When did your world go quiet?

[PalominoOrGreyOrChestnutOrBay]

inspired by a tiktok trend recently, just thought it might be an interesting thread. I’m a regular poster not a journalist or anything like that (MNHQ can verify!).

When did your world go quiet? Basically, what was a time you got a fright and time seemed to stop or go quiet?

mine was I was on my horse and he decided to rear up, over concrete ground, and I felt him wobble back. As soon as I felt that first tilt backwards everything sort of went quiet and it was like an out of body experience (not a good one!). I couldn’t hear anyone around. I just remember the last thing I thought was along the lines of this is it im about to die and it was like everything was in slow motion. Luckily it was all ok but that split second was easily the scariest moment of my life and my world completely stopped.

So, when did your world go quiet?

When I had a man grab me at a bus stop. It was awful, he was just standing, like me, waiting for the bus, it wasn’t late or dark, it was about 7pm during the summer, and he all of a sudden grabbed my leg and it was the most painful alien feeling, I thought I had gone deaf and I was shaking. He had really dirty bloody hands and said he had just been released (don’t know where from!) and he wanted to take me somewhere quiet, I was pushing him off and shouting don’t touch me but he just found it funny, I smacked him in the side of the face and pelted it down the street.
half way down the road the bus went passed me and he was on it.
I spent weeks looking online and reading the local paper Hoping not to see a rape story. I wanted to call the police but what would they have done? I didn’t have a name. I felt sick and so heartbroken. It was awful, and nothing really happened.

I used to catch a bus to the train station to work every morning at 5.45. I lived in a rural area. One morning I was alone as usual on the bus. The bus driver started driving down a new route until the bus stopped , trapped by brambles and at the entrance to a field. It was December- pitch black outside and no street lights nearby . The driver was staring ahead completely expressionless.The engine was switched off. Complete eerie silence - I remember thinking what a cliché- I’m about to be murdered . Everything seemed to happen in slow motion- someone unlocked the door from outside- a nearby farmer had heard the bus careering down the lane, the police arrived. The driver ,I learnt later ,had suffered a nervous breakdown.

*ChakaKhanfan *Was there no CCTV in that area?

I asked the gym (opposite bus stop) and they said theirs was broken. The bus stop itself wasn’t a sheltered one, just a post so no camera there either. I suppose some of the houses on the corner may have had cameras but it seemed unlikely it would have caught anything. I felt very vulnerable.

When I was sitting in a court room and my ex husbands solicitor announced he was seeking sole custody of our DDs. My world stopped spinning for a moment, I just couldn’t compute it. He didn’t succeed. And has chosen not to seem them since … four years and counting.

When my DS fell down the stairs backwards at 18 months.

When I was driving home from work along a small country road and a stag was stood in the middle of the road, taking up most of it. I remember thinking through what to do for the best. Swerve left, go through the wall, down the slope and run the risk of the stag bolting that way, Swerve right, Swerve left or stay straight. I even remember thinking up the pros and cons of each option even though it must of only been seconds to make the decision. It wasn't helped that I had only just found out I was pregnant with DS.

So what did you do! You can't leave us hanging!

I had that 'I'll take her next door' thing when dd1 held her breath after having calpol. At the time I thought she was dying. I had gotten frustrated with her refusing meds and so shot the medication down the side of her inner cheek. I was convinced I had killed her and basically threw her at my elderly next door neighbour who had had four children and numerous grandchildren. She took her from me, looked at her and said 'just wait, she's ok' at which point dd1 took a huge breath and screamed from the bottom of her toes.
It felt like it had been going on for hours but was literally two minutes tops. That neighbour became an extra grandparent to all of mine. She was wonderful.

I kept driving straight and slammed my anchors on, so the impact wasn't as bad. The stag took a step back and rammed my car as I went passed, smashing my windscreen. The stag got up and walked off, unfortunately he did have to be put down not long after as I was the 4th car to hit him on that road.

When i had a cord prolapse in labour with my premature baby. That moment when i realised something was wrong, time just stopped. Then i pulled the emergency cord thing and the room filled with people, then EMCS under general anesthesia. She was fine after being resuscitated and a lengthy nicu stay. A minute or two more we would have lost her.

I told the police years later but sadly pillar of the community, such a nice guy, etc, etc. And it was a long time before child abuse was taken in any way seriously. He actually had a decent life, only died a few years ago. I wish karma was true, but nope. Even the catholic church ignored me, as he was a man of God. But hey I'm still alive and mostly give him no thought.

When I held my tiny sleeping triplet sons, they were stillborn. It's like the world had stopped spinning, time had stopped ticking and it was just silence.

I have struggled to cope with silence since then.

Buses usually have several cameras on. I’m sorry that happened, it’s terrifying isn’t it?

I'm so so sorry 💐

My heart hurts for so many of you. I hope you all know how incredibly strong you are. Thank you for telling your stories

In a massive car crash years ago, came too screaming but didn't know it was me. Very odd situation.

There are no words💐💐💐💔💔💔

Knowing my husband was having a stroke right in front of me. He looked perfectly fine, he stood in front of me trying to speak but no words came out. Just strangulated noises.I dialled 999 and as I’m talking to the operator, his face drooped slightly, as soon as I mentioned this it was escalated to fast response.
Almost two years ago now, it was peak Covid time so Imcouldnt got with him or visit him in hospital. Watching the ambulance drive away with him in it was awful. The consultant rang me four hours later to say he was being transferred to another hospital that specialises in brain injuries in case he needed surgery but I’d saved his life by my quick actions, he didn’t need surgery and is 99% recovered now.
The night I met him I knew I was going to marry him, I looked at him and all I could see was him, this was in a crowded pub, later that night he asked me to dance, again the thought “He’s going to marry me “ came into my head. he asked me for a date, 44 years later still together.

@BertieBotts do you also find that your jaw almost locks up and makes it difficult to speak?

Another one:

in 2003 a culmination of events from childhood, to a terrible marriage, to my son constantly running away led to me having a complete breakdown.

all I can recall from that moment, is time stopping, floating sensation, and my surroundings shattering like shards of mirrored glass, dropping piece by piece. I could literally see it happening, looking back, it was probably an hallucination. I don’t know.

I could hear screaming from somewhere, but my ears were buzzing and I was disoriented.
I came to lying on the stairs of my old house, and realised the screaming was coming from me. I was bleeding and bruised and hitting my head with my fists and on the stairs.
I don’t recall anything about the following 18 months or so, aside from police and ambulances. I can’t remember things in order anymore, and when I have flashbacks, I completely freeze and pour with sweat.

Also… the heartbreaking stories from everyone are just so devastating. From my heart to yours, I’m sorry for everything you’ve endured. I hope you find peace and comfort somehow ♥️

We were very fortunate that for us it was something that turned out ok in the end. I went for my 1 week late sweep at the maternity clinic and was told they couldn't find a heartbeat and we needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible. The journey there was silent for both of us I think and I will never forget that feeling. I will always be thankful for our daughter, some of the stories on here are heartbreaking.

I'm so so sorry 🥺

A PP mentions a time lapse, I once drove home from a really awful stressful meeting. I was the designated driver as DH had a couple of drinks, this was not unusual.
Anyway, I cannot remember that journey, we had another couple in the car with us, we were giving them a lift home.m I knew the route well but my mind was a complete blank, DH had to direct me, I only “came back into myself” when we pulled up outside our friends house. It was if I’d just woken up.
They invited us in for a coffee, and I’m so glad they did, it gave me time to decompress.

When my baby DD was seriously ill in hospital. She's 16 now (and well!) but I still remember it so vividly. It was super busy and hectic, but everything went silent and slow for me.