Friday OT #1 - Ungrateful Dead
- Thread starter Angie
- Start date
Was in a car accident when I was 10. We were at a stop sign and the guy behind us, in a what reminds me today of the Mystery Machine Van, rear end ended us. We were stopped at the bottom of a hill. Seat belts back in the late 70’s were a decoration. Dad’s chest hit the steering wheel. My head was really hurting and I noticed the big spider web of broken glass on the windshield. I had a bunch of bumps and bruises and probably and undiagnosed concussion as it took about 2 weeks to fully recover.
Brother got lost in the corn field and I sped off on our 3 wheeler. I was going full bore through the picked stalks and didn’t see the wash out in the field. Next thing I know I’m in the house with like 6 people looking over me picking out corn stalk debris from my cuts and clothes. 3 wheeler just had the handle bars bent. I had like tire marks on my chest and legs. Pretty scary at 12 years old. Growing up on a farm was all about accidents.
Brother got lost in the corn field and I sped off on our 3 wheeler. I was going full bore through the picked stalks and didn’t see the wash out in the field. Next thing I know I’m in the house with like 6 people looking over me picking out corn stalk debris from my cuts and clothes. 3 wheeler just had the handle bars bent. I had like tire marks on my chest and legs. Pretty scary at 12 years old. Growing up on a farm was all about accidents.
I grew up on a farm. I have way too many, but there are some definite "highlights".
When I was 2, my uncle was cultivating in the field next to our house. I wandered out to go ride with him, but the crops were taller than I was. My mom had been feeding my infant brother, and lost track of me. She was trying desperately to find me, and noticed that our dog kept running out into the field, and then coming back to the edge of it. My mom decided to follow her, and found the dog was going back and forth between me and the yard. I was in the path of the cultivator, and my uncle was about 1/4 of a mile away in the same pass. He would have never seen me.
When I was 14, I was in a fatal car crash. The car I was riding in pulled through a stop sign early and didn't see the vehicle coming over the rise to the west. The car slammed into the bed of this pick up, which sent the truck rolling over. The driver wasn't wearing a seat belt and went flying through the windshield. I watched his body hurtle through the glass and onto the roadway. I ran to the nearest farm (pre cell phone days) to call 911. He was dead instantly.
When I was 2, my uncle was cultivating in the field next to our house. I wandered out to go ride with him, but the crops were taller than I was. My mom had been feeding my infant brother, and lost track of me. She was trying desperately to find me, and noticed that our dog kept running out into the field, and then coming back to the edge of it. My mom decided to follow her, and found the dog was going back and forth between me and the yard. I was in the path of the cultivator, and my uncle was about 1/4 of a mile away in the same pass. He would have never seen me.
When I was 14, I was in a fatal car crash. The car I was riding in pulled through a stop sign early and didn't see the vehicle coming over the rise to the west. The car slammed into the bed of this pick up, which sent the truck rolling over. The driver wasn't wearing a seat belt and went flying through the windshield. I watched his body hurtle through the glass and onto the roadway. I ran to the nearest farm (pre cell phone days) to call 911. He was dead instantly.
24 years ago I had a malignant tumor removed from my bladder. IDK if that qualifies as a brush with death, but I'm thankful for Dr. Leo Milleman (lifelong Cyclone trainer and fan) for removing it. In the years since, I've had a few small growths removed, but no tumors (thank heaven!).
I'm so very sorry. There are a few car crashes from my high school days that were fatal, and it's so tragic. I'm so sorry you had to encounter that.
Don't feel sorry for me. I'm still here. The driver's someone I know very well, and they've never truly overcame the guilt they feel from it. And the family of the person who died who will never see their loved one again.
I'm a volunteer fire fighter, and we cover rescue (mostly auto accidents) as well. There are several busy highways in our districts that have had some nasty crashes. I've seen a few dead bodies in my time. You grow a callous to it.
Almost died in a car accident when I was 17.
Someone hit a deer and was unable to move their car from the road. Someone traveling the opposite way stopped to help and had their bright lights on. I couldn't see their flashers (they may or may not have been on) and I ran full tilt into the vehicle that hit the deer (pick up truck with 200 lbs of corn in the back).
Thankfully I had on my seat belt. The car I was driving did not have an air bag, it was an 85 station wagon. The back seats were down and the cooler in the car slammed into my drivers seat pushing me into the wheel. Had a heck of a bruise.
Someone hit a deer and was unable to move their car from the road. Someone traveling the opposite way stopped to help and had their bright lights on. I couldn't see their flashers (they may or may not have been on) and I ran full tilt into the vehicle that hit the deer (pick up truck with 200 lbs of corn in the back).
Thankfully I had on my seat belt. The car I was driving did not have an air bag, it was an 85 station wagon. The back seats were down and the cooler in the car slammed into my drivers seat pushing me into the wheel. Had a heck of a bruise.
A corn stalk will go right through you.
A couple years ago my Grandma came out to ride in the combine with my dad, and as she was walking back to her car, her hip dislocated on the spot, and she dropped like a sack of potatoes. Thankfully she fell between rows, because those stalks would have impaled her 95 lb frame.
The weekend of my bachelor party, we went to a buddy's farm in southern IA and camped out by a big pond they had. Seems harmless enough.
Got hammered drunk, had a fire cracker go off in my hand, got shot with some roman candles, a gas can in the back of a friend's pickup caught on fire, and the farm's hired hand just about ran a bunch of us over with his 4x pickup.
We were all bedded down in the waist-high weeds with a campfire going. I was basically passed out. One friend was still up, sitting by the fire, when the drunken farm hand came flying up over the berm in his truck. My friend jumped up and got him stopped so close to me that I remember sitting up in my sleeping bag and a headlight was right in my face -- maybe 2 feet away.
The next day we went knee boarding on the Des Moines river near Johnston. I wound up with a broken ear drum after a hard wipeout.
Probably a good thing I got married.
Got hammered drunk, had a fire cracker go off in my hand, got shot with some roman candles, a gas can in the back of a friend's pickup caught on fire, and the farm's hired hand just about ran a bunch of us over with his 4x pickup.
We were all bedded down in the waist-high weeds with a campfire going. I was basically passed out. One friend was still up, sitting by the fire, when the drunken farm hand came flying up over the berm in his truck. My friend jumped up and got him stopped so close to me that I remember sitting up in my sleeping bag and a headlight was right in my face -- maybe 2 feet away.
The next day we went knee boarding on the Des Moines river near Johnston. I wound up with a broken ear drum after a hard wipeout.
Probably a good thing I got married.
I was rock climbing with a group of people I'd just met at Mississippi Palisades park near Bellevue IA. Illinois side, right on the river.
I was climbing awesome that day, and my new friends wanted me to lead climb a route they'd been looking at. Lead climbing is where you place your fall protection as you climb. I was about 70 feet up and about 5 feet past the last chock I'd put in a crack, but I didn't really like the placement of that piece. My hand hold broke away suddenly and I was falling. The piece I didn't trust popped out as I went past, and I fell about 17-18 feet, then hit a ledge with my lower back, and came to a stop below the ledge -- had another chock that held and caught me.
Half hour drive back home stiffened me up nicely. My mom asked if I had fallen, as I had a hole in the back of my shorts with blood around it. Sister took me to the emergency room, but they never really did anything, just gave me some pain meds -- no broken bones.
Found out much later in life that I had actually damaged my spleen, and it developed a cist the size of a baseball to heal itself, which I still have.
I was climbing awesome that day, and my new friends wanted me to lead climb a route they'd been looking at. Lead climbing is where you place your fall protection as you climb. I was about 70 feet up and about 5 feet past the last chock I'd put in a crack, but I didn't really like the placement of that piece. My hand hold broke away suddenly and I was falling. The piece I didn't trust popped out as I went past, and I fell about 17-18 feet, then hit a ledge with my lower back, and came to a stop below the ledge -- had another chock that held and caught me.
Half hour drive back home stiffened me up nicely. My mom asked if I had fallen, as I had a hole in the back of my shorts with blood around it. Sister took me to the emergency room, but they never really did anything, just gave me some pain meds -- no broken bones.
Found out much later in life that I had actually damaged my spleen, and it developed a cist the size of a baseball to heal itself, which I still have.
I think I've told this story before, but it's the closest I've ever been.
In the summer for 2001 I was touring with the Dubuque Colts Drum and Bugle Corps. For those not familiar with drum corps, it's like a marching band with only brass and percussion. It's performers from high school age up to 21 and you travel around the country doing shows.
Anyway, we were at a show in Illinois at some small college. After the show me and two of my friends went back to the stadium. On our walk from the stadium back to where our buses were parked we walked through a small neighborhood.
As we passed a dark house on the corner we heard someone yelling. We heard, "Hey! Hey you!" and some other murmuring. All three of us looked at each other and around trying to figure out what was going on.
All of a sudden a guy comes running at us from between some bushes along the side of the street. And we get just enough of a look at him in the street lights to see that he has a knife.
We bolted instantly. It was a good 8 or more blocks from this house to the buses, but we ran full speed and didn't look back. Luckily marching drum corps in the summer gets you in the best shape of your life, because that's the fastest I have ever run, or ever will run. My friends were both smaller and faster than me in any other situation, but I kept up with them the whole way.
Luckily we weren't followed and when we got back to the buses we found the corps director and had them call the cops. It was bizarre and unbelievable to explain. We had to stick around a while to wait for the cops to show up. We told them what happened and what house the guy had come from. Apparently he was off his meds and violent. They found a small knife in his yard, but all three of us where sure it had been a larger knife that he had chased us with.
One of the weirdest things that has ever happened to me.
In the summer for 2001 I was touring with the Dubuque Colts Drum and Bugle Corps. For those not familiar with drum corps, it's like a marching band with only brass and percussion. It's performers from high school age up to 21 and you travel around the country doing shows.
Anyway, we were at a show in Illinois at some small college. After the show me and two of my friends went back to the stadium. On our walk from the stadium back to where our buses were parked we walked through a small neighborhood.
As we passed a dark house on the corner we heard someone yelling. We heard, "Hey! Hey you!" and some other murmuring. All three of us looked at each other and around trying to figure out what was going on.
All of a sudden a guy comes running at us from between some bushes along the side of the street. And we get just enough of a look at him in the street lights to see that he has a knife.
We bolted instantly. It was a good 8 or more blocks from this house to the buses, but we ran full speed and didn't look back. Luckily marching drum corps in the summer gets you in the best shape of your life, because that's the fastest I have ever run, or ever will run. My friends were both smaller and faster than me in any other situation, but I kept up with them the whole way.
Luckily we weren't followed and when we got back to the buses we found the corps director and had them call the cops. It was bizarre and unbelievable to explain. We had to stick around a while to wait for the cops to show up. We told them what happened and what house the guy had come from. Apparently he was off his meds and violent. They found a small knife in his yard, but all three of us where sure it had been a larger knife that he had chased us with.
One of the weirdest things that has ever happened to me.
Got hit in the mouth with a golf ball when I was 9 or 10.
Killed the tractor I was driving the last day of our annual 3 day ride. Dad backed up his JD B with a cultivator to get me jump started. Well, he slipped the hand clutch or off the brakes and about pinched me between both tractors. There was 1 spot, where I fit perfectly, that I slipped into so I was fine. Everyone around was losing their minds.
Killed the tractor I was driving the last day of our annual 3 day ride. Dad backed up his JD B with a cultivator to get me jump started. Well, he slipped the hand clutch or off the brakes and about pinched me between both tractors. There was 1 spot, where I fit perfectly, that I slipped into so I was fine. Everyone around was losing their minds.
My senior year of HS. Was at a party that was winding down. As I was leaving there it was me, a group of 4-5 out of town guys (older than me) and this roughly 21 year old young woman. Those guys were hitting hard on her so she came over to me and asked for a ride to this other persons house. I was concerned for her so I agreed. I get Halfway to this place and this car is just riding my rear. After a minute the woman with me tells me it’s her ex boyfriend. I pull on the yard where we are going and the guy does a circle around me and pulls driver side to driver side. The woman won’t get out of my car. So I get out to talk to him (I somewhat knew him). As I take the 2-3 steps to his car door a 9MM pops out the window.
shorten the story, I talked him down a bit. Then he was considering suicide, then I was able to get his ex to talk to him and work to calm him down (as I drove 90 down the road).
So when I have had jobs that put me around people waving knives, I wasn’t as concerned. Except when this psycho woman was waving this large boning knife around once. Another coworker actually took it from her as I just kept a barrier between her and me. That was a large knife and I’d seen similar ones cut throw bone while butchering.
shorten the story, I talked him down a bit. Then he was considering suicide, then I was able to get his ex to talk to him and work to calm him down (as I drove 90 down the road).
So when I have had jobs that put me around people waving knives, I wasn’t as concerned. Except when this psycho woman was waving this large boning knife around once. Another coworker actually took it from her as I just kept a barrier between her and me. That was a large knife and I’d seen similar ones cut throw bone while butchering.
Even witnessed my sister trying to run and get on a flatbed when we were out baling hay. She didn't make it on and fell under the running gear and one of the tires went over her side of her head. Thankfully the flatbed was empty. She just ended up with with a nasty scrap on the side of her head.
Same sister riding 3 wheeler out in the field when I was mowing weeds out in our pasture. She didn't see the electric barb wire gate we had. I can still picture it in slow motion as she stops moving forward but the 3 wheeler keeps on going. She ended up needing around 30 stitches in abdomen and side. She was lucky. Some things you just can't unsee.
Same sister riding 3 wheeler out in the field when I was mowing weeds out in our pasture. She didn't see the electric barb wire gate we had. I can still picture it in slow motion as she stops moving forward but the 3 wheeler keeps on going. She ended up needing around 30 stitches in abdomen and side. She was lucky. Some things you just can't unsee.
I was a drivers ed instructor for a good time so I had a few from that.
95% of them were from other drivers and it's really not close.
Two years ago I was getting my food bag down from fishing and looked down the trail to see beautiful black bear coming up (likely smelled the food). I waited just a couple of seconds to decide if I should just back off or yell, and yelled and it took off. There was another one around on the other side of my site about 100 yards that night but it was just out and about and disappeared before I could say anything.
Neither were a danger but if they're in the wrong mood that would have gone very badly. I hung everything I could think of that had a scent in a tree.
95% of them were from other drivers and it's really not close.
Two years ago I was getting my food bag down from fishing and looked down the trail to see beautiful black bear coming up (likely smelled the food). I waited just a couple of seconds to decide if I should just back off or yell, and yelled and it took off. There was another one around on the other side of my site about 100 yards that night but it was just out and about and disappeared before I could say anything.
Neither were a danger but if they're in the wrong mood that would have gone very badly. I hung everything I could think of that had a scent in a tree.
Everyday was an accident waiting to happen on the farm but the thing that almost got me was a bad car accident. Sideswiped something I didn't see until it was too late. Went from 60 to 0 real quick. Got out of my truck and laid my butt down on the ground and called 911 and then my wife. Thought I was for sure dying of internal bleeding. Turns out I broke my neck, fractured c7 and broke c2 in half and displaced it. God saved my butt that day.
High school me was an idiot. One Friday night after partying, I was driving home wasted. I must have passed out, because the next thing I remember was a car honking his horn as he passed me on the right going the opposite way on a two-lane road.
It shouldn't have taken that, but I have not driven after drinking since.
It shouldn't have taken that, but I have not driven after drinking since.
Neighbors cows got out one night. About 2 in the morning our doorbell rang and saw this guy covered in blood. Talk about a horror movie in the making!! Turns out he it a cow. Cow was almost laying in the front seat of the car. Still can't believe the guy survived much less how he got out of the car.
Been quite a few years ago at an ISU Game witnessed a guy die of a heart attack. We were tailgating after the game and this Ford Ranger just pulled over on Beach Ave. The guy in the passenger seat looked like he was passed out or sleeping. Turns out the driver was on the phone with the police. All of the sudden cops on bikes show up, try to find a carotid pulse. Cop cuts the seat belt off the guy. Guy must have been 300+ pounds. They start CPR on him and by this time a lot of the crowd was leaving after the game and started to watch. Paramedics show up and try to shock him back. When they are trying to load him into the ambulance, the had ripped his shirt off and the guy was purple.
There was a lady that was walking by that had stopped to see what was going and started to talk with her. Turns out she was a cardio nurse and she pretty much said that he was gone. Felt bad for the little kids that had to see this go down as they were walking by. Turns out the guy had a family history of heart disease as he, a brother and his dad all passed away due to it.
Been quite a few years ago at an ISU Game witnessed a guy die of a heart attack. We were tailgating after the game and this Ford Ranger just pulled over on Beach Ave. The guy in the passenger seat looked like he was passed out or sleeping. Turns out the driver was on the phone with the police. All of the sudden cops on bikes show up, try to find a carotid pulse. Cop cuts the seat belt off the guy. Guy must have been 300+ pounds. They start CPR on him and by this time a lot of the crowd was leaving after the game and started to watch. Paramedics show up and try to shock him back. When they are trying to load him into the ambulance, the had ripped his shirt off and the guy was purple.
There was a lady that was walking by that had stopped to see what was going and started to talk with her. Turns out she was a cardio nurse and she pretty much said that he was gone. Felt bad for the little kids that had to see this go down as they were walking by. Turns out the guy had a family history of heart disease as he, a brother and his dad all passed away due to it.
Pretty much same thing except, I went off the shoulder of the road and was able to slow down enough to recover and get back on the road. Talk about scared straight. Had a friend back in high school that wasn't so lucky. He passed out, wrecked into a ditch and is paralyzed from the waist down. This was a couple years out of high school back in the early 80's.
I'll contribute two farm-related ones since we can all agree that farming is not the safest occupation.
While loading corn into the silo, I decided leaning over the pto shaft to grab a grain shovel. Fortunately, I was wearing a really old shirt because about .25 of a second later, I was standing there shirtless watching my shredded shirt whip around.
While putting up fence, I would put the creosote covered posts in place and lock them in the post driver before my dad pounded them in place from the tractor. One time, as I bent over to grab the next post, something broke loose at the top. The post driver hinged loose and landed about 3 inches next to me. The weight of that thing would have easily killed me.
While loading corn into the silo, I decided leaning over the pto shaft to grab a grain shovel. Fortunately, I was wearing a really old shirt because about .25 of a second later, I was standing there shirtless watching my shredded shirt whip around.
While putting up fence, I would put the creosote covered posts in place and lock them in the post driver before my dad pounded them in place from the tractor. One time, as I bent over to grab the next post, something broke loose at the top. The post driver hinged loose and landed about 3 inches next to me. The weight of that thing would have easily killed me.
