. For example, beforehand I wasn't really sure where my life was going, had a few such experiences as you (different entirely, but same end product), and decided that whatever I did from that day on, I would make sure it hopefully somehow helped people and I enjoyed it. About three years on, i'm running a business that broadcasts football commentaries across England/Wales that may well be going into the education system. I do alot of video games journalism on the side and i'm generally loving life and my fledgling career. I want to enjoy this life before I go. So best to enjoy it straight away, as you never know when your time might be up.
i have had quite a few experiances where i chould/ should have died. thing is i have never thought about it mutch. statisticly i should be very dead. but i have little more then some scars and funny stories. guess i never really thought abouty it more then " how did i servive that? and how am i standing?/ lucky me he was not useing a larger shot or slug"
Yes, I've had a near death experience. I was trying my hardest to hold onto the last strands of life, but when I let go it was the greatest feeling of relief. Knowing you will never feel pain again.
I've had a near-death experience when I was surfing off the coast of Cyprus. I veered too heavily to one side and feel into a rock-pool, and had to really struggle and pull myself out. It was the greatest feeling of relief when I managed to pull myself back onto the beach. I can't say exactly what was happening, I remember pulling myself along the rocks against the sea and I started feeling really light and weak, and for some reason really tired. I kept wanting to go to sleep, and colours would become more harsh when I started slipping, but I knew I couldn't; I just had to get away from the rocks. That's all that was going through my mind. It was terrifying: I could hear my back cricking as I was being rolled about on the rocks - and it was through sheer willpower and strength that I didn't bang my head on a rock, and fall asleep.
What you're talking about here is a close call with death. Technically, a so-called "near-death experience" refers to the phenomenon some people have reported after they've actually experienced a brief moment of "death", typically the moment just before resuscitation when the heart has actually stopped beating. The hallmark of such experiences is a feeling of floating out of the body, perhaps seeing the body (and doctors, paramedics, whatever) from the outside, and then going towards a "bright light". Sometimes people report seeing departed loved ones in the light. For many of those who have had NDEs, the experience offers proof of heaven or an afterlife. But the cause of NDEs is in dispute and is often attributed to chemical changes in the brain at the moment of death. No one really knows what causes them. But back to close calls... I think many people do reevaluate their lives after such experiences. In fact the "close calls" I've experienced haven't been all that close (actually, some were imaginary!!), and I've still used them for some deep reflection and reordering of priorities. Even close calls in absentia can have this effect. A number of years ago my husband failed to board a ship out of Amsterdam that sunk shortly after disembarking and killed almost everyone aboard. Still gives me chills. Btw, welcome to the forum!
wow..what a story. why did your husband fail to board ship? I looked up absentia but it is not clear what you mean by it here.
He had to postpone his trip at the last minute to finish some business. By "in absentia" I meant that he was absent from the actual disaster even though he was supposed to be there. He experienced the "close call" intellectually--a kind of "what if?"--rather than experientially.
topeka thank you for explaining it. Your husband was sure lucky man that day. incredible story indeed.
I had a close call when I was younger and walked away with much the same feeling as you. I was 13 at the time; the throttle broke on a dirt-bike I was riding, and I couldn't brake while the bike continued to pick up speed. I ended up slamming into the back of a stationary minivan head-on at 35 mph, without a helmet. By some insane stroke of luck, my uncle was standing only feet from where I crashed, and when the bike came hurling at him, he tried to pull me off. It didn't work, my hands were glued to the handles, but his attempt gave the bike just enough lift and tilt that the majority of the impact landed on my left leg, as opposed to my head. Naturally, I don't remember any of that - the last thing I can recall is screaming, "I can't stop!" about fifty feet away from the van. I completely blacked out and didn't become aware of my surroundings until I was in a hospital bed about six hours later, where I was told that I had shattered my left tibia and fibula and was severely concussed. They kept me in the hospital a couple of days to monitor for swelling and set my leg. I spent another three months in various casts. At the time, I didn't think a whole lot of it, just seemed like an unfortunate accident. I never even considered the thought of how easily I could have - should have been killed. But, I think that had a lot to do with my age. Now, I look back on the accident and it gives me chills. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if my uncle had not been there; I don't think the outcome would have been very pleasant. At any rate, if something like that were to happen now, it would probably force me to reevaluate things. But it certainly didn't then.
Thanks everyone for your advice and for sharing your similar stories of "close calls". Thanks for the advice Cacian. I want to mention that I drove on that road again and I did feel inexplicably nervous as I whizzed by. So you were right about that, it was kind of weird. It wasn't a big deal I just felt funny as I was driving on the same road around the same time of night as the accident.
I've had at least two near death experiences. The first time is when I was just eleven. I went with my friends to the beach and, not being a very good swimmer, got swept out too far. I didn't even realize I was doomed until I found myself unable to swim back up. Then I realized I couldn't breathe. A bunch of random memories came to me, and then I think I may have died (or blacked out at the very least). I "came to" a little later when my friends were giggling and swimming around me and splashing water at me like nothing had happened. Somehow I managed to float back to the surface, I really don't know. It was a weird experience but I pretty much just forgot about it right away when I realized I was okay and moved on. The second time was when my dad was teaching me how to drive. I was about seventeen and it was literally only my third time behind the wheel. We were leaving an intersection when a drunk driver lost control and collided into my car on the driver's side. My car was ripped in two and there was smoke everywhere. I could smell gasoline. I remember thinking for sure that my dad and I were going to die, but I felt numb even as my car was spinning. Afterwards when the smoke cleared, I noticed a giant gaping hole just inches from where my legs sat. I had just gotten lucky. Anyway that experience affected me a lot more (and I'm STILL afraid of driving despite now being twenty three) because about two weeks later, I found out that one of my highschool friends had died in a car crash just down the street from where I had my accident. Very mindblowing and sad stuff. Anyway the point is, it's different for everyone and I guess for every separate incident. Sometimes it's just whatever, and other times it really changes your perception of things.
