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“Entirely Unintentionally”: 32 Incredible Stories Of Folks Saving Someone’s Life
Interview With Expert
We start our days never fully knowing where they're going to take us. Yes, we have timetables and plans, but still meet someone or do something we didn't anticipate. For example, saving someone's life.
Stories of being someone's savior typically tend to stick with people. Even if they do this task daily for work. And so, when a netizen asked Redditors if they had ever saved a life, many of them didn't shy away from sharing their stories. So, let's see how these internet folks became someone's heroes, shall we?
More info: Reddit
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
I can’t say I definitely saved this girl’s life, but her mum said my actions could have potentially saved her life in the future.
Eleven or twelve years ago I taught a girl in Year 3 (7-8 years old), whom I’ll call Georgie. She was a lovely girl, and her mum would describe her as a bit ditzy, and a bit of an airhead. After a couple of weeks being Georgie’s teacher, I noticed she’d have times of spacing out and being oblivious to events around her. This reminded me of a boy I’d taught a few years before who’d suffered petit mal epileptic seizures, which is characterised by a period of absence and blanking out, rather than jerking and thrashing.
I spoke to Georgie’s mum and asked her to take her to the doctors. She insisted she was just an airhead daydreamer, and it was nothing. I pleaded with her and eventually got her to agree to take Georgie. A few weeks later the mum turns up at my classroom door in tears and with a bunch of flowers for me. Georgie had had tests and scans and been diagnosed with epilepsy. Her mum was full of guilt and what ifs, and said I’ve possibly saved her from a terrible fate, as what if she’d had one of her absence seizures in the swimming pool one day.
#2
Worked at a bank call centre. Elderly customer rang through asking to make a large transfer but sounded very flustered. Felt something felt off so rang police to go around for a welfare check. Turns out she was at gunpoint being forced to send all her money to this guy. Police contacted the bank to arrange call recordings to be sent the day after.
Everyone said I saved her life, but I doubt he would have shot her.
#3
I had an instinct my sleeping newborn baby ‘wasn’t quite right’ and insisted on waking him up and taking him immediately to hospital. 20 mins after arrival he went in to full cardiac arrest - turns out he was born with undiagnosed congenital heart disease. The doctors saved him from there, but without that maternal instinct he would never have woken up from his nap at home.
Even though it might be a hard truth, it’s still undeniable that everyone’s life is going to end one day. And it’s best if it does when a person has lived a long and fulfilling life, not before that.
Unfortunately, life is not always generous. And so, quite often people lose their lives way too early. It can be due to an illness, an unfortunate accident, or anything else.
Luckily, every so often, when someone's life is hanging by a thread, there's still a possibility to save them. In fact, there are professions whose aim is to do that. For instance, paramedics. That’s why Bored Panda reached out to one of them - The Salty Paramedic.
#4
Not sure if this counts, but the amount of times I had to physically grab a tourist in London that's about to walk into the traffic as they were looking the opposite way, is in dual digits.
Red PANda (she/they/he/ze) 2 months ago
I remember I definitely had to up my spatial awareness game when I visited London
JF 2 months ago
Not from London, but I remind my kid to always look both ways before crossing the road, even if it's one way
Hinrik Ævarsson 2 months ago
I always do, and i live quite rurally , only ever lived in villages. But that may be part of my constant paranoia that my ADD is going to get me killed. I never assume what side of the road cars are driving.
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ILikecoldbrew 2 months ago
Bless you for saving the dumb travelers (this sounds like a mistake I would make)
Jenni Howard 2 months ago
Which is why in London it has LOOK LEFT etc painted on the road at all traffic lights
Monosyllabicgirl 2 months ago
Is it only in the Midwest where we look both ways even on one way streets? Lol
Stephanie Chapman 2 months ago
I live in America and I feel like a lot of people do not look both ways AT ALL anymore. With or without a phone it feels like people just step out into the street without being aware. Drives me nuts.
Gen X Feral 2 months ago
Left right left doesn't apply when they're on the opposite side of the road
CP 2 months ago
When I lived in England for a moment, I refused to drive even though many people offered to let me drive.
Sue User 2 months ago
Work was mad because i refused to rent a car while working in England for a bit. " But its cheaper than all these train/ taxi costs" accounting said. Not when you factor in the cost when i wreck the car, which i 100 % will do.
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#5
Entirely unintentionally, but my answer is "very probably".
At Remembrance Day service with my Scout group (I'm the group leader) and other local Scouts. It's a cold morning obvs, and we're all standing to attention throughout the whole service, which lasts for an hour.
One of the girls from another troop is standing directly in front of me. She suddenly wobbles ever so slightly and then faints, collapsing back into me. Lucky for her, I'm very fat, so she fell into my stomach like it was essentially a great big cushion, and slid harmlessly to the ground.
If I hadn't been there, she would've fallen back and cracked her skull open on the edge of the granite step immediately behind me.
So yeah, I think my *presence* saved her life, but it wasn't through anything I actually DID, just that my enormous stomach cushioned the impact more than a granite step would.
Beak Hookage 2 months ago
Someone standing up on the bus lost their balance and nearly fell on top of me. I am also a fat person, so I cheerily said, 'At least you woulda landed on something soft!' when he apologised.
#6
My housemate was spaced-out, barely talking, awful headache, in bed all day, not even needing to get out to go to the toilet. Insisted he was fine, just needed to rest and be left alone. I got more and more worried, but the more I pressed him, the more he outright insisted that nothing was wrong and that if I called an ambulance I'd just make him more ill because it would interrupt the rest he needed. I eventually called an ambulance against his will after his speech got more incomprehensible...
He had severe sepsis. After a week in hospital he did fine, but I was horrified for a long time to think what would have happened had I respected his wishes.
Vain Black 2 months ago (edited)
Friend of mine went septic from something you ordinarily just endure until you're better, not even a bacterial or viral illness. Went the ER because he could barely walk from the pain and they sent him home. 6 hours later his temperature had skyrocketed and he was so sick he had to have multiple surgical interventions during his 3 day stint in intensive care and another week in the hospital. Pain meds could hardly touch it, and he had further complications from trying to manage the pain even in a hospital setting. Shouldn't be a problem is never a guarantee it won't be a problem! Fortunately my friend has a wife who moved heaven and earth along with threatening to call an ambulance if she couldn't get him to the car to go back to the hospital and spent every moment by his side speaking up for him when he was in too much pain to advocate for himself. I got to take care of the cats while they were gone!
A paramedic's job is to respond to emergency calls and be one of the first healthcare professionals to arrive at an emergency. Our interviewee said that in this job he often encounters a lot of life-saving situations – from cardiac arrests to overdoses.
If saving lives isn’t stressful enough itself, it also might take a toll on a paramedic's mental well-being. As The Salty Paramedic said, “I have a beautiful, loving family, but sometimes it’s hard seeing tragedies happen at work and coming home and being that happy and present father and husband they deserve.” Luckily, he also pointed out that he seems to be handling this pretty well.
Yet, not every paramedic does. For some, the things they see and do can get to them so badly that they develop mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, or even PTSD.
#7
Right I’m going to tell a story that’s utterly surreal to me and no-one I’ve told seems to share the same bewilderment by it…
I was in the Peak District. A man in a 3 piece tweed suit and pocket watch ran past, said hello, and kept on going. Not the usual gear people wear in the Peaks but there you go.
Nearer the end of the day, after enjoying a completely empty hike with no-one else around, we got a bit lost up one of the hills so were along a ridge line still quite high up as the sun started to go down. On this ridge line there’s a bit of a boggy patch that you’re encouraged to avoid. As we redirected around it, we heard someone shouting.
In the distance, where the boggy patch is, someone was waist deep in the bog waving at us. We made our way over and it was the guy from earlier, in the suit. He couldn’t get out.
I had to carefully make my way into it, almost getting stuck myself. But I managed to get a decent footing and pull him out. He smiled, brushed off the excess mud, checked his pocket watch and ran off.
This was a late Autumn day so when that sun went down, it would’ve been freezing. And he would’ve been stuck up there in wet ground overnight, alone.
To this day, I believe I saved that man’s life. Whoever, or whatever, that man was.
#8
I answer 999 ambulance calls. I took a call I. January, during the call, the patient stopped breathing. I gave instructions over the phone on how to give CPR and also upgraded the ambulance response. The patient lived and was discharged from the hospital.
Red PANda (she/they/he/ze) 2 months ago
Thank you to the people who answer those calls! I imagine it must be really emotionally taxing sometimes
#9
My wife and I used to be carers, as in, we had two people with special needs living at our house. One morning, Christmas Eve as it happened, one of them came down for his breakfast. Now, he wasn't normally clumsy, but seemed a little off that morning. As he sat down, something clicked in my mind, and I asked him to raise both his arms. He couldn't hold his left arm up for more than a second.
Hmm, is he having a stroke?
So I called 999 and explained what was happening while my wife went out to wait for the ambulance. Ambulance came very quickly, like about 5 minutes. They stuck him on oxygen and confirmed it looked like a stroke.
Turned out it was indeed a stroke, but due to the system working as it should, he made a full recovery.
The funny thing was, when I was on the phone, I was calm, explained everything clearly and concisely, all of that. Don't panic, Capt. Mainwaring. But once we got to the hospital and the pressure was off, I called his sister to break the news and completely broke down. I could barely speak.
R.A. Haley 2 months ago
My mother was one for that. An absolute rock until it was over, then crash.
At the same time, the job has qualities that make up for all of it. As the interviewee shared: “The most rewarding aspect of being a paramedic is being able to make a difference every single day I go to work, no matter how small. One shift I might lift an elderly lady off the floor who couldn’t get up on her own and the next might be your classic ‘cat stuck in a tree.’”
But to save a life, a person doesn’t have to be a paramedic. And today’s list proves that. Sometimes all you need is common sense and compassion. For example, helping someone to avoid traffic or calling an ambulance when they need it.
#10
Only indirectly.
Used to manage a charity shop, had some volunteers with various levels of special needs both physical and mental.
One guy, big lad - about 6'5 and probably 35+st, was a great worker at basic tasks. He knew what to do once you showed him and would just chunter away at them until it was complete.
Dropped off by his dad one day, but didn't look happy. Asked him what was up, complained he wasn't feeling well, pushed a little for more specifics, complained his arm and chest were sore. Called his dad back out of the car and got him to take him to A&E.
Blood clot from the lung had broken loose.
Leoninus Fate 2 months ago
has blood clots in the lungs, and it hurts bad, the doctor said its all a bit worse than childbirth, I was in the hospital for 2 weeks waiting for them to break up, i couldn't lay down and just hurt up between my wings bones, Was a lil worse for me cause i was finishing up my cancer treatent
#11
Multiple times but one sticks out for me
I work in ICU and a patient arrived on the unit awake but promptly arrested. I started CPR, we got them back but they were incredibly unstable. They were ventilated and sedated, on multiple cardiac medications and electrolytes. A week later I was back on shift and I stopped by their bed-space and it had a different person in it. Assumed they didn’t make it but spotted them in high dependency. They were sitting there happily having a cup of tea. They remembered me from just before they arrested when I apparently made them feel safe when they were scared. They thanked me for saving their life. Tears all round. Once of the proudest moments of my life.
#12
Pulled a kid out of a river who was drowning. Think I was only about 15 at the time.
Saved my mums and grans lives (yay trauma.)
And then I've worked in jobs where I absolutely helped saved someone's life (care, domestic violence service, nhs).
Of course, sometimes some knowledge or skills can also make you a hero in someone’s story. Like knowing CPR. It’s a life-saving technique for when a person's heart can no longer pump blood. So, someone does chest compressions and gives breaths of oxygen until the heartbeat returns. It's a fairly easy and important technique that nearly everyone can (and maybe even should) learn.
Our interviewee agrees with the sentiment that knowing first-aid techniques is crucial: “I have been on a lot of calls where because of a civilian rendering first aid prior to our arrival, the outcome to the patient was great.”
#13
I did rescue breaths/CPR on a kid who stopped breathing. She was incredibly pale and I can still remember the flush as her face turned bright pink when she started breathing. Luckily I'd done a first aid course the week before or I'd have had no idea what to do.
There were plenty of first aiders in the building so someone would have saved her. But I do feel proud that it was me.
Red PANda (she/they/he/ze) 2 months ago
As you should, great job! CPR is harder than people think it is
#14
Patient came into a pharmacy. It was clear he had cellulitis and needed antibiotics.
Patient went to his doctor (next door to us) and doctor told him to buy cream over the counter.
I went next door and demanded that Patient needs to see a GP urgently. GP came out and had an argument with me. After I clearly showed him it was cellulitis he finally reviewed the Patient.
GP was new and wasn't sure what to prescribe. I explained to him that he would need this if he has/hasn't got xyz (not going into the boring clinical stuff).
Patient was treated.
3 weeks later, the patient came back and gave myself and the staff flowers and chocolates for helping him.
We don't know if he would have died but could have easily done or even turned into to sepsis.
I work in the medical field so anything could be a life or death situation 🤣.
#15
Stopped some drunk 18 year old kid throwing himself in front of the trams in Nottingham.
Little s**t repaid me by attempting to fight every group of passing lads that went by on a Friday night.
Was below freezing outside and the police took over an hour to come take him off my hands. Can't say I felt any warm glow from the situation I was just pissed off.
Red PANda (she/they/he/ze) 2 months ago
Thank you OP! I hope karma repays you, you’re a good person
What we can take away from this list is that sometimes one little thing you do can make you a hero. Saving someone’s life is a significant event not only for the one who is saved, but for the one who does the saving too. After all, life is precious and it’s wonderful when it doesn’t end too early, right?
Have you ever saved a life? Share with us! And don’t forget to upvote the stories you liked best and check out The Salty Paramedic's TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.
#16
Out surfing with school mates so the sea is quite rough. We're all strong swimmers and have our boards, but we still keep an eye on each other. The tide is pretty high at that point and with the big waves, a person could walk out reasonably far and then suddenly struggle to stand when a series of waves hits.
We spotted some young lads, similar age to us, messing around near the breakpoints where the seafloor drops quite sharply and we noticed that their shouts were turning into panic. When it became apparent they were struggling to stay above water, we swam over with our boards and told them to hold on. We got them back to the beach and checked they were OK.
Lots of local kids could barely swim even though we lived right by the sea and they just treated it as a big splash pool. Too many people have no respect for the sea and how dangerous open water swimming can be. Even strong swimmers can be swept out or become disoriented. Be smart and be safe.
Fishpanda (fish/panda/it) 2 months ago (edited)
If there is a riptide, swim parallel to the beach. Do not go against it. Even strong swimmers can die by those. Edit: fixed the error
#17
Yes! It was a really hot day in summer last year and I was on the bus to Leeds. Bus driver was just sat for ages at these lights and I’m thinking eh what, why’s the bus not moving.
I had my earphones in and I was falling asleep, wanted to go home. I looked over the seats and saw this poor woman on the floor, unconscious. I took my earphones off and I could hear the driver on the phone to 999. He didn’t know where we were as it was a Wakefield bus, he was from Wakefield.
I took the phone, told the woman where we were, and then she told me to do chest compressions etc. so I did. She then started coughing and I rolled her over onto her side, and by that time the ambulance was there. I went into a panic because it was a bit much but I just did what I had to do and I was there to make sure she was alive.
I was so proud of myself man. I hope she’s okay.
#18
Many years ago, before I did any First Aid training, I was at my local Jobcentre to sign on and there was a lady looking very unwell. JC staff were really uninterested. I got all righteous (as I tended to do at that age) and demanded they put her in a side room and find a First Aider. After what seemed like ages some (still uninterested) staff member came along and said there were no First Aiders on the premises and was about to walk away, and I yelled at them to phone a bloody ambulance. They did, ambo turned up and whisked the woman off.
About 3 or 4 months later the woman came knocking at the door with a huge bouquet and an equally huge box of chocolates, thanking me profusely for saving her life. She'd had a heart attack and was really unwell for a while in hospital, and was told that she would have died if I'd not got the ambo. Turned out she found out who I was because her daughter and I went to the same school. Knew her daughter but hadn't recognised her on the day because she looked so ill (recognised her when she came to the door, though).
#19
On my lunch break at work, I found a homeless guy in an office doorway. Young, looked unconscious. I checked on him and he was barely conscious. Complained of stomach pain and said he hadn't had d***s or alcohol. People were just walking by. Called an ambulance and waited two hours for it to come.
Another guy stopped and waited with me. He was a retired social worker. We waited till the ambulance came and the older guy gave details as he wasn't working and I was.
Met the old guy randomly a few weeks later. Said the guy would have died without treatment. He was newly homeless from another area. Only in his 20s. The shelters couldn't take him in. He had some kind of stomach infection. He was recovering last I heard. I hope he found a place to stay. Not much older than my sons. Glad I did my part.
#20
I work in healthcare, so do stuff to keep people alive regularly - but I actually saved my partners’ life on holiday a few years ago.
He choked, horrendously, on some bacon one morning during breakfast, went red and made awful noises, and I had do the Heimlich manoeuvre and hit his back until it came out. Shouting “oh my god oh my god!!!” repeatedly throughout as I was in utter panic mode.
It was absolutely terrifying, I burst into tears when the bacon came out, and my partner, who just *nearly* died, had to comfort *me*, because I was in absolute bits. I was an absolute mess but I’m obviously glad I saved his life!
Shawnna Clement 2 months ago
My toddler was eating apple chunks in the backseat. As I pulled in the driveway, he began choking. By the time I threw the car in park, he was no longer able to cough and "making awful noises". My son had to comfort me after I dislodged the chunk by turning him over my knee and smacking his back. "It's okay Momma. I'm okay."
#21
Saved a mate from drowning in Thailand once , nearly drowned myself doing it so would leave it to the lifeguards in the future.
Chelsea McKee 2 months ago
I always hear that saving somebody else can be dangerous depending on the circumstances. Is it the water or how the person is reacting. If somebody is trying to help you, remain calm and try to work together.
#22
I was at a train station, and station staff saved a little girl's life. They called for help and as a nurse I ran over. I emailed the station singing their praises, but the reply was pretty dismissive and didn't seem to realise that the station staff had genuinely administered LIFE SAVING first aid. I think in their reply they refered to it as 'potentially life saving actions' which I felt really downplayed what the station staff did that day.
(It was a toddler choking who had gone a bit grey/blue. Station staff administered back slaps and she regained colour. But I honestly thought I was going to have to do CPR on the child initially).
Jean Jacket 2 months ago
That child is alive because of them, but they probably got in trouble for abandoning their work. Horrible.
#23
When I was 17 me and my mate (18) went to Asda to get a carry out. Once the drink had been bought we walked round the back of the shop to have a sneaky drink before heading to wherever we were going, when we noticed something in the bushes.
There was a guy about 10 years older than us, lying in the bushes, starting to go blue in the face. We dragged him onto the grass and got him into a recovery position, then I sprinted back round to the shop to get a first aider and someone to call the ambulance. While I was away my mate found the guys [final] notes addressed to his family. He’d been diagnosed with cancer and tried to OD.
Ambulance took him away and the Asda manager promised us a reward.
Then when it came to light that I shouldn’t have been buying bevvy in the shop as I was underage, they reneged on the reward. So now I shop at Aldi.
35 cabbages in a trenchcoat 2 months ago
Can't even imagine pain of getting that diagnosis, confirmation, deciding to end it, and then having guys stop me. It's tough for everyone.
#24
Yes I believe so.
I was hanging out outside a bar, smoking with a few buddies.
Over the road I spotted some guys I knew so I sauntered over to say hi. One of the guys was sitting on a wall that was about 4 feet high and was clearly drunk as s**t. He put his arms up to give me a hug when he saw me coming over and sort of lost his balance, starting to tip backwards.
I made the last two steps towards him as quickly as I could and grabbed his wrists to stop him falling back. As I reached him, I saw that the wall he was sitting on was sort of adjacent to some steps down to a basement entrance, the drop behind the wall was about 15 feet on to solid concrete. I’m not sure if he definitely would’ve died if he fell but it certainly was on the cards.
I had no idea about the drop behind him when I went to grab him, I assumed the drop was only the height of the wall but I didn’t want him to hurt himself. Lucky that I made the effort as on a different day I might’ve thought it’d be funny to watch him topple backwards.
#25
Potentially? Was a passenger in a car and the vehicle in front took a corner recklessly to show off, clpped a bank and fully flipped.
This was on a dark country road in dead of winter so if I hadn't got the guys out a very high change someone else coming along the road would have ploughed into them.
The car was spread across both lanes and while we waited on emergency services I ended up having to direct traffic in both directions with a minions torch!
Elvira394 2 months ago
when I was 18 I lived in a very rural town in Glasgow Montana. One night I came home from work about 11 o'clock and for some reason my body wouldn't let me take the turn to go to my house. I just kept driving out onto the rural road. drove about 40 miles. Started to get creeped out at the night because I was young and the locals had been telling me all this stuff about goat man and how he comes along beside your car and races you and if you can't beat him you go to hell. And right at that moment as the story popped into my mind, a white figure way down at the edge of my headlights was running across the road back-and-forth.scared the p**s out of me and I thought I was seeing goat man. But I kept and said I was going to brave it out. Turns out it was a friend of mine in a white T-shirt covered in blood who had just wrecked their car. And my other friend was still pinned in the car. Was able to get the other one out and drive them to hospital. This was before cell phones.
#26
20+ years ago at about midnight on a Saturday night, we were just getting ready to go to bed and started hearing the fire alarm from next door - a terraced house. We’d heard the neighbour come home, so I went to knock with no reply.
Called the fire brigade out - they broke down the door to investigate and found him fast out on the settee and the kitchen on fire!
He’d come in after a skinfull and decided to cook a stew. Sat down and passed out. If we hadn’t called the fire brigade, it’s was likely he’d have died and the fire would have spread into the surrounding houses.
#27
Not saved a life, but spotted something that would have caused problems.
I saw a mole on the back of my mums leg that didn’t look right - multicoloured and had an uneven edge to it. So I pointed it out and told her she should have it looked at by a doctor. Doctor checked it and agreed that it was changing into something concerning so she was booked in to have it removed. She ended up having a sizeable chunk taken out of her leg, histology came back that it was a melanoma which is a type of skin cancer.
So yeah, my mum was lucky that it was caught really early and hadn’t spread so after minor surgery she was OK.
Debby Keir 2 months ago
I noticed a small ulcer on my father's face that looked like a 'rodent ulcer'. He was never a sunbather, but had been in N Africa during WW2. He got it checked out, and that and 3 others were removed, and he had annual skin checks from then on.
#28
I saved a friends life a few years ago. Kind of, not sure how much credit I deserve but results based science I guess?
Was drinking with a friend at my house. He fell asleep on the sofa after a decent but not over the top amount of beers. About half an hour later he got up and quickly ran to the toilet. I heard a loud bang, then about 30 seconds later a louder crash. I decided to go check on him just in case and found him laying on his back choking on his own vomit.
I turned him on his side and as I did this is clenched his mouth shut. I couldn't clear the vomit anymore and he carried on choking. I tried all sorts to unclench his jaw, tried prying at his teeth with my hands and he bit me, I slapped him, kicked him, smacked his back, got behind and tried the Heimlich, nothing worked. He was going pale and lips were blue. Eventually I tried to pick him up and dropped him.
When I dropped him he opened his mouth. I stuck my hand in it and cleared the vomit from his throat. He opened his eyes slowly and rejoined the room. He told me he really needed a p**s, couldn't undo his button up fly and fell over. Then pissed himself, then he tried to stand up and slipped on his p**s and smashed his head on the sink knocking himself out.
I don't know if he would've woken up on his own or if I deserve the credit, but it worked.
Fishpanda (fish/panda/it) 2 months ago
Pandas, please confirm. I've heard that if you hit your head really hard and immediately vomit, it's usually a bad concussion. Although maybe not in this case, but be careful with head injuries.
#29
I was 16, it was a hot summers day. I was on my way to meet my mate at the park to get stoned, i was walking up this huge k***er of a hill. There was a young man led on the floor. Completely lifeless. Luckily i did first aid training for lifeguarding. The guy wasn’t breathing and I couldn’t feel/hear a pulse. I performed cpr and had 999 on speaker phone. Luckily more people came to help and i was in control of the situation directing people. He came back around after the ambulance crew took over and used a defibrillator on him, luckily they were very quick.
Katrina Nixon 2 months ago
Amazing story, well done! When did killer become offensive? So ridiculous.
#30
Yes, my mum. She collapsed down the stairs a few months back and I had to CPR her until the ambulances came. I lived alone with her so it was a solo operation while I had the phone on speaker. Longest 10 minutes of my life.
#31
We were working on a canal when we heard a splash, followed by frantic splashing.
We went to investigate and a bloke had fallen in the lock. The water was down so there was no way to climb out. It was also freezing. We opened the gates and let him out then dragged him out of the water.
Maybe he could have held on to the gates until someone else came, but it was freezing and he was panicking to the point where he was barely keeping his head above water.
Funnily enough, I had a project a few years later and part of it was cutting ladders into the side of existing locks so that you could get out if you fell in.
Debby Keir 2 months ago
Every lock has ALWAYS had two metal ladders, one on each side. Otherwise how would single handed boaters ever get on and off.... They are in built-in alcoves so that they don't obstruct the boat.
#32
Yes, but the thrill wears off a bit when you know it’s another 85+ year old who just about survived CPR and will spend the last months of their life fighting intubation.
Lou Cam 2 months ago
This happened to my Grandad. He went into cardiac arest with my Mum there and she gave him CPR for 10 mins until the ambulance got there. After further life saving intervention from the ambulance he was brought back. However he was now severely brain damaged. He did end up coming off intubation but never made it out of ICU. When I visited him he couldn't speak or move and just spent the whole time making pained whining noises with tears in his eyes. My mum was so distraught that she brought him back to suffer. She thinks it would have been kinder to have not tried. He was 88 and CPR broke 10 ribs. He lived 8 weeks in his broken state. I tried to comfort my Mum by saying that at least we all got to say goodbye to him and be prepared for his departure but yes it was a cruel end. Being brought back just to die again but more slowly.
What do you think ?
Sky Render 2 months ago
I saved my wife's twice. The first was when I helped her move up here from Texas after her father's death; she was living in someone's hallway for a few months before we were able to make it happen and was dangerously depressed for that period. Later I saved her life when she came out to me as transgender and I was 100% supportive of her (quite a lot of trans folks don't make it because of unsupportive friends and family, and she already had a long history of depression). She returned the favor a few years later when she helped me keep from the brink after my mother's death and helped me remember the real "me" that had been suppressed for 30 years due to paternal SA.
arthbach 2 months ago
I was delivering a parcel to someone. They were taking for ever to get to the door. As we had arranged the time, I started to get concerned. When they arrived at the door, they were grey, and could barely stand. They said not to come close as they had Covid. I called an ambulance, and waited until it came. This person was in hospital for 3 weeks, and was told it was very fortunate they were brought in when they were as they would not have survived without medical assistance.
Jaguarundi 2 months ago
This is going to sound like I'm making this up, but, NY Times, July 7, 1985 will give evidence. I saved a woman's life from choking using the Heimlich Maneuver, she was blue, the EMT's said that I had saved her life. That weekend, she and her boyfriend were drunk and she tried to ride a circus elephant while out that night. Well, it grabbed her and killed her by throwing her onto the concrete parking lot where the circus was set up. So I extended her life by a week.
Yuki 2 months ago
I actually ended up saving my own life once! This was back when I was in middle school, I don't remember exactly how old I was, but my older sister had taken me and my younger sister out to lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. I ordered mozzarella sticks, since they've always been one of my favorite foods. When I bit into the first one, I didn't sever the cheese all the way before swallowing, and lemme tell ya this cheese was RIDICULOUSLY stretchy, so I had cheese stretching all the way down my throat. I started choking on it, going red and trying to gasp for air before managing to get a grasp on it and pull the cheese out of my throat by hand. My little sister let out a high-pitched "eeeeeew!" and my older sister slapped her arm and told her "shut up, she was choking!" Neither of them had even tried to help me. That was probably somewhere like 15-17 years ago, I still think about that to this day, and I still very much enjoy mozzie sticks. I'm just a lot more careful when I eat them, lol
Giraffy Window 2 months ago
Was at a splash park with a bunch of family, enjoying the wave pool with a little nephew. We were chatting in the shallower end when I spot a smaller kid bobbing awkwardly an arm's length away from me. I just reached out, calmly pulled him toward us where his feet could touch, and steered him toward leaving the pool. As I watched him make it out and head toward a nearby group, I exchanged a brief look with the lifeguard on duty, then carried on playing with my nephew. Drowning is quiet. Drowning is violently gentle. Drowning often begins to happen before the person drowning understands they're in danger.
John Nelson 2 months ago
Before you do anything else, call 911 (999 in UK) or whatever your local emergency number is. Get those units rolling now! Minutes count. All the operators need to know is what, where, and if there are any risks the responders may be running into. You can do anything else while they're on the way.
No Thanks 2 months ago
My friend, a complete idiot, and I were thrift shopping and he just bought roller skates as an impulse buy and put them on right then and there. The sidewalk right out side the shop was slanted and he had never ridden roller skates before. He nearly rolled right into traffic and would've if I hadn't have grabbed the back of his shirt. Right afterwards a huge semi rolled past. My friend is so dumb, but I love him
Mariah gabrich 2 months ago
I guess I saved someone's life when I was a CNA. I was doing one on one (meaning he couldn't be left alone) because he'd been acting weird the night before and complaining of pain. When I went to watch him he was fine for a while then started to complain of pain and constantly trying to get up. I got the nurse. She called to send him out and his vitals tanked when EMS got him. He was having a stroke or a heart attack. I can't remember which. Had I not made it a big deal he likely would have died. My theory is he had a clot. When it was lodged he was in pain when it was loose he was okay so when I watched him it lodged again in a bad place
Andrea Zaccaria 2 months ago
My Mom has saved lives. The first was my cousin... She was 2 and choking on a piece of apple. My Mom grabbed her and did the children's heimlich and saved her. The second is more dramatic. I watched it happen from my cousin's bedroom window. We were at my Aunt & Uncle's house and Mom & Aunt were leaving to go to the store when they saw smoke coming from the neighbor's house across the street. Aunt ran inside to call 911. My Mom watched a Mother & two little kids run out to the porch. My Mom noticed an orange glow in the windows behind them. She bolted across the street and grabbed up the kids. She and the Mom rushed down the steps just as the windows burst from the massive fire inside the house. She probably saved all of their lives with her quick thinking.
Rhianna Hollowaye 2 months ago
My great-grandfather was a prison officer (huge guy, well over six feet tall) but he was also a trained nurse. He worked at some very dangerous, violent prisons, and one day, an escape attempt turned into a full-scale riot and another guard's throat was cut. He knelt down, and stitched him up right there in the middle of the chaos, saving his life.
Rosemary 2 months ago
When I was in college, some friends and I went to a party in another city about 30 miles away. I was the only one who was sober by the time we left for home, but the car belonged to one of the other girls so she started driving. She was having trouble staying on the road, and I offered to take the wheel. Her car had a stick shift, but I knew how to drive it because my brother had taught me how to drive his VW beetle when I was 13. All the other girls slept all the way back, and I think about what the outcome would have been if I couldn't have driven that car. So maybe my brother saved the lives of a carload of college girls, and possibly other people as well.
Sky Render 2 months ago
I saved my wife's twice. The first was when I helped her move up here from Texas after her father's death; she was living in someone's hallway for a few months before we were able to make it happen and was dangerously depressed for that period. Later I saved her life when she came out to me as transgender and I was 100% supportive of her (quite a lot of trans folks don't make it because of unsupportive friends and family, and she already had a long history of depression). She returned the favor a few years later when she helped me keep from the brink after my mother's death and helped me remember the real "me" that had been suppressed for 30 years due to paternal SA.
arthbach 2 months ago
I was delivering a parcel to someone. They were taking for ever to get to the door. As we had arranged the time, I started to get concerned. When they arrived at the door, they were grey, and could barely stand. They said not to come close as they had Covid. I called an ambulance, and waited until it came. This person was in hospital for 3 weeks, and was told it was very fortunate they were brought in when they were as they would not have survived without medical assistance.
Jaguarundi 2 months ago
This is going to sound like I'm making this up, but, NY Times, July 7, 1985 will give evidence. I saved a woman's life from choking using the Heimlich Maneuver, she was blue, the EMT's said that I had saved her life. That weekend, she and her boyfriend were drunk and she tried to ride a circus elephant while out that night. Well, it grabbed her and killed her by throwing her onto the concrete parking lot where the circus was set up. So I extended her life by a week.
Yuki 2 months ago
I actually ended up saving my own life once! This was back when I was in middle school, I don't remember exactly how old I was, but my older sister had taken me and my younger sister out to lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. I ordered mozzarella sticks, since they've always been one of my favorite foods. When I bit into the first one, I didn't sever the cheese all the way before swallowing, and lemme tell ya this cheese was RIDICULOUSLY stretchy, so I had cheese stretching all the way down my throat. I started choking on it, going red and trying to gasp for air before managing to get a grasp on it and pull the cheese out of my throat by hand. My little sister let out a high-pitched "eeeeeew!" and my older sister slapped her arm and told her "shut up, she was choking!" Neither of them had even tried to help me. That was probably somewhere like 15-17 years ago, I still think about that to this day, and I still very much enjoy mozzie sticks. I'm just a lot more careful when I eat them, lol
Giraffy Window 2 months ago
Was at a splash park with a bunch of family, enjoying the wave pool with a little nephew. We were chatting in the shallower end when I spot a smaller kid bobbing awkwardly an arm's length away from me. I just reached out, calmly pulled him toward us where his feet could touch, and steered him toward leaving the pool. As I watched him make it out and head toward a nearby group, I exchanged a brief look with the lifeguard on duty, then carried on playing with my nephew. Drowning is quiet. Drowning is violently gentle. Drowning often begins to happen before the person drowning understands they're in danger.
John Nelson 2 months ago
Before you do anything else, call 911 (999 in UK) or whatever your local emergency number is. Get those units rolling now! Minutes count. All the operators need to know is what, where, and if there are any risks the responders may be running into. You can do anything else while they're on the way.
No Thanks 2 months ago
My friend, a complete idiot, and I were thrift shopping and he just bought roller skates as an impulse buy and put them on right then and there. The sidewalk right out side the shop was slanted and he had never ridden roller skates before. He nearly rolled right into traffic and would've if I hadn't have grabbed the back of his shirt. Right afterwards a huge semi rolled past. My friend is so dumb, but I love him
Mariah gabrich 2 months ago
I guess I saved someone's life when I was a CNA. I was doing one on one (meaning he couldn't be left alone) because he'd been acting weird the night before and complaining of pain. When I went to watch him he was fine for a while then started to complain of pain and constantly trying to get up. I got the nurse. She called to send him out and his vitals tanked when EMS got him. He was having a stroke or a heart attack. I can't remember which. Had I not made it a big deal he likely would have died. My theory is he had a clot. When it was lodged he was in pain when it was loose he was okay so when I watched him it lodged again in a bad place
Andrea Zaccaria 2 months ago
My Mom has saved lives. The first was my cousin... She was 2 and choking on a piece of apple. My Mom grabbed her and did the children's heimlich and saved her. The second is more dramatic. I watched it happen from my cousin's bedroom window. We were at my Aunt & Uncle's house and Mom & Aunt were leaving to go to the store when they saw smoke coming from the neighbor's house across the street. Aunt ran inside to call 911. My Mom watched a Mother & two little kids run out to the porch. My Mom noticed an orange glow in the windows behind them. She bolted across the street and grabbed up the kids. She and the Mom rushed down the steps just as the windows burst from the massive fire inside the house. She probably saved all of their lives with her quick thinking.
Rhianna Hollowaye 2 months ago
My great-grandfather was a prison officer (huge guy, well over six feet tall) but he was also a trained nurse. He worked at some very dangerous, violent prisons, and one day, an escape attempt turned into a full-scale riot and another guard's throat was cut. He knelt down, and stitched him up right there in the middle of the chaos, saving his life.
Rosemary 2 months ago
When I was in college, some friends and I went to a party in another city about 30 miles away. I was the only one who was sober by the time we left for home, but the car belonged to one of the other girls so she started driving. She was having trouble staying on the road, and I offered to take the wheel. Her car had a stick shift, but I knew how to drive it because my brother had taught me how to drive his VW beetle when I was 13. All the other girls slept all the way back, and I think about what the outcome would have been if I couldn't have driven that car. So maybe my brother saved the lives of a carload of college girls, and possibly other people as well.
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