Reddit user Mowanda asked:
"What was your 'Oh sh*t, this is really happening‽' moment?"
Getting The Call
"Was on the way to our drummer's house for practice. He lives way out in the country, so phone service is sketchy.
"Phone started ringing, I saw an unfamiliar area code and thought, 'is this a southern California number?' The phone was on like one bar as the other person said, 'Hi, this is so-and-so from Jeopardy!'."
"I started screaming 'hold on, let me get to the top of a hill so I can get enough reception!' Finished the conversation and thought, 'Oh sh*t, I finally made it!'."
"I won two games. I was winning the third one going into Final Jeopardy as well, but missed it."
~ FatHoosier
Could Have Been Worse
"Last December I fell on a moving escalator at the airport. I went down on my back..head facing towards the bottom as the escalator kept going up."
"I just stayed in place with the escalator teeth scraping me over and over. I didn't freak out..I just remember thinking..so this is happening..I guess I live here now on this escalator."
"I managed to flip over onto my front, but every time I tried to get my legs under me to stand the escalator kept dragging them out again. Finally someone thought to hit the button to stop it and I got up... gathered my luggage and went to my flight."
"I was covered with escalator scrapes for weeks."
"The other weird thing I remember very clearly is that there was a guy on one of those ride on floor cleaning machines and when other people started yelling that I needed help, he spun the thing around and 'rushed' over—without getting off the machine which moves very, very slowly."
"But there he was hunched over the steering wheel to get over to me as fast as he could...at like two miles an hour. Still makes me laugh thinking about it."
~ Betsy514
Tough Break
"Breaking my ankle."
"Thought I just slipped but when I tried to stand my foot was just flopping in its skin bag."
"Had to take a deep breath and plan my next move, what's done is done... It's happening, so how do I get to the hospital?"
~ hannahatecats
Goal Achieved
"I’m an older, heavy woman. I’ve dieted and gained, and lost 30 times over."
"Well, one day I decided to quit the dieting and go to the gym and just get healthier until I can figure out what to do with this weight. Well, I’d been going for a few weeks, and I decided to up my weights, and lower the reps, literally for sh*ts and giggles."
"After a few months of that, I got up one morning and took my shower. I was putting my hair up into a towel after, and caught sight of my shoulders from the back in the mirror."
"I could literally see my shoulder and armpit muscle ripple. I suddenly realized that I, for once in my life, had succeeded at something."
~ Cannelope
Three's Company
"When the ultrasound tech said, 'And here's the second heartbeat'."
"I was like, 'No, you don't understand, we're already in the middle of an adoption!'."
"All 3 of them are off to college in less than a month."
~ TexasPeteEnthusiast
The Call
"The phone call from my doctor's office letting me know my biopsy had positive margins, and that maybe it could be cancer. I knew when I saw the caller ID."
"They never call anymore unless it's bad news, and it was before they put up the results on the patient portal."
"More than 8 months since the big surgery, cancer free so far and no chemo or radiation needed! Crossing my fingers the one year biopsy is negative."
~ fatfatcats
Wakeup Call
"In high school I fell asleep driving on the interstate. I woke up in the median, sliding on grass."
"I was able to keep the car mostly straight and bring it to a stop just before some trees. I fell asleep in the right lane, and crossed over 3 lanes before going onto the median."
"I definitely remembered thinking how close to dying that was."
"Now, if I even yawn a couple times, I pull over and nap. Don't care if I can't park there, don't care if I'm working."
"I am NOT driving tired again. It's 15 years later, and the lesson has not faded."
~ DiabloIV
The Report
"Reading the CT scan report with the words 'possible malignant neoplasm'. Yup. Pancreatic cancer."
"It's a nasty disease that I'm not lying to myself about, but we're optimistic at the moment."
~ jeffbarge
Never Go In The "Empty" Car
"I was tired and just wanted to get home and without thinking I stepped into an empty subway car. So many thoughts happened at once: 'why is this car empty?' and 'Oh my god is that smell...human feces?'."
"I heard the BING BONG and the 'watch the closing doors' voice and THEN turned, but too late. Looked to my left and saw why: naked man, covered in sh*t, squatted down and speaking in tongues."
"To my immediate right, the door to the next car, EVERYONE in that next car at the window watching me. I launched for the door and tried it, locked."
"I pleaded with my eyes, some people mouthed 'it's locked!' while others did that theatrical mouth-covered laugh youths in NYC do. The train lurched forward, and I turned back towards the man."
"We made eye contact as he slipped and fell . The stench was strong."
~ sightlab
Terrifying Ride
" Bus hijacking in Ecuador. Shoutout to the man who translated everything the hijackers were saying."
"This happened 10 years ago. I forget the destination, but it was a night bus out of Quito. The ride was a couple hours I believe."
"Periodically on the ride, the driver would pick up hitchhikers on the side of the ride who would pay cash and stand. I was told this was not allowed, but drivers did it anyway for extra money."
"One of the stops, 3 guys got on the bus, and about 10 minutes later they start the highjacking. The 'leader' had a pistol and he first went up to the bus driver apparently threatened him and telling him to keep driving."
"Then the highjackers told all the passengers to keep our heads down and take everything out of our pockets. I distinctly remember him saying 'putas' (b*tches) at the end of every sentence."
"For what felt like 30 minutes they kept asking people to give them money and phones. And kept threatening the bus driver to keep driving."
"My sister and I were crouched in the legroom of our seats, and stayed quiet. I think I tucked my phone in under my bag or under my butt."
"Regardless, we luckily didn’t give them anything, and they didn’t push us for anything either. I was pretty f*cking scared, and kept thinking they’d realize we were tourists, and kidnap us for our passports and ransom."
"Some passengers got pressed to give up something. One guy got pistol whipped. One local guy was nervous and gave up $300 USD (they often use USD down there)."
"Eventually they got the bus driver to stop and they got off. Thought it was all over right?"
"No. They got into some getaway car and started chasing our bus. I haven’t seen the movie, but I imagine it was like Speed (1994)."
"The passengers in the back of the bus who could see the highjackers chasing us kept yelling at the bus driver to keep driving. The bus ran red lights and everything."
"Eventually we reached a police station. Jackers left. Anyone injured or stolen from filed a report. Once that was all done, the ride continued to the destination."
"Fun fact—one of the passengers, who was a local, who had their phone taken, complained that this was the 4th time it happened to her that month."
"A while after the ordeal, my thoughts on the situation were a bit different. These were just regular low-level criminals (regular being relative to that country's norms)."
"They had been drinking, I recall seeing one of them holding a brown bag of sorts. There were teens, traveling alone on the bus, who looked pretty unaffected, and I figure they are used to this stuff."
"And ultimately, I don’t think they would have seriously injured or killed anyone."
~ SuperCarpenter4450
Time Stopped
"I went to get a mammogram, and they immediately asked me to stay for an ultrasound of my left breast. I had my two youngest children with me (6 and 8), so they went along in the ultrasound room with me."
"The tech said 'I’ll be right back', but a doctor came in and said there was a tumor. I stopped listening and just stared at my kids."
"Time stopped."
"I was quickly booked for surgery, they removed the tumor, it was benign, and I was able to breathe again."
"It’s funny how life stops and then can speed right back up."
~ WearyEnthusiasm6643
Missed Call
"I missed a call from my mom. A few moments later, I heard my partner pick up a call in the next room over.
"Just as I was about to listen to my mom’s voicemail on my phone, I heard him say, 'oh god' in the other room and I knew something was very wrong. Then, my mom’s voice over my own phone, frantic, 'we just lost Dad!'."
"Suddenly had tunnel vision and felt like everything around me was coming to a halt. No f*cking way."
"Sometimes I still can’t believe that really happened, and we just hit the one year mark a couple days ago. Damn. I can still recall that feeling like it just happened."
~ isntthisneat
The Messenger
"When my father passed."
"The cop drove up to our car after a search in the woods...and I could tell the way he was walking towards us and his body language, he was dead."
"I don't think my mom saw it, but I saw it before he reached us and, yeah."
~ pup5581
Cerebrovascular Accident
"When I had a stroke at work. It was so subtle, I just felt a little 'off' and I was clumsy."
"I was in denial about it for a few hours, and I didn’t want to have a whole scene in the office, so I drove myself home and had my wife take me to the ER."
"Then I’m suddenly surrounded by like eight doctors and nurses, I get put into a gown, and wheeled in for a CT. That was the 'oh sh*t' moment."
"Spent over a week in the hospital, then another three weeks in acute rehab. This was October of 22 and I’m still doing rehab. I’m definitely improving, but I’m still nowhere near back to full functionality."
"I was told repeatedly that if I acted sooner, they might have been able to administer a drug that can reverse the effects, but it has to be given within a pretty brief window, and I waited too long."
"I just assumed something like a stroke would be more obvious. I was never in any pain, and I just felt weird."
"Moral of the story…if you feel strange, just call 911. I still expect to eventually recover fully, but it sure would have been nice to not lose 21 months (and counting) on recovery."
~ firemanmhc
Like Falling
"It was a Monday and the wife woke up sick to her stomach. She was a teacher and getting the stomach flu from someone at school was nothing new."
"Then as she sat in bed her speech became slurred and she rambled. I was worried, but she said she was okay and just needed to lay down."
"I got up and showered, still worried but convinced myself she just needed rest. Then I found her on the bed...eyes glazed over...breathing in gasps and not responding to me at all."
"Calling 911...just getting more and more panicked as the paramedics tried to revive her. Taking her to the hospital her heart stopped beating. They were able to pull her back...but she lay in a coma with machines keeping her breathing..."
"The doctor told me she had a massive brain bleed. Words like aneurysm, necrotic mass. It became a blur to me. It was like falling off a cliff, but never hitting the bottom."
"It's been a couple years now. I'm doing better, but sometimes it just hits me...and I'm back in the ICU praying she'll wake up and deep down knowing she won't."
~ BrokenHandle56
What moments took you by surprise?
