V-Flyer

On a recent trip to Lake Garda, a sudden storm/high wind came up and lifted one of the large pool umberellas up in the air. In a split second, the metal pole flew past,inches from my wife`s face. It really hit home how an everyday experience can suddenly turn into something very dangerous.I just wondered if anyone else had been subject to a non combat near death experience.

I was hit by a transit van when I was 19, didnt even see it coming, all I remember is crossing the road and finding myself lying in the middle of it 2 seconds later feeling rather winded and unable to get up. To this day I have no memory of the van, just the eye witness accounts of what happened. I was taken to hospital and my hair started falling out because of the shock. Makes you, well, certainly made me, realise how fragile we are. I was still in my 'invincible' stage of youth at that point in time [:)]

Thanks,
Sarah

Driving from Crawley to Southampton one morning (around 3am) I decided to take the back roads as I was not in a rush and seeing the sun come up over the countryside is a lot nicer than seeing it come up over the M3.

I was driving down a dual carriage way minding my own business when a car came out of nowhere going like a bat out of hell in my lane, straight at me, to this day I have no idea how I avoided him, but with our combined speeds, being in the middle of nowhere, we would both be dead.

quote:Originally posted by Paul H
On a recent trip to Lake Garda, a sudden storm/high wind came up and lifted one of the large pool umberellas up in the air. In a split second, the metal pole flew past,inches from my wife`s face. It really hit home how an everyday experience can suddenly turn into something very dangerous.I just wondered if anyone else had been subject to a non combat near death experience.


Making a quick exit from a climbing trip in the Yorkshire Dales, back in early '90's due to fast approaching thunderstorm, 3 of us racing down a footpath (me with rucksack full of metal climbing gear).
All 3 of us suddenly had a weird feeling come over us, we looked at each other, then made split second decision to run for nearest wall (ditching rucksack in process).

few seconds later, a 3-pronged lighting strike near where we'd been stood..[:0]

Healthy respect for storms ever since...

NH

quote:Originally posted by Scrooge
Driving from Crawley to Southampton one morning (around 3am) I decided to take the back roads as I was not in a rush and seeing the sun come up over the countryside is a lot nicer than seeing it come up over the M3.

I was driving down a dual carriage way minding my own business when a car came out of nowhere going like a bat out of hell in my lane, straight at me, to this day I have no idea how I avoided him, but with our combined speeds, being in the middle of nowhere, we would both be dead.


Scrooge can I ask on what road this was? Myself, a friend from law school and my Mother have all had separate experiences, which are remarkably similar to yours, on a particular back road on the way to Southampton from Guildford.

Driving when over tired on the A1, I basically dozed off and hit a metal post on the nearside. It spun the car round and I saw a huge lorry coming towards me. Thought 'oh f*ck'. It turned out that what the lorry was actually doing was blocking both the lanes to prevent traffic coming past, his having seen my erratic behaviour.

It ended up with just some bent metal, but I still come out in a cold sweat when I think about what damage I could have done to other people and myself.

Paul

In August 1985 I was sitting in a very, very hot and very jammed Corfu airport waiting for my British Airtours flight back to Manchester to arrive, and moaning with the rest of the people stuck there in the delay.

It was some time before we got news of the fate of the outbound flight from Manchester.

RedV

I nearly drowned when I was a kid. Some friends and I were playing on some old barges in Weymouth Harbour when I slipped and fell in between two of them, at that time I was fully clothed and not a good swimmer. Somehow I managed to grab a trailing rope but I swallowed a lot of water and had given up struggling, odd, it was quite peaceful somehow, I remember thinking I am going to die but I really didn't mind.

Fortunately one of my friends hauled in the rope which I still had hold of and up I came gasping for air and coughing up plenty of Weymouth Harbour in the process.

Funny I have never feared death since that time.