What's the worst thing you've witnessed? [Content warning added by MNHQ: distressing content]

[Osidge]

Not long ago I was awoken at 3am by loud banging outside. It sounded like someone was banging on my window. I went to look and I saw three men with baseball bats hitting a car in the middle of the road. The car was revving and then I saw another man run out of the opposite house with a huge machete and a big ruckus ensued. I was absolutely terrified as I had visions of people breaking into houses.
I called the police and an armed unit came. There was chaos with people running and shouting. Police with rifles and dogs. Helicopters with beams going for hours.
I was really shaken for weeks. This was in south London so I guess not too surprising but I've never seen anything like it before.
Have you ever witnessed something horrible?

The aftermath of a traffic accident in Shanghai where a man had come off his moped and had been somehow sliced in half. His legs were a good way away down the road. It was one of those moments where it takes you a few seconds to register what it going on.

She's in prison, right? Because you reported this child abuse? Right?

God I seriously hope so, have not been able to get this out of my mind since reading and wish I hadn't read this thread. Poor child.

Oh bless you. I'm so sorry 😢

It's a conversation. Adults choosing to discuss experiences. You don't have to participate if you don't want to.

i once came upon a car accident and saw the driver pulling himself out through the broken glass of an overturned vehicle. Was someone I knew. Have never felt that ‘time stopped’ feeling before. Also was standing with someone who was robbed once. They came up and punched him in the face. I threw my purse away and shouted at them trying to get them to run after it, didn’t work of course!

Jeez. I can't even imagine. How horrible.

This has really traumatised me. What a vicious horrible woman. I hope your poor siblings are okay now.

I’ve seen a lot of violent acts but the thing that most stands out in my memory was something that made me realise that so many humans are just utterly devoid of compassion……

In a supermarket a lady collapsed on the floor by the kiosk desk, we suspected a heart attack. Myself and another lady were helping her, called 999 and ended up having to give CPR. As she lay dying on the floor and we desperately tried to save her life people stepped over her body to buy their fags, booze and lottery tickets.
To this day it still makes me sick to think about it. That a whole bunch of humans could be so cold and selfish as to prioritise buying their fags over letting this lady have some dignity.

Finding my parent dead and having to do cpr when I knew it was already too late but the 999 call handler was insisting 😢

Being on the bus to local retail park when I was about 17. Bus pulled up on a hill and on the left hand side was a motorbike on its side. Bus pulled down a bit further and on the right hand side was the rider, without the top of head. Wasn't nice to see.

@eatdrinkandbemerry
Oh I am so sorry x

@hoarahloux you realise we were children ourselves, right? And we were abused as well, right? Fuck off with your judgement. No, she isn't in prison. This is a woman who convinced teams of social workers to place more children with her. Blame them if you want to blame someone other than the actual abuser.

The worst thing ive come across is the bullies on MN.

My late husband on life support and watching for three days after it was turned off for him to die.
I also witnessed the body of a young man who had just jumped from a motorway bridge into oncoming traffic, it took me a few moments to realise what it was, l had to try and manoeuvre my car around various limbs that were lying in the road.

Well said!

I hope you and your family are safe now? Are you still in contact with those siblings?

@HarrietStyles
A similar experience I had was when a child had a seizure in Macdonalds. The parent was trying to give rescue meds and people were asking them to move out of the way because it had happened on the stairs and people wanted to.get a table upstairs .. Some people were getting v cross at not being able to get past. Unbelievable !

My abusive father holding my sister’s head down with a glass bottle raised and aiming at her skull.

In later years he never accepted he tried to kill her, apparently he wasn’t ever violent

As for me, the worst thing was finding my ex fiancé dead at the bottom of our stairs. He had taken his own life the night before.

The Grenfell fire.

No fucking way!!

I’d read somewhere the average person sees around 4 traumatic things in their lives whereas the emergency services, in particular Paramedics and Police Officers see nearly 300 hundred in their lives.

Watching my mother die.

One that really sticks is when I saw an elderly guy fall down the escalators at my work, it happened semi regularly, but he fell right from the top to the bottom, and was in hospital for absolutely ages. Poor guy was in a very bad way.

It was my job to divert people to the stairs or lifts, and the amount of people who said they would just go down and step over the people who fell, got pissed off at me because they were running late, or generally just be arseholes, asking when they escalators would be running again, even accusing me of disability discrimination because they couldn't use stairs and the lift queues were too long.

So yes, an awful accident, then the absolute lack of empathy or humanity afterwards.

I had another horrible experience years ago where I was followed walking down the street one night on a quiet residential road. A man pushed me to the ground and kicked me in the face asking for my handbag and phone.
I was so stunned that I gave him the bag (which had £70 in it which I was really annoyed about) but luckily my phone was in my back pocket so I told him I didn't have a phone.
Thankfully he ran off.
I had to miss a day off work as I was too distressed. Some people are truly horrible.