What's the scariest moment of your life?

[Lonelydaisy]

Following on from a thread I read earlier..

What's the most scariest life event you've been through?

Mine would be a stroke at 25 years old.

Mine was waking up at night to hear someone in my house when I was alone. I had fallen asleep on the lounge watching a movie, I heard a crash which woke me. I remember listening carefully and hearing a deep panting of someone out of breath. I was convinced that it must be me as there was no one else there and tried to hold my breath but I could still hear it. I looked back and saw my lounge room door open and a masked man was standing behind me. I had my phone next to me but I was literally so paralyzed by fear I couldn't even move to grab it. I couldn't scream, I couldn't do anything. He went on to sexually assault me but it was the breathing that froze me to my core. I slept with my 2 kids for years after and still have moments of terror if I notice my own breathing as I wake up in the night.

Waking up during an operation. I was paralysed, but woke up and was fully aware of what was happening. The tube blocking my throat stopped me from even making a sound to alert the doctors . It was like being inside a horror movie. Finally ( I assume) the anaesthetist must have realised what was happening because I "went under" again. I still have nightmares about that.

When I had sepsis. It wasn't dying itself that scared me more knowing I'd be leaving my young children behind in this world without me.

Even thinking about it now makes me feel physically sick.

Giving birth for the first time. DS was positioned face up and no one realised, I was pushing and pushing with no pain relief and a lot of blood loss, and the labour wasn’t progressing. They finally realised after 22 hours of active labour that he was the wrong way round, cut me and brought him out with forceps, but at one point I was so exhausted I genuinely thought I was dying. I had PND which was linked to the birth. Still traumatised about it now.

Other than that, crashing my car after having a full on panic attack while driving. My kids were in the car and fortunately unharmed, but we crashed off the road and through a hedge.

A personal, and now embarrassing, one to think back on was absolutely years ago hurtling out of control down a ski slope and trying to avoid colliding with people. I managed, somehow, to stop with a crash somewhere near the bottom.

Otherwise the scariest moments, over the years, have been associated with health, and waiting for test results, from family members and close friends.

Being mugged outside my house and threatened with a knife. I will never forget the hand over my mouth and the feel of the knife in my back.

Seeing my DH wheeled into an ambulance after suffering a stroke last year.

Waking up on life support 5 days after having a cardiac arrest caused by a medical condition which a consultant denied I had and put it down to anxiety stating he wanted to right a paper on it as Trauma Informed Care was the "in thing" at the moment...

He ignored all his juniors in the team to over ride their diagnosis (accurate) and would not sign of the tests that were needed.

I hope I never see that man again.

Having a massive - and I mean massive, terrifying asthma attack. Some 9 years ago it was. Thankfully I have been on seretide (purple inhaler) since then, and have never had an asthma attack since, but it scared me so much. I actually did think it was the end. I was on my own in the house, and woke up gasping for air, and could hardly get any in.

I swear my lung capacity was down to about 15%, and I took in what must have been 25-30 puffs of my blue inhaler -(salbutamol.) I was sweating profusely and feeling faint, and drifting in and out of consciousness for a few minutes, before my lungs finally began to open and take in air properly.

I went to the doctor the next day, and explained what had happened. I got put onto the seretide then, which has a steroid in it that opens the airways, and keeps them open. Many people who use it have reported back that they hardly feel like they have asthma anymore, as it's so good and so effective. I have never had an asthma attack since I started using that.. Thank God.

I can honestly say, hand on heart, that had I not had my blue inhaler - the one that helps if you are struggling to breathe - I would have died.

So in awe of everyone on here. @Elderflower14 - your son is a lovely young man and I know how proud you are of him.

Mine, like others, is trivial in comparison. On holiday in the Dominican Republic ex-p decided we should go off-site to a street food van run by the guy who'd taken us on a jeep safari the day before. I'd only had water with dinner as I wasn't keen on going somewhere strange. Not long after getting there I needed a wee. When I asked where the nearest toilet was the bloke pointed to a field opposite. Being British I went behind a tree and fell 9ft down a ravine behind it.

Luckily two lads walking past heard me shout out and sort of formed a chain to pull me out. I'd hurt my leg quite badly (still have a dent), cuts & bruises etc. Ex-p refused to take me to hospital or go back to the hotel and spent the rest of the night having a go at me for 'showing him up'. The next day the guy came to the hotel and told us if I'd gone to the next tree over the drop was more like 100ft drop and I'd have died.

My leg was still badly swollen when we got home so I went to the walk in centre where the doctor said I was lucky not to have had a DVT on the flight home.

Off to read everyone else's posts now. Good thread @Lonelydaisy

After DDs accident she was being transferred to another hospital that could provide better care for her. It took two hours to prepare her for transport, and there was a doctor and a nurse travelling with her. We followed the ambulance in the car. On the motorway the blue lights suddenly came on and they floored it into the distance. I swear I aged 20 years.

[quote yacketyyak]@peachgreen that's horrendous. You brave girl.

The scariest moment of my life was birthing DD1.
She was back to back and my contractions were putting pressure on her head, causing her heart rate to drop dangerously low. They had to knock me out and do an emergency crash c section.

I ended up with PTSD. The scariest moment of my life. My DH thought he was going to lose both of us [/quote]
That is pretty well word for word what I was going to post. I have such vivid memories or midwife pressing the bell, doctor coming in, and they grabbed my bed and ran as doctor said, "Baby has to come now." . DH just stood there, he said it was only about 5 minutes later he saw midwife walking back and he thought, "They're both dead." and then he realised she was pulling the cot with baby in it. He then thought I was dead.

When my then 8 year old daughter collapsed at an airport and the following nightmarish scene trying to get first aid - good bless the lovely workers in Pret! - being in a near miss car crash on the motorway - life literally flashing before me, choking and no one could get me breathing again. My heart rate is going now!

A man trying to break in saying he was going to kill me. I still have nightmares several years on

@ShippingNews

Waking up during an operation. I was paralysed, but woke up and was fully aware of what was happening. The tube blocking my throat stopped me from even making a sound to alert the doctors . It was like being inside a horror movie. Finally ( I assume) the anaesthetist must have realised what was happening because I "went under" again. I still have nightmares about that.

How awful. I think I'll be having nightmares about that so can't imagine what it must be like for you.

These are awful. I have been very lucky. My worst experience wasn't even dangerous or dramatic. I went to the cinema with dh and somehow lost all track of reality for what seemed like ages but was only a couple of minutes. I didn't know who he was or who I was or where I was or what a cinema was. It was so strange and frightening.

Being told by the neurosurgeon after my 3 year old's surgery that he couldn't remove the entire tumour and would need radiation.

And seeing a child unconscious on the road after being hit by a van, with her mother screaming next to her.

@therocinante

Christ, you are all very brave people.

Mine are a car crash where for the first time ever I experienced what it's like when time feels like it's gone into slow motion - our brakes failed, I heard DH shout "It won't stop!" and I watched us get closer and closer to the car in front and knowing there was nothing we could do. We weren't badly hurt, thank god.

Or when my mum had a full psychosis with suicidal thoughts and we had to break into her house to what we thought was going to be finding her body. She was (physically) okay, but that was the worst drive of my life.

The brakes failing happened to me when I was 19. I was crying and shouting somene help me.

The driver of the car in front was signalling me to back off but I couldn't.

I was so scared.

Then I remembered the handbrake so pulled it up slowly to come to a stop. This was right outside the local hospital so a 30 mph road.

Turns out it was just an airlock as brakes were checked and were fine afterwards.

I know how scared you must have been and glad you were ok.

After 25 hours in labour, finally had energency c section. Heard the doctors shouting at each other there was no heartbeat and watched as my stomach was sliced open and a blue, lifeless DS was pulled out. Put him on the table opposite me where i watched them try and revive him while stiching me and feeling like i was starting to go dark. Remember doctors screaming i was crashing and all i could think was I couldnt die without knowing if DS was alive. We both survived but we were in hospital for almost 3 weeks afterwards and I was left with horrific PTSD and PND.
Having cancer treatment last year. Being told that the radiotherapy i needed to save me would probably damage my lungs past all repair due to my chronic illness( Systemic Sclerosis) but i had to make the choice. I had the radiotherapy. It did damage my lungs and im now on powerful immune suppressants to try and stop me needing a lung transplant.

@Tiredanawfullot are you in the UK? If so how on earth did the case get through the CPS and to court?

PPH, twice - on some level, I “knew” I could be about to die. Thank God for first-world hospital care.

DC2 appearing to choke when first weaning - I lifted her up and ran outside my house, screaming that my baby wasn’t breathing.

Finding a friend who’d attempted suicide - never known panic like it (he was okay, eventually)

Stuck in the back of a small car. Age 17. My then friend/crush suffered BPD.

He threatened to shoot himself. I thought he was bluffing. He wasnt. He shot himself in the head with a Magnum 457 in a very confined space. The noise was horrendous, the smell terrible, the sound of bleeding (a bit like a tap running) was horrifying. He died.

I shook with sheer shock and fear and suffered ptsd and hearing issues for many years after.

I was so terrified I felt like I was not in my own body.

GADDay in a thread of hideous/heartbreaking stories, all of which deserve sympathy, yours has made me take an even bigger gasp of air. I hope you have found some level of peace.

Watching DH have a seizure, the terrible wheezing noise he made still makes me go cold.

DD being whisked to neonatal HDU hours after being born. I was more in shock than scared at first as it was literally minutes between packing our bags to go home and her being connected to various tubes and wires in HDU when the doctors realised something was wrong.

I believe I also came close to being implicated in a crime I didn’t commit. Someone I used to be very close to had been committing a series of serious crimes during the time I knew them. Something I was completely unaware of at the time and was absolutely floored to discover. Years later, after we were no longer in contact, they were convicted and sent to prison. It was only later I realised that, without my knowledge, they’d listed me as a member of their business which they’d used to commit some of the crimes. I discovered this long after the conviction and I have no idea how I managed to avoid even being questioned but the thought that I would really have no way of proving that I was unaware of what was going on makes me sick to my stomach.

@Tiredanawfullot

I totally understand. I didn't get as far as court but it is utterly terrifying to be giving a statement to someone who clearly doesn't believe you.

The accusation was actually malicious, but the police would not investigate that,