“When I was 18, I went sky diving and the parachute didn’t deploy. As it was my first time I had to have an instructor with me and she was the one who fixed the parachute.”

“The first time I had a gallbladder attack I legit thought I was dying. The pain is completely out of this world. Its hard to really describe, the pain is unfathomable and feels incredibly dangerous especially when you have no idea what is happening and the panic that goes with it. I thought I was having a heart attack, or worse, that my body was straight up dying, it sounds like hyperbole but it honestly isn’t. Worst experience of my entire life.”

“Got hit by a car and was kinda just on the hood of the car for a bit before the guy realized he hit me and stopped.”

“I once got stuck on a rock when i was scuba diving and i passed out, but my dad saved me. When i woke up i was so nervous i threw up the entire contents of my stomach and the water i kept drinking to deter the vomit taste just beacause i was super nauseous and nervous.”

“My boss dropped dead on the dance floor at the company Christmas party.”

“I survived being struck by a pick-up truck that was traveling about 50 mph. Lots of broken bones, internal damage to muscle and organs including my heart and brain, and lots of pain.”

“Suddenly, and very unexpectedly went into heart failure at 27 years old.”

“My wife and I were eating dinner one night when a guy walked in our house. He told us he was the angel of death and was collecting souls for the apocalypse. Said there were demons outside everywhere. I thought “this is it we’re dead.” Luckily he didn’t have a weapon and didn’t attack us. I talked him into walking outside with me so I could help him out and as soon as he stepped through the door I slammed it shut, locked it, grabbed my gun and called the cops. By that time he was in the road screaming nonsense. Turned out to be on meth. The whole thing didn’t last too long but being told the angel of death is in my house to collect souls almost paralyzed me with fear.”

“It was short lived but I thought my toddler was with his father, his father thought he was with me (I was in a room feeding the baby). We were at a relative’s property, a property with a murky water dam on it. Never felt such deep dread in my entire life. Turned out he had spotted a small horse in the meadows and that’s where I found him, near a fence watching the horse.”

“I was in Africa and every evening a big male lion would walk through the camp. He would roar outside my tent and it was blood curdling. I could even smell him he was so close.Nothing separated me from him but a thin layer of canvas. He would hang around for 45 minutes to an hour at a time. You cannot imagine the horror of that sound.”

“Was riding my motorcycle and a car just drove straight into me (stolen). Right before we collided, probably combined 70mph, my actual words were, “I’m dead!” Then I got flung into the air, knocked right out of my shoes, and knocked out before I hit the floor on the opposite side of the middle of the road. I woke up badly injured to drag myself away from the middle of the road right as a random car drove by and almost run right over my body. Scary shit. Now off to bed to fight the nightmares.”

“Six straight days in a VERY poorly run mental hospital.”

“A random man came up to me late one evening when I was putting groceries in my truck. He was sitting on a bike but asking me for a ride. I told him no, but he continued to insist. I went to put the cart away and he had put his bike into the bed of my truck and climbed into the passenger seat. I had no phone, no one was out and I froze. I made the poor choice to give him a ride. I was goddamn terrified and I don’t think I blinked the entire time as the man said things like “your husband is a lucky guy” or “wow your lips look nice”. Fortunately my lack of response seemed to deter him and we finally parted ways.”

“My wife had a lung removed due to cancer when my daughter was a baby. The realization I may be raising a baby, paying my mortgage, and losing my wife … dealing with that alone … was a rough night.”

“My son disappeared at an apartment complex for about 15 min. Until then, I had never experienced any real fear or anxiety.”

“A gas station exploded while I was outside. I nearly got killed and spent a lot of time in the hospital, but am okay now. Got a huge burning scar which hurts, especially when pressure is applied or the temperature changes too rapidly, but that’s it.”

“Got ambushed and jumped by three people when walking in my city in the middle of the night. Had a knife in my face after I fell to the ground and opened my eyes. I was almost certain I was going to die. Oddly enough, I just kind of accepted it as I knew fighting back would made things worse.”