Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

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

163 replies

Osidge · 25/02/2024 13:12

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?

OP posts:
somethingisnotquiteright · 25/02/2024 19:07

About 20 years ago, we were sat in a restaurant and there was the most sickening noise on the street just outside.
Across the road from the restaurant was a multi storey car park where a mad had jumped from the top holding his 5 year old daughter.
Absolutely horrific.

somethingisnotquiteright · 25/02/2024 19:07

somethingisnotquiteright · 25/02/2024 19:07

About 20 years ago, we were sat in a restaurant and there was the most sickening noise on the street just outside.
Across the road from the restaurant was a multi storey car park where a mad had jumped from the top holding his 5 year old daughter.
Absolutely horrific.

*man, not mad

Caswallonthefox · 25/02/2024 19:08

LeSoleil · 25/02/2024 18:50

This is why we need compassionate assisted suicide in the UK. Why should it be a privilege and €15,000 to achieve but go to Switzerland?

Yes.
For other people, obviously because in my dad's case he was only in hospital for 3 days.
My mother, however had MND and died slowly over 5 years.
Assisted suicide needs to happen

Parrotseatthemall · 25/02/2024 19:09

OneStripeySockAndOneSpottySock · 25/02/2024 18:48

Agree with you !

Maybe it's therapy for those who have just carried on in times before social media existed? As the saying goes just scroll by if it offends you, some people sail through life in a positive bubble..this is reality for those commenting. Shit happens and can affect you deeply, without it being your fault. Hopefully you won't need to offload ever

Sharontheodopolodous · 25/02/2024 19:34

somethingisnotquiteright · 25/02/2024 19:07

About 20 years ago, we were sat in a restaurant and there was the most sickening noise on the street just outside.
Across the road from the restaurant was a multi storey car park where a mad had jumped from the top holding his 5 year old daughter.
Absolutely horrific.

I had something similar

Years ago,I'd taken dd to a group in town-I seem to remember her being about 9/10

On our route back,the street was blocked-im talking the biggest group of people I've ever seen in my life-I couldn't believe the amount of police either

We went back on ourselves,not knowing what was going on and the second route took us to the back of this crowd

I managed to work out that a young lad was hanging out of a 4th floor hotel room and was shouting he was going to jump-the crowd was yelling at him to do it-'go on mate!jump'

I'm doing my utter best to get dd away but failing due to the sheer volume of people

She turned to me,squeezing my hand as tight as she could and said 'he won't jump will he mum?'

'Course not sweetie-the police will get him down and get him the help he needs'

A second after I said it,I heard the crowd gasp-hed jumped

The sound of his body hitting the ground will never leave either of us

He lived for a few days but died later in hospital

I've never told her (she's an adult now) simply because she never asked but God knows what I would have said if she had

The photo the local paper printed of him in mid air,plunging to his death will never leave me and was out off order,as where the bloody crowd

that poor man,and his family

Another one was a few years later,my sister in law rang and asked me if I fancied going for a coffee with her

I said yes,we arranged to meet at her work as soon as I'd dropped ds off at afternoon nursery

We got to just round the corner to our meeting place,and m&s came into view

I saw an older lady pushing her small trolley out of the doors,she stepped onto the road

And was hit by a 'bendy' bus (if you know the area,they are very common)

She was 'sucked' under it-all anyone could see was her pinky/purple legs sticking out from under the bus

My sister in law had come out of her work and saw the same but from a different angle

People where walking past like nothing had happened or where stood gawping

Thankfully the police seemed to show up within a minute

I managed to get to sis in law and we walked the other way,deep in shock

My only saving grace was the kids where too young to know what had happened

Again,that poor lady-my heart goes out to her family

At work a few months ago,and I was facing the drive throu window,chatting to a colleague

I glanced up,just in time to see a bloke run across the road

A car was going 2miles an hour faster than the speed limit and hit him

I saw him flung into the air and land-his shoe came off

While the paramedics where giving life saving treatment,we had to seal off the upstairs as people where pouring in and heading up to get a better look

Some where stood on tables just to get a better angle-not one where there to eat-it was all about watching this poor man

What really boiled my piss,was my stupid bitch manager had the cctv of the accident eithin seconds and was watching and rewatching it all afternoon-inviting her favourites to join in and gawp on repeat

Osidge · 25/02/2024 19:41

@Sharontheodopolodous sickening. And the bastards goading that poor man to jump to his death. What is wrong with people?!

OP posts:
thelengthspeoplegoto · 25/02/2024 19:51

Jingleballs2 · 25/02/2024 16:12

I saw a lady that went up in flames during an incident in a bar abroad (the set the bar alight and the bottle of fluid exploded) she was running smashing into tables, trampling on small children, just totally engulfed

Horrendous.

SomethingBlues · 25/02/2024 20:01

Had a couple of horrible things that I’ve seen but the ones that stick out are a horrendous car accident where we were the first ones on the scene.

the other was my grandfather when he was dying. He had dementia and a bowel obstruction that wound up killing him and he was in so much pain. He didn’t remember me at that point as the dementia had taken too much but I think he realised I belonged to him and I was a safe person because he begged for pain relief and while the nurses were sorting him out, I just held him while he cried and screamed. It was the worst thing I have ever done. I couldn’t leave him. I miss him so much

AlwaysGinPlease · 25/02/2024 20:14

ToftySheepdog · 25/02/2024 13:44

What is the actual purpose of threads like this?

Agreed. Very unpleasant and some require a warning.

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 25/02/2024 20:20

When I was 26 ish I saw a motorcyclist go under a bus. He was alive when the ambulance arrived and dead by the time the police arrived.

Last year, I nursed my mother through chemotherapy , Covid - then long Covid - and a a chest infection. She had a hallucinogenic reaction to some medication. That was dreadful to see.

Dominoeffecter · 25/02/2024 21:34

I saw a woman stumble on a escalator, her hair got caught and she got dragged up by it essentially scalping her.

Dominoeffecter · 25/02/2024 21:36

AlwaysGinPlease · 25/02/2024 20:14

Agreed. Very unpleasant and some require a warning.

You’ve managed to get to page 6 🤦🏼

Caswallonthefox · 25/02/2024 21:39

AlwaysGinPlease · 25/02/2024 20:14

Agreed. Very unpleasant and some require a warning.

There's a warning in the title. It makes me wonder how "distressing content" isn't self explanatory.

Dominoeffecter · 25/02/2024 21:41

Caswallonthefox · 25/02/2024 21:39

There's a warning in the title. It makes me wonder how "distressing content" isn't self explanatory.

People actively want to be appalled 😵‍💫

Elderflower14 · 25/02/2024 21:41

I witnessed ds2 who has special needs screaming as he couldn't wake his Daddy up. 😢 😢 😢
My sister arrived and did CPR till the ambulance arrived but he couldn't be saved.
Ds2 was two days short of his fifth birthday. He's nearly 28 now and still remembers and talks about it... 😢 😢 😢 😢

MegaClutterSlut · 25/02/2024 21:48

The sound of the impact and body parts laying across the train tracks 😞

AlwaysGinPlease · 25/02/2024 22:12

For the smart arses, there wasn't originally a warning and I didn't read all the posts to " get to page 6" damn there are some nasty posters here.

Osidge · 25/02/2024 22:17

@AlwaysGinPlease I'm very sorry if my post was disturbing for you. The thread title did ask what was the worst thing anyone had witnessed. So it was pretty clear from the off that it wasn't a rainbow and light post.
Perhaps I should have given a warning.

OP posts:
Osidge · 25/02/2024 22:20

somethingisnotquiteright · 25/02/2024 19:07

About 20 years ago, we were sat in a restaurant and there was the most sickening noise on the street just outside.
Across the road from the restaurant was a multi storey car park where a mad had jumped from the top holding his 5 year old daughter.
Absolutely horrific.

Oh no! Where was this? That's dreadful 😥

OP posts:
AlwaysGinPlease · 25/02/2024 22:21

@Osidge it wasn't your post.

I'm glad MN added the warning though. Those who thought it funny, you're not clever or cool. If there had already been a warning I wouldn't have suggested one.

Jingleballs2 · 25/02/2024 22:24

Osidge · 25/02/2024 22:17

@AlwaysGinPlease I'm very sorry if my post was disturbing for you. The thread title did ask what was the worst thing anyone had witnessed. So it was pretty clear from the off that it wasn't a rainbow and light post.
Perhaps I should have given a warning.

It's quite obvious it's not going to be a nice read.

Don't click on it if you dont want to read it 🙄

AlwaysGinPlease · 25/02/2024 22:29

@Jingleballs2 odfod

ButterBastardBeans · 25/02/2024 23:51

Mum was given a medication that acted like the truth drug when she was having a MH breakdown. She had been very badly abused by her mother as a child but had kept a lot of it to herself until this night. I was an adult by this time but the stuff I saw and heard as a child was awful as a result of Mums MH issues but she was a wonderful Mum

Mum had gone to bed but woke up, came down and told us the truth of her childhood in all sincerity. The scars she had on her back and shoulders that were a funny shape were from being burned with an iron. She told us plenty of other things too. She went back to bed and didn't remember the incident after

Dad and me just looked at each other after she went back to bed. The iron thing was one of about twenty terrible things she had offloaded. Gran was an old woman by this time and a bit demented. I knew she was a nasty woman from a young age but I hadn't realised the level she had stooped to. When she died , I went to her funeral just to make sure she was dead.

itsgettingweird · 26/02/2024 07:46

Can't believe the number of posters coming onto a thread named "The worst things you've witnessed" - to complain the horrible things peoples have witnessed being written about.

If I don't want to read the content of a thread I don't click on it.

These are probably the people that walk into Pizza express and complain about the fact the menu is pizzas 🤦‍♀️🙄

Sleeplesnights · 26/02/2024 10:35

When I was training to be a hairdresser around 30 years ago so would have been 16,I was putting an elderly lady's hair in rollers ready for the dryer. Popped her under and thought nothing nothing of it when she fell asleep as all the old ladies regularly had a nap..except we couldn't wake her up. She had passed so quietly.
We got a lovely card from her son saying how grateful he was that she was surrounded by friends as she could have passed at home,all alone.

Swipe left for the next trending thread