The beauty of youth is such that we think we have forever to live and often go about our daily lives without knowing that, sometimes, life can be short. In fact, humans are actually much more fragile than we think and it can all end within the blink of an eye because of numerous things.
When Reddit user StarSpectore asked people to list everyday, harmless things that are actually fatally harmful, folks couldn't hold back. You might have heard about some of these, but others will leave you stunned. Curious to know them all? Just scroll down and check them out!
More info: Reddit
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Infected tooth. Many people may ignore it due to the cost of going to the dentist, but the proximity of your teeth to the brain, neck sinuses, etc. can cause the infections to spread quickly into your head and cause Encephalitis which is often deadly.
Tooth infections can also cause issues with your heart, if left untreated.
Obvious but sure doesn't seem like it from people's behavior but driving. Be safe. Go with the speed of traffic, use turn signals, practice defensive driving, use seatbelts.
Most important, dont be distracted. When you are driving, focus on your driving and stay aware of the road and your surroundings. Situational awareness and being alert is your best chance of avoiding accidents by noticing other drivers behaviour and general driving conditions.
Pregnancy.
Ectopics 😂 I wish they taught them in sex ed. I never would have done it. Scary experience (I was 16). And my little sister has some gene that makes her so sick she almost dies every pregnancy and needs steroids and meds
As you go through the list, some of these things might raise your eyebrows because of how mundane they sound and you might do them every day, without knowing how lethal they are. Well, we will be discussing some of these things that might come as a shock to you.
For instance, slipping in the shower. In fact, every year, about 235,000 people over the age of 15 suffer from falls in the bathroom and visit the emergency room, with 37.3% being related to bathing or showering. As trivial as a bathroom sounds, it looks like it can be one of the most dangerous places in the house, doesn't it?
Cervical (neck adjustment) from a careless chiropractor. They can too easily tear one of the 4 main arteries that form the Circle of Willis at the base of your brain case causing a hemorrhagic stroke. I worked for a neurologist for several years as a nurse. Not always deadly but can be. Saw several 20 somethings lose the ability to speak as well. Scary stuff.
Also dangerous? Cervical adjustment from a careful chiropractor! It's never safe to have some quack yanking on your neck.
The spring on a garage door.
Extension springs aren't so hazardous (provided the door is up and secured in place) but torsion springs are not to be trifled with.
Taking selfies on the edges of cliffs and leaning further out than necessary , when I went to Yellowstone it seemed many people weren’t aware that can get you [dead].
Another thing that might shock you is a selfie. Research suggests that humanity takes 5.3 billion photos every day or 61,400 each second. That's equal to 1.94 trillion in 2024. We live in a time and age where people want to gram everything and create an attractive feed for their followers. Well, because of this need to gram everything, people even lose their lives.
Most selfie-related fatalities occur in India, Russia, the United States, and Pakistan. It has been observed that these demises take place at coastal locations, especially cliffs, and nearly three-quarters of those who passed away were men. Looking at the insane statistics makes you question what goes on behind the camera or the feed and whether it's really worth it if you are not even alive to "enjoy the likes, comments, and shares".
A head injury. Please get checked out by a professional!
This has been medically researched, and found to be more of a problem than previously believed.
People think that Visine added to a drink will cause diarrhea. Popular sitcoms and medical procedurals have even alluded to this. That’s false. Visine added to a drink can seizures, cardio vascular collapse, coma, and death. It’s not to be played with. .
Never heard of them or that effect, but these are eye drops. Never drink anything medicinal that isn't meant to be drunk, very simple.
One person also mentioned driving in the list, while another one spoke about texting while driving, and both are actually quite dangerous if you think about it. Research states that in 2021, distracted driving due to texting was a significant factor in road accidents, leading to 3,522 fatalities and approximately 362,415 injuries.
Some people also spoke about medical issues like head injuries or an infected tooth. While medical reasons for someone's passing might be common, we would never think about taking an infected tooth seriously. Before the development of modern dentistry, tooth infections were a common cause of fatality. In fact, until 1908, 10 – 40 percent of tooth infections led to folks passing away.
Differential pressure
Most people don't know anything about it but it's what happens when you decide to clear something like drain pipe by hand to prevent an area from flooding / continuing to flood and when you do it creates a suction that you cannot escape so you drown when the water continues to rise and you cannot escape because your arm is stuck in the pipe that the water should be using to drain.
I usually read about differential pressure injuries in the scuba world when an untrained diver thinks they can clear a drain and once they get stuck (at the bottom of a swimming pool for instance) they run out of air and die but this happens outside of scuba too so it's worth knowing about.
TL;DR: Think twice before clearing a drain and use the right tools when you do.
ΔP is not to be trifled with. If you have a particularly strong stomach, google the Byford Dolphin Incident.
Texting/filming while driving 🤦♀️.
Doing anything other than 100% concentrate on driving has the potential to be fatal. Passengers need to be aware of this too - and regardless of your domestic dynamic, the driver is in absolute charge of what happens to and within the vehicle.
Another statistic that might shock you is how many women pass away because of pregnancies. According to the latest UN global estimates, 303,000 women a year pass away in childbirth, or as a result of complications arising from pregnancy. This equates to about 830 women's lives ending each day – roughly one every two minutes.
However, with development, this figure is much better, because in 1990, an estimated 532,000 women passed annually, so there has been a 44% drop in a generation. Despite the progress, the scary fact still remains that women do pass away and they need to be cared for more during pregnancies.
Slipping in a shower.
70% or so of household accidents happen in a bathroom, if I remember correctly, usually from slipping in a shower or falling off of a toilet!
Hitting a moose while driving a car. The hood hits their legs and the huge mass of their body smashes the windshield crushing you.
Swimming in a pound or abandoned pool, those bacteria will result in death within 48hrs, even if you’re in the hospital in time.
When I think about all the things out there that can instantly get to me and send me to the gallows, it definitely freaks me out. I guess, all one can do is be extra cautious, and not let the fear of everything consume you. Well, that's it from our end.
Now we want to hear from you. What did you make of it? Also, if you think about anything else that our list might have missed, feel free to jot it down in the comments below. Finally, just a gentle reminder, stay alert, stay safe, and look out for yourself!
Acetaminophen. People treat Tylenol like a harmless general-purpose medicine but something like 1600 Americans suffer liver failure from it every year. Use sparingly, never use while drinking.
An ostrich. Those f*****s can disembowel with a kick.
Large herbivores. They’ve evolved defenses to make large predators rethink their life choices. They will mess you up.
A gentle and timid deer can be lethal under the right circumstances.
A ruptured brain aneurysm. It’s a silent [death].. most people don’t even know they have one until it bursts, causing instant unconsciousness or death. Scary how something so small can be so deadly.
Falling down stairs.
I fell UP the stairs (outdoor ones that are concrete) yesterday. I missed a step and went down on my knee. It looks awful today. :(
Being in the water near a "singing" blue whale. They're loud enough to knock you unconscious - which can cause you to drown.
You’d think power lines would be obvious but you would be blown away with the amount of people that think power lines carry the same voltage and amperage that a house outlet does. I’ve seen cops, ems and regular civilians out walking around downed lines that are still energized with no earthly idea that one step closer could [end] you.
Brother is a lineman, far braver than I am. But yeah, he has some stories. He said the only good thing is you won't know if you become part of the circuit.
Living in Florida, for tourists it’s swimming in lakes invaded by gators.
Yeah, no. Gator attacks are very rare here, nor did the gators "invade" the lakes. They were here long before us.
Capacitors. don't let your children dismantle electronics.
The first thing to teach your future engineer is how to safely discharge a capacitor, and how to differentiate high voltage circuitry from low voltage circuitry.
Towing lines of all sorts, if they snap and you're on their way you're not surviving that.
I always thought everyone one knows that, but in the last few years I saw a lot of people standing 1-2 away from the lines/chains pulled by tractors/excavators trying to rescue some other vehicle or pull something heavy.
Enclosed spaces, specifically enclosed spaces filled with any gas that is either toxic on its own or that simply displaces the oxygen in the space.
Enclosed spaces filled with an inert gas such as nitrogen, helium, argon, etc. are especially dangerous because you'll pass out from hypoxia before you even realize something is wrong. Our bodies don't alert us to lack of oxygen; it's the buildup of carbon dioxide that makes us feel like we're suffocating. In an oxygen poor atmosphere where we can still expel CO2, we'll happily keep breathing until we quickly pass out and die shortly thereafter.
Honking your car horn in Houston.
Poll Question
How important is it to you to spread awareness about hidden dangers?
Very important, you never know!
Only somewhat, most are hard to encounter
Not very, these are probably impossible to happen in the wild
I think dangers are very rarely "hidden"
I was hoping to see an entry about piles or silos full of grain. I was well into adulthood when I learned how dangerous they are. I have no doubt that there are still tons of people who think they'd be harmless fun to jump into, like children's ball pits. You could jump into it right in front of other people and you may still not be saveable. Don't ever do this, folks!
Even the gases that build up in them are toxic
Load More Replies...That bloke who bumped into you at the pub? Accept his apology and move on. He doesn't need to be "taught a lesson."
Rips. People get caught in them, panic, grow exhausted, and drown. If you find yourself in a rip, DON'T PANIC. DON'T try to fight it. Let yourself be carried out beyond the rip, then slowly swim/dog paddle/whatever your way back to the sand at a DIAGONAL.
I was hoping to see an entry about piles or silos full of grain. I was well into adulthood when I learned how dangerous they are. I have no doubt that there are still tons of people who think they'd be harmless fun to jump into, like children's ball pits. You could jump into it right in front of other people and you may still not be saveable. Don't ever do this, folks!
Even the gases that build up in them are toxic
Load More Replies...That bloke who bumped into you at the pub? Accept his apology and move on. He doesn't need to be "taught a lesson."
Rips. People get caught in them, panic, grow exhausted, and drown. If you find yourself in a rip, DON'T PANIC. DON'T try to fight it. Let yourself be carried out beyond the rip, then slowly swim/dog paddle/whatever your way back to the sand at a DIAGONAL.