What is the most freakish accident you have seen or experienced?

[snowwite]

I lost the end of my finger in an accident as a child. My grandmother was going to try to save it for the hospital but a crow took it and flew away!

 

[firefly_ris]

My son was impaled by a tree branch last summer. He was lucky to live. Hospitalized for 12 days and a few more months of recovery at home. This after 2019 when my youngest daughter was attacked by our foster dog. A harrowing couple of years but we are all blessed that they are okay. Strong kids. Fortunately no freak accidents for my oldest.

 

[Scotgirl]

Here's a lighthearted one! Years ago we were on holiday in the Scottish Highlands and one of the villages had everything set up for their civic week including colourful bunting strung from the lamp-posts over the main street.

We watched a logging truck that was fully loaded with a log protruding upwards proceed to go down the main street gathering all of the bunting as it went with the driver completely oblivious to what was happening and some locals running behind the lorry shouting. The driver didn't stop and I always wish I could have seen the look on the driver's face when he eventually stopped and saw all the bunting trailing from his vehicle!

 

[barkley]

just remembered one-

a friend's dh was a refinery fireman in northern california. one day he helped deal with a grass fire on the property that butted up to the ports where cargo ships would arrive and unload. next day his leg is a bit sore but he figures he maybe pulled a muscle and thinks nothing of it (says nothing to his wife). the next few days he is feeling more pain but they are busy getting their dd off to college so he continues to ignore the pain. after the dd is on the plane to the east coast he tells his wife he thinks he should have the doctor take a look at his leg b/c now in addition to the pain there is swelling and 'a little welt'. they get a same day appointment, the doctor takes one look and calls an ambulance. turns out that he had been bitten by a brown reclusive spider and necrosis was already occuring. came close to losing his leg, doctors attributed his tip top physical condition to being what saved him. the refinery did an investigation and it was determined that one of the cargo ships was transporting stuff from an region where the spider was native to so it likely just hitched a ride in one of the containers.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Some personal, and less depressing ones.

When I was 3, I tripped and fell while running and bit part of my tongue off. Thankfully don't remember anything about it.

On a cruise around high school age I was snorkeling and my flipper came off. I stepped down to find it and stepped right on a sea urchin, that was painful.

 

[JLTraveling]

I had a couple of near-death experiences at parks that turned out fine in the end. I went to day camp every summer growing up, and they took us to various theme parks and water parks throughout the summer. As soon as we turned 7 we were allowed to roam with our friends, no adults required.

First was at Busch Gardens Tampa. I was just barely tall enough to ride the Phoenix (one of those open boat on a swing arm rides that makes a full 360 upside down. I was fine...until it got stuck upside down. Very slowly, I started slipping out of the restraints, just a fraction of an inch at a time! I was holding on with all my might, and my friends on both sides were holding onto me. They got the ride going again just in the nick of time.

Second was at Adventure Island. My friend challenged me to a race in the wave pool--diagonally corner to corner, from the shallow end to the deep end. Stupid me didn't think about the fact that while I was a good swimmer, she was on the swim team. Or the fact that the direction we picked meant getting directly up to the powerful wave machine, swimming against the power of the waves, when already tired from the swim. I was overcome by exhaustion and went down, down, down. Nobody ever noticed me. I was about to pass out when I suddenly got a huge surge of energy and made a flying leap toward the ladder. My friend had to help me out, as I had no energy left to get up the ladder, but at least I didn't drown.

There was also the time at Disney with my uncle, who was still in his later teens or very early 20s. It was back when Space Mountain still had one seat belt that went around two riders (one sitting in front of the other, between their legs). My 6'5 fitness buff uncle had tiny little skinny me ride with him. About halfway through, I slipped under the seat belt and ended up sitting on the floor of the ride vehicle! I just remember him throwing his arms around me super tight and muttering, "Please don't fall out. Please don't fall out. Your mother will murder me if you fall out!" After we got through the last brake station, he pulled me back up on the seat so the ride attendants wouldn't know anything happened lol.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

When my oldest was around 7 years old, he went to his room to grab a book for a car ride. The best way i can describe what happened next was like what I always imagine an atomic blast would look and feel like, bright white light, complete silence for a second then a huge boom. DS comes tearing down the hallway screaming "My room, my room." Great mother that I am told him lightening must have hit a tree and everything was fine. When he wouldn't calm down after a minute or two I actually went and looked in his room. Whatever the lightening had hit, it had run into his wall next to his bed (where the book he had gone to get was) and blow it to pieces. The only thing that saved him was his thick headboard, it was cracked into pieces from the wall studs hitting the back of it. We were very very lucky, another house in the neighborhood was hit during the same storm and burned to the ground.

Another lightening related story, happened to a co-worker recently. She let her tiny dog out to go potty one night. It was drizzling just a little so thankfully she didn't go out with her like she normally does but stayed in the doorway to watch her. As the dog is running back inside, she yelped and fell over dead - lightening had hit a tree somewhere in the yard and she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

[BrianL]

When my oldest was around 7 years old, he went to his room to grab a book for a car ride. The best way i can describe what happened next was like what I always imagine an atomic blast would look and feel like, bright white light, complete silence for a second then a huge boom. DS comes tearing down the hallway screaming "My room, my room." Great mother that I am told him lightening must have hit a tree and everything was fine. When he wouldn't calm down after a minute or two I actually went and looked in his room. Whatever the lightening had hit, it had run into his wall next to his bed (where the book he had gone to get was) and blow it to pieces. The only thing that saved him was his thick headboard, it was cracked into pieces from the wall studs hitting the back of it. We were very very lucky, another house in the neighborhood was hit during the same storm and burned to the ground.

Another lightening related story, happened to a co-worker recently. She let her tiny dog out to go potty one night. It was drizzling just a little so thankfully she didn't go out with her like she normally does but stayed in the doorway to watch her. As the dog is running back inside, she yelped and fell over dead - lightening had hit a tree somewhere in the yard and she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Lightning is scary. When I was a kid, I can remember one stormy Saturday morning (in the very house I own now), my sister and I were getting cereal for cartoons, and we turned and a lightning bolt shot right down the kitchen sink! The flash was blinding! Fortunately, we weren't that close, but it must have hit the pipes or something. If anyone had been using the sink, they would have felt it. I still won't shower when there is a thunderstorm about.