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 a stranger attacked me. I had what was probably only a few seconds with him choking me but time slowed down and I thought 'this is how it ends'.

When my husband got out of bed, walked into the living room and dropped dead in front of me. He'd had a heart attack and I just stared at him in total shock.

I’ve had many many miscarriages. Both natural and missed ones. Every time I’ve either seen the spotting start or heard the sonographer say ‘how sure are you about your dates?’ the world has ground to a halt for me.

Sorry for everyone’s losses, near misses, terror etc.

This thread! 😢

Several years ago, I lost control of my car on the motorway in very wet conditions. Time slowed right down - I’m a panicker usually but I just very calmly thought ‘this is probably it’ and just tried to do what I could to correct it. The car slid within inches of the central reservation then started to slide the other way towards a HGV in the inside lane, and finally I got it under control. The whole thing was probably only 30 seconds but felt like ages.

When DD fell down the stairs when she was about 16 months old (she was fine).

When the car I was in skidded on a wet motorway and did a full 180 so we were facing oncoming traffic before hitting the central reservation (again, other than whiplash we we fine, the police on the scene said they were amazed we didn't hit anyone else).

for all the pps who have lost a loved one.

I once witnessed a car aquaplaning and hitting the other side of the crash barrier on a 70mph dual carriageway. I thought it was going to flip over onto us. That was slow motion, I could see the two guys in the car as clear as day, They looked completely calm.

We called the ambulance but I’ve no idea if they were ok or not because we were on the other side of the dual carriageway. I really hope they were 😔

I was told as a teenager that my mum had died in an accident.
Literally blanked out chunks of time in the hours following. It’s like my body was there but my mind wasn’t.
Had kids, gone through labours and kids have gone missing on one or two occasions and had other scares but those were more cold panic.

When I signed the consent forms to have my baby's leg amputated.

When they told me to come say goodbye to my brother in intensive care. He was in a coma. I don't know the words for that helplessness.

When i slipped on the stairs and somersaulted down through the air. I can remember cracking my head against a wall at the bottom and thinking this is it. Shattered my shoulder and spent a good few weeks in hospital.

Also when my second daughter was born not breathing and the sirens were set off. Fortunately she was fine but it felt like a lifetime.

being told my Dad had died when I was a child. I could see the person in front of me speaking but after the first few words all I could hear was the noise inside my head.

Some of these are heartbreaking xx love to everyone xx

When I was having a colonoscopy and the surgeon said I'm sorry but that looks like cancer. I couldn't speak to anyone or get out of bed for three days.

Waiting for my firstborns first cry. It was just a few seconds but it felt like hours.

Giving birth, shoulder dystocia. Midwife was shouting at me to stop pushing but I didn’t understand why, I’d finally delivered my babies head, suddenly the room filled with people and the alarm was ringing and I had my knees held to my shoulders by two people, another pummelling my stomach to dislodge baby, one with entire hand in vagina trying to dislodge, I could hear screaming but it sounded so far away and I could see myself lying on the bed from above, I truly had an out of body experience and everything went so quiet and fuzzy. All turned out fine…

I’ve had a few.. it’s such a surreal feeling.

once at 7, our car tyre blew out on the m25, I was in the front my little 5yo brother in the back and I remember turning to see him to check he was ok as the car span across the motorway and we somehow came to stop on the hard shoulder facing the right way completely unharmed.

gave birth to my son, perfect delivery in water couldn’t have been smoother. Got out, massive gush of blood, post partum haemorrhage I remember saying to the midwife is that supposed to happen? I said I felt faint and could see stars. I felt myself fading out and my last memory before passing out was, oh I’m dying.

my mother was dying in hospital, And the sheer reality of knowing this is is, this is losing a parent, a day you never want to come but know it will. I was hyperventilating on the phone to a relative and it was a complete out of body experience. I felt like I’d had been let in on a secret about life you only know once you’ve been there.

All 3 times it felt strangely powerful as it did out of control and shocking.

On a coach on a mountain road. The driver has misjudged a corner. Ahead was a bend we couldn't go up, behind was a very steep drop down the mountain- with a crash barrier about 3 feet high.

I thought we were going to die.

And in a car crash. The split second before impact- knowing they are going to hit us and nothing I could do.

Watching DD2, aged 4, slip and fall from the top of the stairs to the bottom. I was at the top and could do nothing. Somehow, she was physically unscathed, but we were both horribly shaken.

When toddler DD1 wrenched herself from my grip next to a busy road, while DD2 was in her pram. Stopping DD1 running into the road meant letting go of the pram, which would inevitably roll towards the road. Thank God for the kind cyclist who rescued me and then stayed with me, silently, while I regained my composure.

Passenger in a tuktuk at night going uphill on a winding road, sheer drop on our side. Then the bright headlights of a car coming towards us at speed. I thought that was it. My life didn't flash before my eyes. I felt calm and at peace.

So many tremendously difficult moments on here. The thread has made me feel lost for words by the sheer humanity on here.
And such courage, bravery and love.
I feel choked and slightly awed.

A first in MN history in my view.

This made me well-up, I had a similar experience when I was giving birth to DD.

I heard the trace monitor start beeping, and the room just changed, the midwife was suddenly very calm, far too calm, and almost too composed. She said she needed to get a second opinion. I don't remember anything else until they handed me DD.

They took her out in under 5 minutes, as both DD and I had gone into medical shock.

C-section operating table after first baby and hypertensive crisis post second baby.

Both very horrible experiences that I still can’t bring myself to remember.

When my son was knocked over by a car going through a red light at the crossing. It all happened in slow motion.

Thankfully as the lights were near a roundabout the car was going quite slowly, so my son bounced back up completely uninjured and wondered why I was screaming and crying.

Also horrible were the "what ifs" that played over and over in my mind for a while afterwards.