Whats the scariest thing you ever did?

[slapNUT]

I have a "psychosis like" fear of being trapped or stuck in a small space. This
is not clostraphobic, small rooms don't bother me, I fear being trapped in a
tight space where I cannot go forward or backwards and I can't turn around.
Like going into a cave which keeps getting narrower untill I reach a point where
I'm stuck.

My second greatest fear would probably be drowning.

When I was 8 or 9, myself and some friends went to the park one Saturday after a
spring shower. The creek was up slightly from the rain. The park had a
concrete bridge which crossed the creek and had three steel culverts 1ft in
diameter to pass the water through the bridge.

I was the undisputed leader of this fearless gang. Of course to be undisputed
means you must be up to any dare that may come along. This day the smallest,
weakest and most picked upon member of our tribe gave me a challenge. He
proposed that if he went through one of the culverts then I should also go
through one. Of course the alternative was that I would relinquish my hard
fought spot of respect in our group. On the other hand there was barely 2
inches of air space at the top of the culverts. The water was rushing through
them, there could be unseen limbs or whatever in there to snag and entangle
you. He was much smaller than me and ... well the group didn't buy any of my
arguements. I was starting to lose support and had no choice but to take the
dare.

So, I had no choice, I could not back down. I'm quite sure everyone who was
there saw the fear in my eyes. It was quite a scary thing to do. Me and Eddie
picked a culvert. We both sat halfway in it with our arms draped over the
concrete bridge. The blockage of the culverts caused the water to rise till
there was no air space at all! I wanted so bad for someone to yell "cheeze it
there's the cops!" But all I heard was 5... 4... 3... I looked a Eddie, he
wasn't backing down. He had this look like "I got you" this was his payback
for all the mean things I'd done to him in the past. 2... 1... I almost jumped
up and said "no my mom dont let me slide through rain gourged culverts" but some
sliver of manhood that may exisist in a 9 year old boy prevented me from doing
that. Instead I heard 0... GO! I looked an saw Eddie dissappear into his
culvert. I was beat, I would be humiliated and be the lowest member of the
group for years to come. And then for no reason that I know today I let go of
the bridge and held my breath. In about 1.5 seconds (which was really about an
hour in scared ****less 9 year old boy time) I came out the other side.

So that was it. Except I frequently found reasons to pound Eddie after that...
just a little pay-back.

[redneckbrit]

I had been driving through pouring rain all day and was thinking about looking for somewhere to stay for the night. As I came into a lefthand bend the car simply stopped answering to the steering wheel and began to skid into the oncoming traffic. All I could see was this large van heading straight for me and then <bang> I hit it almost head on.

That was SCARY :eek:

I had only been doing about 35 mph but it was still too fast for the conditions. If it had been a large lorry coming the other way I wouldn't be here today.

[williamwbishop]

Originally posted by redneckbrit
I had been driving through pouring rain all day and was thinking about looking for somewhere to stay for the night. As I came into a lefthand bend the car simply stopped answering to the steering wheel and began to skid into the oncoming traffic. All I could see was this large van heading straight for me and then <bang> I hit it almost head on.

That was SCARY :eek:

I had only been doing about 35 mph but it was still too fast for the conditions. If it had been a large lorry coming the other way I wouldn't be here today.


Scariest thing done? Watched while my second daughter came out blue and lifeless, and stood by while she was resuscitated, without showing any fear of what was happening to my wife. She never knew until someone told her that Katherine was dead for a couple minutes. Scariest thing I've ever done bar none.

[carlywarly]

I really don't know what to say william. Words can't express.......I really feel for you.

[williamwbishop]

Originally posted by carlywarly
I really don't know what to say william. Words can't express.......I really feel for you.

Do not feel bad for me, she survived, and is the most beautiful child in the world(well, except for my first daughter). The back story is that it was very hard for me, if I had been clueless, it would never have been a problem, I wouldn't have known what was going on. But our first child, a son, was born dead and all of our pregnancies have been terrible. When it nearly happened again, I knew it would devastate my wife, that is why it was so scary. I would not have lost another child, I would have lost 2 children and their mother. That is truly scary.

[mrBen]

Dammit! I was going to say riding the Oblivion at Alton towers (60ft freefall rollercoaster-type ride), but that feels really shallow and un-scary after all your posts.

[linux12414]

Originally posted by williamwbishop
Scariest thing done? Watched while my second daughter came out blue and lifeless, and stood by while she was resuscitated, without showing any fear of what was happening to my wife. She never knew until someone told her that Katherine was dead for a couple minutes. Scariest thing I've ever done bar none.

I hope you never get to be scared like that EVER again.

Thank God this had a happy ending.

[williamwbishop]

Originally posted by mrBen
Dammit! I was going to say riding the Oblivion at Alton towers (60ft freefall rollercoaster-type ride), but that feels really shallow and un-scary after all your posts.

Nay, do not let it discourage you! Like I say it was scary, but I am so very happy with my family and my children...did I mention that they are the most beautiful little girls on the planet?. I am a happy sod, dinna worry about it. And rides can get pretty hairy! You know that one where the chairs hang down by chains and it spins and centripetal force pushes you till your basically horizontal to the ground? That thing scared the hell out of me when I was younger, before I understood tensile strength.

[williamwbishop]

Originally posted by linux12414
I hope you never get to be scared like that EVER again.

Thank God this had a happy ending.

We're fixed now.;) She became a high risk for pregancy, we just couldn't do it again.:(

[linux12414]

There are 2 things:

When I knew my husband was in the final stages of his illness, just forcing myself to walk into his hospital room. Considering I was a nurse for many years, you wouldn't think this could be possible. However, it's different when it affects YOU and YOURS.

On a more mundane level, back when I was in my early 20's, my girlfriend and I would go shopping every Friday night after work and take the City bus. One night, a couple of guys in a Cadillac convertible asked us if we wanted a ride, and we took it, not wanting to wait for the bus. As it turned out, they were nice guys and only dropped us at the mall, but a couple of days later, we both thought of what *could* have happened if they were "wrong numbers." Never hitched anymore after that.

[williamwbishop]

Originally posted by linux12414
There are 2 things:

When I knew my husband was in the final stages of his illness, just forcing myself to walk into his hospital room. Considering I was a nurse for many years, you wouldn't think this could be possible. However, it's different when it affects YOU and YOURS.

On a more mundane level, back when I was in my early 20's, my girlfriend and I would go shopping every Friday night after work and take the City bus. One night, a couple of guys in a Cadillac convertible asked us if we wanted a ride, and we took it, not wanting to wait for the bus. As it turned out, they were nice guys and only dropped us at the mall, but a couple of days later, we both thought of what *could* have happened if they were "wrong numbers." Never hitched anymore after that.

My condolances.:( Cancer?
As to hitchiking, I'm glad you learned your lesson and are here to join us.:)

[linux12414]

Originally posted by williamwbishop
My condolances.:( Cancer?
As to hitchiking, I'm glad you learned your lesson and are here to join us.:)

No, cardiomyopathy with a side order of renal insufficiency. It was bad.

[williamwbishop]

Originally posted by linux12414
No, cardiomyopathy with a side order of renal insufficiency. It was bad.

Hard to keep the fluid off from the heart and still give him sufficient liquids to keep the dialisys functioning adequately? I'm sorry, that is a hard way to go. My deepest sympathies to you. I wish there was something besides the sympathy and sorrow for your pain to give you. But those I give freely. That was a very hard thing to make it through, I imagine you are a very strong woman now. Have a beautiful day.:)

[williamwbishop]

Was it a thickening or a thinning of the walls? By chance had he been on redux(tm)? Sorry to be so inquisitive, it's just an area of interest to me.

[crokett]

Scariest thing I ever did was hooking my windsurfing harness in for the first time. Several things were wrong including the harness lines being too short (hadn't worked out the proper length for me yet) and being overpowered (too large a sail for the conditions). Lost control of the board and it started heading straight downwind which was away from the beach that day. Ended up having to pull the safety release on the harness and bail.

Parenthood is what I am most scared of, but that hasn't happened yet.

[williamwbishop]

Originally posted by crokett

Parenthood is what I am most scared of, but that hasn't happened yet.

Trust me, it is the best thing on earth. :)

[linux12414]

Originally posted by williamwbishop
Was it a thickening or a thinning of the walls? By chance had he been on redux(tm)? Sorry to be so inquisitive, it's just an area of interest to me.

I don't mind talking about it at all...as a matter of fact, it may actually help someone.

He had rheumatic heart disease as a child, which affected the left chambers of the heart.

Carl always had a murmur, but his old doctor dismissed it as "benign, " when in fact, it wasn't. In 1995, he had a valve replacement and a CABG3X (since there was some clogging).

The only meds he was on in the beginning was a BP med (so the heart wouldn't work as hard), digoxin, and occasional lasix in case he retained water.

My husband was a very supercillious individual, and therefore, always thought he knew best. Against his cardiologists orders, he continued to carpet his food with salt and refused to do the requisite post-op walking and exercise. As a result, the episodes of CHF started, and came with more frequency.

They used to tell us that you have about 5 years from the first episode of CHF till you die, and this time frame proved correct for Carl.

The renal insufficiency came from his first "near death" experience, when he suffered respiratory, renal and heart failure all at the same time. Somehow, he was resuscitated.

In the final stages, he had to have IV therapy that consisted of Dobutamine and Dopamine.

Now, to all you young folks out there---
(shouting--yes!)--
IF YOU SMOKE --QUIT NOW

IF YOU FEEL SICK, SOMETHING'S WRONG--GO TO YOUR DOCTOR

FOLLOW YOUR DOCTORS ADVICE--HE/SHE KNOWS MORE THAN YOU DO

IF YOU'RE OVERFAT, EAT RIGHT AND EXERCISE.
<.end shout>

[linux12414]

Yep, another caveat....

Make sure that your next of kin knows what your final wishes are....

GET A HEALTH CARE PROXY TODAY

The hardest thing I ever had to do was give the DNR for my husband...since he never expressed his wishes to me, I was forced to impose mine on him in his final hour.

[slapNUT]

Wow, I'm feeling kinda whimpy now with my juvenile phobia's exposed. But just so you know I have done other things which didn't bother me in the least:

Camp overnight in a graveyard alone.
Swim in shark infested waters.
Do a 1 1/2 piked off a 32ft platform.
Fight my big brother (I lost of course)
Lay on the tracks while a speeding train passed.
Climb A 300ft TV tower.

There are others. But the only one that still gives me chills when I think about it is the "rain gourged culvert."

[williamwbishop]

Originally posted by linux12414
Yep, another caveat....

Make sure that your next of kin knows what your final wishes are....

GET A HEALTH CARE PROXY TODAY

The hardest thing I ever had to do was give the DNR for my husband...since he never expressed his wishes to me, I was forced to impose mine on him in his final hour.

I should think that if anyone knew his wishes, it would be you. You forced nothing on him, and you know as well as anyone that there was no hope if he just could be kept breathing for another few days. You were kind, and should never feel any doubt in that area. For the record, as to your caveat, I've had a will, with detailed instructions since I was 17, updated annually. It is the smart thing to do.

[bosox79]

the scariest thing I ever did, or should I say that happened to me was being shot at, I was a junior in H.S & a me & a few friends were partying @ my buddies place ( he livied in a hotel) with some ex gang members, anyway my buddy lives in a bad part of town & some kids were spray panting the dumpsters behind his place anyway one of the ex gang members decided to taunght the kids. They then went & got their friends & one of their buddies had a shotgun & they fired @ the door of the room we were in, thankfully no one got hit becuse the door was thick but it scared the sh*t out of me:(

I want to offer my condlences to William, Linux 12414 & kart38, I too know what it is like to loose or come close to loosing a loved one!

[kart38]

Wow, my life has been pretty lame. The scariest thing I've done wasn't that scary for me (didn't have time to be scared).

I race go-karts on the weekends, in warmer weather (it is 15deg right now :mad: ). Well the track I race regularly is fairly high speed for a kart track, top speed of about 65mph in the class this happened in (90mph in my shifter kart :D ). There is a section of the track that resembles an oval track, two 600' straights connected by a large high banked corner (taken flat out in everything but a shifter kart). Anyways at the end of the second straight is a left hand kink and a right hand hairpin (roughly 120 degrees, very sharp). As I applied the brakes for this impending corner a pin that serves as a fulcrum for a lever broke, in short I lost the brakes. I shot off the track at something over 60mph, missing a light pole (guarded by water filled barriers) by a couple of feet. My next problem was that I would soon be crossing another portion of track, that is earlier in the lap. The main problem with this was that there were two people headed towards my trajectory. While still in the grass I managed to spin the kart 90deg. As I re-entered the track the kart caught a small amount of air (less than an inch). I then slammed into one of the other karts (still doing over 50mph) and proceeded to roll over him. At one point the nose of my kart was pointed straight up with my rear bumper about 6" off the ground. I came to rest just off the track, my kart came to rest mostly off the track but not completely.

As I said it wasn't very scary to me at the time. I was trying to figure out what was going on. On the other hand my mom, who was watching from the pits, was speechless. Well almost, she was video taping it and said something that can't be repeated on this board (it resembles "Oh pooh!").

I feel for William and linux 12414. I'm only 21 but I've lost two sisters, four grandparents, a step grandmother, and quite a few others. I've been to more funerals than I care to count, two just last year. It is actually a family joke that they serve as family reunions. My heart goes out......

Jason

[endorphinjunkie]

Walking point in a southeast asian paradise.

[linux12414]

Originally posted by endorphinjunkie
Walking point in a southeast asian paradise.

If you're a 'Nam Vet, my friend, I salute you.

[bosox79]

Originally posted by linux12414
If you're a 'Nam Vet, my friend, I salute you.

I slaute you also & thanks endorphinjunkie!

[Tinlong]

Scariest thing done EVER:

Install Gentoo Linux for the very first time!!!! :D

Nah, it isn't scariest, but it's pretty scary, when converting from RedHat and Slackware, coz one single command can destroy my data... luckily it turns out to be good, and I have redone it more than 20 times :p

The scariest thing I've ever done is a HUGE sliding when driving... back in March 2000, I was driving on freeway, it was raining hard, and I was cutting lane. The Ford Explorer behind didn't let me have the way, still pushing from the back without reducing speed. So I was forced to cut back to the original lane. Unfortunately, a skid happened, and when I was trying to regain the control, for some reason I'd stepped on the GAS PEDAL!!! The car then committed into an anti-clockwise spin, slided back to the lane I was trying to cut in at first, with the car PERPENDICULAR with the lanes!! No doubt, the Ford Explorer hit right on the driver's side, but thanks to the wet road, the car didn't take the full force. Instead, it slided away and stopped in the center of the road, with me unhurt. Should the road be not wet enough, I'd be ground meat already. And after that, several cars trying so hard to dodge me before I successfully brought the car into shoulder. :D

That was pretty scary.... I was almost dead.

[glyph]

in our teens, my younger sister hypnotized my youngest brother (he was 5 yrs old or so) and he was talking about his previous life that was quite traumatic, i think he said he was murdered or something like that, anyhoo it was freaky and i told my sister to snap him out of it.

as for me, i took some fake vampire blood and poured it on my forehead and went running to my mom saying that i fell. well, she went hysterical!! she was fumbling with the phone trying to call 911 and she couldn't even control her hand movements. anyways, after several attempts of trying to tell her it was a joke she finally came out of the hysteria, and boy was she mad!

[Silent Bob]

Originally posted by crokett
Scariest thing I ever did was hooking my windsurfing harness in for the first time. Several things were wrong including the harness lines being too short (hadn't worked out the proper length for me yet) and being overpowered (too large a sail for the conditions). Lost control of the board and it started heading straight downwind which was away from the beach that day. Ended up having to pull the safety release on the harness and bail.

Parenthood is what I am most scared of, but that hasn't happened yet.

Two scary things have happened to me while I was windsurfing.

The first was during a tack, I fell and rather than falling away from the board I fell ON to it and managed to HOLE it with my knee. This was over half a mile out to sea, out there your board and your life are quite closely intertwined...

The other one was when I decided to jump off a largish piece of chop. I went about 5 feet up and the wind caught the board and turned it around it's length and I fell straight down into the water. The board was upside down and my feet were still in the straps so I was stuck face down in the water. I had to calm down and head FURTHER underwater so I could get my feet out of the straps in order to breath again :)

[olorin12]

Man I feel dumb. All the things that happened to all of you are external!
My scariest things are positive hallucinations, obsessive thoughts, and panic attacks that last for 7 or 8 hours at a time. Of course, none of it is real, but the fear is the same nonetheless.

[williamwbishop]

Originally posted by olorin12
Man I feel dumb. All the things that happened to all of you are external!
My scariest things are positive hallucinations, obsessive thoughts, and panic attacks that last for 7 or 8 hours at a time. Of course, none of it is real, but the fear is the same nonetheless.

Trust me when I say I understand. My wife has night terrors, and she seems awake when she is not, and her fear is so tangible, that I couldn't in any good conscience say that it is any less real to her in that moment than anything is in this thing we call reality.

[olorin12]

My sincere sympathies. Us severe neurotics can be extremely difficult to live with!

[williamwbishop]

Originally posted by olorin12
My sincere sympathies. Us severe neurotics can be extremely difficult to live with!

Might I inquire what your terrors are of? My wife has odd ones. Bugs. I couldn't count the number of times that I have awoken to find her standing in our bed, terrified. Turn on the light, shake her, whatever, it still takes several minutes for her to come out of it. I don't really understand, because insects and the like have nothing fearful about them to me...but she is terrified. My 3(almost 4 year old now, how the time flies) year old also has them, but her's are about drowning(she fell into a pool when she was a little over 2 and a half, and no one noticed immediately(family gathering, I wasn't there) and when they pulled her out she was white and not breathing. As is our curse with water. But as is our fate, we are hard to die, and after mouth to mouth, she regurgitated a quart or two of water and regained consciousness. She is still afraid of the water(I was after my drowning until I was 12...and I was 5 when it happened the first time). So she moans in her sleep, and struggles and it takes sometimes 20 minutes or more for her to fully come out of it. I feel terrible for her(and have never entrusted her care to anyone since) but I think the night terrors thing is hereditary.

[glyph]

ok, here's another one. i went hiking one day and i was gonna head up into the mountains. since i was walking i figured i'd take the most direct route. so i went across this muskeg until it started getting wet. well, i got to going in one direction, then another trying to keep out of the mush. after a while i decided to turn back, only i went in a direction i thought looked dry. well, what i though was a good route was a lake covered with vegitation. it was like walking on a waterbed, and all i could think of was ' i hope i don't poke thru this stuff'. several times i didn't know whether i should turn back again or keep going. it got to the point where i couldn't stand still as the marsh beneath my feet sank as i stepped on it. i had no choice but to make a run for it but it seemed to get worse the further i went. watching the wave like motion of the vegitation and how far the waves travelled wasn't very reassuring. anyhoo, after a mad scramble it eventually got feeling like earth beneath my feet again. i got home all muddy and wet, but i was happy to be alive.

[Okie]

The scariest thing i ever did was climb a medium sized mountian (approx 2000 feet) with a almost sheer rock face without any climbing gear, (just bare handed and a old pair of work boots) i just about bought the farm on that one...

[williamwbishop]

Originally posted by Okie
The scariest thing i ever did was climb a medium sized mountian (approx 2000 feet) with a almost sheer rock face without any climbing gear, (just bare handed and a old pair of work boots) i just about bought the farm on that one...


The thoughtfullness of youth I warrant?

[linux12414]

Originally posted by olorin12
Man I feel dumb. All the things that happened to all of you are external!
My scariest things are positive hallucinations, obsessive thoughts, and panic attacks that last for 7 or 8 hours at a time. Of course, none of it is real, but the fear is the same nonetheless.

Run don't walk, to your doctor.

There are many medications that can help you.

Please, don't suffer!!!!

[cid222]

the scariest thing that happened to me was when i was about 8. i had a fever of about 106 degrees and i was hallucinating. I hallucinated that i was covered in spiders. My mom tells me i was up more than half ofthe night

[threadhead]

the scariest thing that happend to me was on hawaii when i was 9 or 10. the tides were pretty high this afternoon.
at the beach i was walking torwards the surge. as the tides overflowed the beach i was standing on, the dead water of the backflowing tide was pulling me into the ocean right into the next wave.

to my luck there were standing two ex-US-soldiers as my dad
asked them later, picking me up when i was in this misery.

if they wouldnt have picked me up i would be dead for sure now i guess.

lucky me.

[olorin12]

I am on medication and I've had some therapy. Thanx for the concern, though. The medicines don't ever cure these things completely, but they keep life liveable, anyway.
Oh, and wbishop, the fears can be about anything. I pretty much jump from phobia to phobia, (usually depending upon what the target of the OCD is), but the underlying neurosis and fear is always the same, no matter what the target.


>Run don't walk, to your doctor.
There are many medications that can help you.

Please, don't suffer!!!!

[williamwbishop]

Originally posted by olorin12
I am on medication and I've had some therapy. Thanx for the concern, though. The medicines don't ever cure these things completely, but they keep life liveable, anyway.
Oh, and wbishop, the fears can be about anything. I pretty much jump from phobia to phobia, (usually depending upon what the target of the OCD is), but the underlying neurosis and fear is always the same, no matter what the target.


>Run don't walk, to your doctor.
There are many medications that can help you.

Please, don't suffer!!!!

I feel for you brother, my wife and daughter suffer and I wouldn't wish it on my enemy.:(

[slapNUT]

I really did intend for this to be a lighthearted happy thread where people could post silly stories about scary episodes in their life!

I failed!

We're all bummed out now!

I'm sticking a knife in my eye even as I post!

OUCH!

Now I feel happy!

[timbobagginsii]

Okay, scary but fun:
going over the edge abseiling for the first time, not very high but that switch from upright to horizontal - I nearlly had to change my armour.
In the scouts: a team of three of us had to go into a cave with one lantern between us - the other two thought it would be fun once we reached the far end, to run back and leave me in the complete darkness. I was, and probably still am terrified of dark enclosed places. Could have killed them when I got out.
Another scouting memory: death slides:
pick a tree at the top of a steep hill and a tree at the bottom. Hitch a rope tightly between the two with a big knot about 6 foot from the lower tree, put a pully with a six foot length of rope on the suspended rope, pull it up the hill. Hang on to the length for dear life. Great fun.

[mister_math]

I and a couple of friends were driving across the state to some meeting. One of the friends was driving and he was a real speed freak. So we go faster and faster until we're hitting about 115 or 120 mph.

But this is an old country road and so it's not entirely level; I notice there's a little dip ahead and I say something like, "Hey, watch out, man." But it's too late to reduce our speed. We go over the dip and get a few seconds of air.

Then, instead of going on as he should have, the driver slams on the brakes. We start to skid instantly, still going over 100 mph. The car turns a full 90 degrees (z-axis), still going in the direction of the road, and by some miracle it doesn't flip over.

The driver somehow manages to turn the car back the right way and slow us down to a stop. We all get out and lay on the ground for a couple of minutes until our hearts stop jumping around in our chests. We looked back and saw the skidmarks we had made were at least a couple hundred feet long.

Suffice it to say, we kept it below the speed limit the rest of the trip.