Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

My life could have been totally different today

107 replies

Sandyrain · 07/11/2018 08:04

Last night I turned my back for 2 seconds and my 2yo ran into the road. There was a small van coming down and he had to emergency break I inftont of dc.
Luckily he was turning into stop at the shop other wise things could have been very different. He was going 25mph. It's terrifying to think what could have happened. What if it was a speeding driver?
A driver not paying attention?
A larger van that didn't see dc as dc is so small?

I'm counting my blessings that she is safe and well. And how life can change in the blink of an eye.

OP posts:
nervousnelly22 · 07/11/2018 08:29

Oh bless you, these things can be quite a shock. I was once the driver in this scenario and it really shook me up too. A child of about 5 ran out in front of me, I slammed on the brake and besides a similarly shaken mother everyone was fine. I kept thinking about it for days afterwards though, "what if I hadn't been able to brake? What if I had been changing gear/fiddling with the radio? What if I just hadn't seen her?" It plays on your mind for a few weeks but you won't feel so anxious forever. Hold your baby extra close and be thankful for a careful driver.


MrsReacher1 · 07/11/2018 08:59

I had similar when DD was two. She undid strap on pushchair but I hadn't seen. I stopped, bent down to get my purse from the bag under the pushchair prior to going inside a shop and she ran between parked cars out into the road. So quick.
A man who'd been walking behind me was quick as a flash and grabbed her as she ran. She was inches from being hit by a car that couldn't possibly have seen her in time.

I was so stunned I didn't even thank him.
And I felt exactly as you did.

I am celebrating her 23rd birthday tomorrow. So lucky

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 07/11/2018 09:09

Oh Good God. Flowers
I understand exactly what you're going through. A car almost hit my dd. It missed her by inches. That was 11 years ago. There's not a day that passes where I don't think about what could have been nor thank God for not letting it happen. I still cry over what might have happened.
Its like a constant terror isn't it that something might happen to them.
Adore my dd as I do. If I'd have known the intensity of that terror. I think I'd have thought much much harder about having children.

NancyDonahue · 07/11/2018 09:12

These stories send a shiver down my spine. I've had similar near misses with my dcs. I lost dd on a very crowded beach when she was 4 for 40 minutes. Nearly 2 decades on I still think 'what if' and feel grateful she was found unharmed.

Magair · 07/11/2018 09:15

DS1 nearly drowned 2 years ago. Entirely my fault and I still feel sick about it most days.

cjt110 · 07/11/2018 09:34

My son was playing on climbing apparatus at the park and I said something like "Let's see how fast you can go up the stairs and down the slide" We were sat about 10 feet from he and he was about 3 and a half. He rushed, tripped and fell through the gap where the firemans pole was, 5ft down and onto his head/neck. I still feel jittery when he goes on any play apparatus now...

SundayGirls · 07/11/2018 11:31

What an awful feeling, but so glad for you that all was OK. They are just so quick. My eldest was like greased lightning and so from him being very small I've kept a grasp on all my DCs (I have 3 now) and I'm sure some of the other parents I see think I'm being over the top when I grab their hands to cross the road (we live near some very busy side/B roads). I see others who allow their toddlers to toddle right up to the edge of the pavement whilst they meander behind with a buggy and it goes right through me.

I once read a very sad story years ago which I still remember today which is partly the reason I am so careful around roads with the children. I don't know if it was on here or in a newspaper, but a mum had been crossing the road with her child (aged about 5-ish), it was a busy A road, with two lanes of traffic each way, and a central reservation. They crossed the road safely and reached the central reservation, and she stopped but the child didn't (he didn't realise he should, I guess, after crossing half the road safely already). He stepped out into the road and was instantly killed. Oh my goodness. That poor mum. I can't even stand to think about the pain she's gone though.

oopslateagain · 07/11/2018 11:45

Oh god yes I remember that feeling, it's a weird mix of awful/relieved/thankful/upset. DD disappeared in a massive bowling alley when she was nearly 2, it had 30 lanes and three entrances and was really busy. I went to the loo and asked DH to watch her, he misheard and thought I was taking her with me, I came back five minutes later and she was gone. She was missing for nearly 10 minutes, with me and DH and our friends running up and down the whole place, the staff making announcements over the tannoy. She was found right at the other end of the alley near the big doors, she was quite happily wandering around.

For months afterwards I kept thinking, what if? What if someone had taken her? What if she'd got out (there was a busy road outside). What if she'd got down to the back area where the machinery was? What if she just disappeared and we never knew what happened? It's the worst feeling in the world.

Original poster
Sandyrain · 07/11/2018 17:18

Thank you for sharing stories.
It's really woken me up as I was so close to my life drastically changing in the blink of an eye. It's made me a lot more grateful.

OP posts:
InertPotato · 07/11/2018 17:20
Flowers

I'm glad to hear of your renewed perspective, I'll borrow it if you don't mind. Wink

So glad you had your wits about you.

Original poster
Sandyrain · 07/11/2018 17:20

Dc doesn't realise what even happend or what could have happen which I find incredible. But at 2 yo I suppose you don't understand the severity of it.

OP posts:
Original poster
Sandyrain · 07/11/2018 17:23

@InertPotato
Haha thank you.
I woke up this morning with a whole new outlook on life. I know it sounds crazy but I can't explain it, I feel like a new person.
Maybe I'm still in shockGrin

OP posts:
Original poster
Sandyrain · 07/11/2018 17:24

My precious baby girl was almost taken from. It's so hard to get my head around that. Sorry for rambling onSmile

OP posts:
MyOtherProfile · 07/11/2018 17:28

I had something similar when my ds was about 5. He dropped his apple and it rolled into the road. He immediately stepped out to get it without looking and a passing car missed him by about a centimetre. I screamed and grabbed him and he had absolutely no idea why I was upset. I still think of it now about 8 years later and think about how very different life would be now if the car had come just that little bit closer.

Makes you just want to hug them tight, doesn't it?

Mrsfrumble · 07/11/2018 17:39

Wow, thank goodness the driver was able to stop! I’ll bet they were extremely shaken up too. I remember reading a newspaper story about an older woman who had accidentally hit and killed a small child when she was in her early twenties. Even though she wasn’t at fault the guilt had ruined her life. It was so haunting and has stayed with me.

We lost DD at a large, busy zoo when she was about 17 months old. She was tiny for her age and non-verbal, and just so incredibly vulnerable it makes me feel a bit sick to remember it (even now that she’s a noisy, assertive 6 year old).

Original poster
Sandyrain · 07/11/2018 17:48

Yes driver was quite shaken up too. I'm sure he's still thinking about it and talking about it now.

Losing your 17m dc must have been terrifyingFlowers
It really outs life in perspective. Others aren't so lucky, sadly.

OP posts:
nokidshere · 07/11/2018 18:10

It takes a while to stop the "what ifs".

My son got knocked down on his way to school when he was 8. I was more than grateful that the driver had been going slowly. I made a point of calling the lady (police gave me her number) so I could reassure her that he was ok.

Kezzamo · 07/11/2018 18:20

In my job, front line police officer I regularly come across situations like this (not just with children) when those so marginal things that we take for granted go wrong. Tragedies that happen to real people where a split second, a metre etc make all the difference. It's so hard not to be a paranoid wreck about my DC's. I'm totally ok with it being me, if it's my time it just is etc but the kids!!!! I hate it if we travel in separate cars etc. I always hug them close and never take anything for granted. I don't know if I'm lucky or need therapy! 😂

Villanelle123 · 07/11/2018 18:22

I feel sick reading these. If you thought about this too much you wouldn’t be able to function or let your kids out if your sight.

shakethatass · 07/11/2018 18:27

I'm really not religious but things like this make me believe that someone or something is looking after you!
I've had so many near misses, almost disasters in my life I'm certain that I have a 'guardian angel'

romany4 · 07/11/2018 18:28

My ds2 nearly drowned in the bath when he was 6 months old.
I went to get a towel from the cupboard and left him sitting up in the water. Literally was 10 seconds and I came back in and he was under the water. He is 21 now and I still feel terrible at my stupidity.

Darbs76 · 07/11/2018 18:30

Gosh how scary. I know they are quite old fashioned now but I always used reins when mine were babies and young toddlers.

Moneypenny007 · 07/11/2018 18:34

We were waiting at traffic lights with ds in his buggy. He would have been 3mths at the time. Lights went green, we crossed the first lane. No traffic waiting at the second lane and I went to carry on across... dh pulled me back with the buggy.... next thing I know a car ran the red light and almost took ds with her. He didn't see the car just something told him to stop. The police just happened to be a car behind her and pulled her over. She was going a lot faster than the speed limit too.

MrsJonSno · 07/11/2018 18:34

My daughter was 12 months old and fell down the stairs. She was walking across the landing, tripped and fell down from top to bottom. My partner was sat near her and half threw himself down head first to grab her but just missed. He said she tumbled head over heels all the way down and hit her neck and head against the stairs 3 times. She landed at the bottom and jumped up and ran into me, not a mark on her and she was laughing. My partner walked in and had tears in his eyes and wasn’t shaking- I’ve never seen him like that before or since. He said as he watched her fall he was sure she was going to be broken or dead when he got to the bottom. I didn’t even see it and it makes me feel sick to think about.

InertPotato · 07/11/2018 19:01

My son fell through the floor when our house was being renovated, missed a bag of nails narrowly. Spent the night in A&E under observation.

My husband and I could barely function for the following days.

Swipe left for the next trending thread