Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Share The Craziest 'Yep, I'm Dead' Experiences That They Actually Survived

People Share The Craziest 'Yep, I'm Dead' Experiences That They Actually Survived
Photo by Thanh Tran on Unsplash
Make us preferred on Google

Gunshots. Car accidents. Stalkers.

I've avoided them all by mere seconds.

But I'm not unique.

Every day we all live a balance between life and death.

Redditor TheWingster wanted to hear about the times we've all thought we were about to leave this Earthly plane but found ourselves still breathing. They asked:

"What moment made you think 'yup, I'm dead,' but you survived?"

I believe we all live moment to moment literally just surviving. So let's hear about when death is being loud.

A Goner

confused fall GIF by Outside TVGiphy

"Briefly trapped under the raft while in rapids white water rafting. Didn’t get the breath I thought I would when my head hit the bottom of the raft. Thought I was a goner. A second later I was to the side of the raft and only mostly still freaking out."

spaceman_danger

Stop Smoking

"I was 11. I had just developed asthma and my mother refused to quit chain smoking in the house. One night I have a severe attack. I'm trying to use my rescue inhaler and its not working. Each time I try to inhale it just goes right out my nose. I panic."

"I vividly remember my mother smoking a cigarette as the panic is giving way to hypoxia. She's screaming at me to use my inhaler. Right before loosing consciousness I realized that was it, I'm dead. There wasn't a whole lot of life to flash before my eyes. A sense of calm and peace settled over me as I collapsed."

"My parents did CPR on me until the paramedics arrived. I woke up in ICU days later with a tube down my throat. The doctors were surprised I survived. My mother never smoked in the house again after that. The car was still fair game for her though."

Saiyanman007

Lungs

"I was choking on food, almost a full blockage and couldn't get any air in. After several attempts to get it out, it sunk in that it was really lodged in my throat and I was screwed. Started to feel dizzy and everything moved slowly. I remember thinking what an embarrassing way to die and that I didn't want my kid to be watching (it was at breakfast)."

"I started dialing 911 when my husband came up behind me and started first aid. He got the blockage out and I started vomiting everywhere. It was very intense. I still went to get checked by a doctor to make sure my lungs were clear because I felt dizzy for hours after and my throat was raw. Took a day or so to heal. He 100% saved my life!"

shadowball46

Oh Crap!

"When I was a 6th grader I was cutting plastic with a box cutter, knife slipped and sliced a 6 inch long and .5 inch deep cut into my wrist, cut almost every vein and the tendon some people have, my first thought was oh crap I’m bleeding, followed by me running to the bathroom and then slipping on the blood and smacking my head of the floor, knocked out and somehow lived."

sovietsexyboi

Just a Graze

Bicycle Oops GIF by RETROFUNKGiphy

"I went under the wheels of a semi while riding a bicycle. Trapped for 2 hours until they cut my bike apart around me. Walked away with a graze on my leg and elbow."

PokesPenguin

How in the world? My stomach is in knots.

Lived to see another day!

Crashing Car Crash GIF by Don BrocoGiphy

"Squished in the middle car of a multi-car highway accident."

"Air bags deployed/car totaled/smelled burning scent (not sure what it was but assumed the car was about to explode). And stuck in the fast lane on the highway as other cars whizzed by this cluster-f#% at high speed. Lived to see another day! Felt extremely shaky from adrenaline for hours afterward…"

LBinSF

BOOM!!

"House explosion, 3 years old Edmonton, AB. I vividly remember standing next to a stove that someone was fixing in the basement apartment of my Dads friends house (who we were visiting) and next thing I was opening my eyes in in the daylight outside. I completely blacked out while the gas stove exploded and I landed clean in the driveway. My dad and mom were on the front page of the Edmonton Journal 1993."

"I remember distinctly thinking the brightness was heaven and that I had died and fell into heaven- my baby sister had died several weeks prior to SIDS and my mother and father had to explain where she had gone and I thought I was in heaven but it was the sky."

AD_Skinner_no_shirt

So mission accomplished...

"Car accident. We hit a patch of ice and went over a guardrail and off a 40 foot cliff. I knew was dead the moment I pulled my leg free from the piece of door stabbing through it and the blood came out like a faucet. I figured I could at least climb back to the road for help before I passed out so I did."

"I flagged down a passing truck and passed out and died in the ambulance before they brought me back. The firefighters used my blood trail to find my friends car which saved his life. So mission accomplished."

Shes_dead_Jim

fade to black...

"Had a car crash into my house and hit me when I was a child. I was sitting on the couch at the time and it hit me, drove through the next wall into the garage, then came to rest on top of my lap, pinning me down to the couch with it's full weight. I wont go into too much detail about my injuries: suffice it to say that it was pretty gorey."

"It took over an hour for the emergency responders to get me out from underneath it. That hour is foggy at best. I remember so much pain, and at some point I felt this overwhelming sense of peace about the situation. Like, I instinctually knew that all I had to do was let go and the pain would stop."

"I started to let go, and I began slipping away. The pain stopped, the world slowed, and everything started to fade to black. It felt like I was floating on water, and all the fear and agony was taken far away from me. I snapped back into myself to the sound of a firefighter yelling at me to stay awake. Immediately the pain returned and I was fully 'here' again. Didn't hit me until much later in life that I was interrupted in the middle of the death process."

Apprehensive-Donkey3

Head Saved

car slamming GIFGiphy

"I just got hit by a car going 50 mph and broke 15 bones."

"I'm laying in the hospital right now typing with one hand. I found out a few days ago that I remained conscious enough to call 9-1-1 myself even though I don't recall doing that. Pretty much the only reason I'm alive is because I didn't injure my head."

FormerUniform

Good for all of you. Do great with the rest of your lives.

Want to "know" more?

Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Taylor Swift; Dolly Parton
Rich Polk/Billboard/Getty Images; The Recording Academy/Getty Images

Taylor Swift Dedicates Her VMA For Video Of The Year To 'Ultimate Showgirl' Dolly Parton In Moving Speech

Taylor Swift has been sweeping headlines in the past few weeks, between becoming a popular internet meme while cheering on her husband and releasing four new songs for a deluxe "Encore" edition of The Life of a Showgirl.

After appearing at the MTV VMAs and winning Video of the Year for her song, "The Fate of Ophelia," she's the talk of the town again, thanks to making a very special dedication.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Donald Trump
@atrupar/X

Trump Just Tried To Boast About America's 'Poverty'—And It Went Instantly South

Speaking ahead of a trip to Illinois to attend the 2026 Presidents Cup golf tournament, President Donald Trump bragged to reporters that the United States has the "best poverty," sparking immediate critcism.

Trump made the remark even as inflation remains above the level recorded when former President Joe Biden left office, economic growth has slowed, and the cost of filling a gas tank has surged roughly 50% since the war against Iran began.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Nicki Minaj
Fox News

Nicki Minaj Dragged With Blunt Reminder After Her Plea To Young Voters On Fox News Takes A Decidedly MAGA Turn

Rapper Nicki Minaj was criticized after she encouraged Fox News viewers to exercise their right to vote before fully backing Republicans in November's midterm elections.

Minaj spoke with President Donald Trump's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, during an appearance on the network to stress that if people "want a say in what happens, the only way to have that is by voting, not just voting for the president but voting in all local elections."

Keep ReadingShow less
Matt Gaetz; Screenshot of Robbie G. Smither
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Matt Gaetz Epically Dragged After Begging Lifelong Florida Republican Not To Vote For Dems Who Want To 'Trans Your Kids'

Former Florida Republican Representative Matt Gaetz was widely mocked after he made a transphobic claim about Democrats in response to remarks from X user and lifelong Florida Republican Robbie G. Smither, who earlier shared a video about why he's voting Democrat for the first time in his life.

In his post, Smither criticized President Donald Trump when he announced that "when I vote for a Democrat, [Florida gubernatorial candidate David Jolly], for the first time in my 41 years of life this November, it will not be because my values have changed, but because my party has abandoned our values for the sycophancy of a transactional leader who has none."

Keep ReadingShow less
Oreo’s viral spelling joke sparks a hilarious response from Merriam-Webster.
Kevin Carter/Getty Images; Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Oreo Just Made A Hilariously False Claim About Their Name—And Merriam-Webster's Response Is All Of Us

Oreo versus Merriam-Webster? That's one feud nobody had on their 2026 bingo card. But apparently, all it takes to start a fight with the dictionary is one questionable spelling lesson.

The cookie chaos went down on September 21, when Oreo decided that an old AI blunder deserved a second chance at internet fame.

Keep ReadingShow less