Have you ever been really, truly scared?

Yes when my girlfirend gives me a bad look like i did something bad

…when achieving oneness with the universe, i was petrified- i could see the ripples of unseen individual error and their intradependence with every individual, everything…WHOA!!!

Right before I wrecked my motorcycle was probably the scariest moment of my life so far. I got scared in a curve and headed for the ditch. My only thoughts were slow this thing down so it doesn’t hurt so bad on impact. When I went to lock it up, I wasn’t hugging the bike with my legs and only hit the front brake which, as you can guess, ended with me flying through the air like I was shot from a catapult. I really thought I was going to die. Luckily I only pulled a hamstring from my sonic the hedgehog move that followed my face plant into the ground. =) Whoever invented the helmet was a GENIUS!

Yes.
At different times my husband and both my children have been on life support. Had some long scary nights when I didn’t know what daylight would bring.

That time I almost fainted after receiving three shots at the doctor’s office I was really truly scared (this was 7/9/07…yes, I remember the date). I had no idea what was going on; I didn’t know I was about to faint, I thought I was going to die. All I knew is that I was losing my hearing and my vision gradually and I was really scared. I had to rush back into the clinic (I was with my mom) while it was getting worse and worse and then I was led into a dark room while someone rubbed some chemical by my face and then I began to regain consciousness. The fact that while it was happening, my mom didn’t know what was going on and was worried only made me even more scared. I’m just glad there wasn’t a mirror around so I didn’t have to see my extremely pale face and my lips that were almost white.

There was also a time when my friend almost crashed into the back of a truck on the freeway. That fear only lasted a few seconds, but it was scary. There was another time when I almost collapsed at a track meet in 7th grade…that was scary (turns out I was dehydrated) and I ended up crying in front of about 7 of my friends, but it didn’t have the same effect on me as the shot thing.

@Randy well it’s a good thing you were wearing a helmet!

Yes. A 5.4 earthquake when I was on the sixth floor of a twenty-story building.

Recently, it seems like every few weeks my son decides to take a gigantic bite of food as an experiment when I’m not looking. So, I’m in the kitchen, just this morning (this has been like the 3rd time) I hear a muffled cough and short gasps. I turn around and see his hands flailing… so I run over and have to scoop out a mouthful of banana so he can breath. I don’t know if he’s just testing his (and my) limits since he’s turned two or what, but it’s really got me on edge. I just about have a heart attack every time. I have to watch the kid like a hawk anymore! He was fine before a few months ago, now he just seems to be “trying new things” which I’m normally in favor of. I feel adequate to comfort his boo boos but I really don’t want to have to do CPR.

When my little sister had her first seizure. It was just my siblings and me, my parents weren’t home from work yet, and we had no idea why she was actitng that way, repeating nonsense phrases and heavily twitching, We were just waiting for the ambulance, waiting for my parents, not knowing what we were even supposed to do, if she would be okay, if she would stop acting thatt way. It was like a dream, where the world seemed to be zipping by but you were stuck in slow motion, unable to change a thing.

Yes. I had an psychotic ex bf who had assaulted myself and a roommate who came around the apt. one night when the roommate’s mother was with us. While he was throwing himself against the door and trying to climb the balcony, I had called the sheriff’s dept. and his family because I knew him to have a gun in his car and was afraid he was going to threaten us with it. I had no weapons of defense in the apt. but we did gather up all knives and put them in the oven in case he broke through and tried to use one against us. I will never feel helpless or scared like that again.

@hungry; what have you done. To insure you never feel rhat way again?

Only when it involves something being wrong with my kids. All three of them have gotten awfully sick at one time or another and it has about killed me with worry.

I have always told them (and I mean it) that I would be sick for them if I could.

and i’m a pussy when i’m sick

Every day.

Scared that someone could die sure, several times. That it could be me? I wish!

One afternoon many years ago I took an afternoon nap and when I woke up Jodie (my avatar btw) was nowhere to be found. I’m still shaking when I remember how I felt when I saw the hole in the screen through which she had left. It was like my heart was going to explode and my brain was freezing. Couldn’t compute. It didn’t last long because I ran around the house and found a note on the door (She was next door, pampered by a very friendly Canadian family that loved boxers like their own kids).

Again, a few years later, when she was between life and death for hours because of a twisted stomach.

Even more scared when she had a tumor the size of a baby’s head on one kidney and the vet refused to operate because he believed it was too late.

And lastly, every time her cancer took a turn for the worse, until the end.

@jack_haas My friend, don’t joke about wishing it could be you! I’m sorry about Jodie. My Casper cat has cancer too. There’s nothing they can do about it so I’m just waiting it out and making sure he is comfortable.

@lillycoyote Sorry about your cat. For what it’s worth we owe at least 4 months of survival to a natural anti-malaria agent, Artemisinin. (Edit: crap it really shows what an ungrateful hypocrit I am: our vet (who’s an agnostic) and I think we owe the extra-time to prayer rather than artemisinin but it did really improve her quality of life). It has improved the quality of life of many cancer-stricken pets. It might be worth googling. Also there are very helpful groups on yahoo: artemisinin_and_cancer, and CanineCancer (there might be useful information for cats as well). We made the mistake of keeping it as a last resort when in fact it’s the one we should have started with.

I wasn’t joking by the way. I have been in a few car near-accidents at high speeds and there’s no comparison. I was not even half as scared. Not even 1%. She was my kid.

when my doc thought i could have cancer (i didn’t)
then when he thought something really wrong was happening in my brain (it is, but at least i’m not going crazy)

When my daughter had a 105 fever for several days with no other symptoms and not explanation from the doctors.

My senior year of high school when I got called to the principal’s office to be told my dad had a heart attack and, subsequently, when he went in for open heart surgery.

When I was driving alone from NC to CA, going too fast, and almost drove off the side of a cliff.

On vacation with my grandparents, high in the Rocky Mountains, in the middle of fog so thick we could not see anything other than the tail lights of the car in front of us. The traffic kept going and, since we couldn’t see the road we couldn’t pull off to wait. For all we knew we were following the car ahead of us right over the edge.

Right at the point where I realized that the man was going to rape me and I had no way out. I begged and pleaded, I was so afraid he was going to kill me. I’ve never experienced that fear, ever again.

I ve been robbed at gunpoint and pistol whipped. That was scary.

Each time my husband has been close to death I always feared he would die. He hasn’t yet, but just this evening, when he didn’t answer the phone, I was frightened that I might have to call 911 when I got home. Fortunately all was well this time.

When my father collapsed in a restaurant last year, I was afraid he might die. He has always been a super-competent person but he is 84 years old, so we all worry. I did call 911 and we discovered that he needed a pacemaker. He says that now that he has one he feels 10 years younger.

When I was sent to see a nephrologist and he talked about my creatinine levels and what typically happens to people with those levels I was afraid I would die. My husband has nephrosis and only has about 30% of normal kidney function, so I know to worry with high creatinine numbers. Fortunately I was able to figure out that a medication was causing the problem, took myself off it, and on the next visit surprised the nephrologist because, as he said, typically people with those numbers do not recover.

Several Times in My Life.

Losing my son and getting his diagnosis were the worst.

I’ve had some personal medical scares as well but I know I am so so lucky they were just scares.

Getting in a serious car crash.

Nearly drowning. (I still can’t swim )

Being scared of some spiritual ‘stuff’.

And once I had a dream that terrified, mortified me.

Of course now that I’ve been through all of that I am not stronger but more prone to anxiety and fear. I honestly cannot watch scary movies anymore. The thrill bothers me now instead of interests me. I used to love them too.

-
Hugs to everyone here for their experiences

Yes, when I was a child, my alcoholic father would come home drunk, my mother would cry and tell him to leave. There was violence.I feared for my existence as I knew my mother could not support us, and knew she would take him back, and the cycle would continue. As one of 8 children, we grew up very fast, lived in fear, and our lives were shaped by it. There was no one in those days to talk to, it was all hidden. Many children lived in fear..Trust me, some things are very much better about today’s society, even with all its warts. Sorry to be so graphic. Till this time so many years later I have dreams, though softened, about those days.

This thread is making me nervous and sad. My thoughts are with everyone, honestly. Good night, jellies.

@buster That’s definitely in the someone could die and it might be me category of scared.

lol…mine is so damn lame compared to everyone else’s. Though I suppose technically that’s a good thing. :P

Don’t worry, @ubersiren All the jellies are safe and sound, answering fluther questions. You can go to sleep and dream sweet dreams.

@Dansedescygnes it terms of scariness, there’s a pretty fine line between actually being in danger of dying and just thinking that you’re going to die, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it.

The time I was sitting in the passenger seat, snoozing, and suddenly noticed the car starting to drift across the road, looked up and saw the driver was asleep…...on the other side of the road, there was a pretty steep 200m drop to the sea…...That was genuinely scary!
The time I packed up all my things and moved to Ireland (which I’d never been to before), the day before starting my job – that was kinda scary too, but in a good way.

When I was a kid we were driving down the highway behind a truck that was hauling lumber. All of a sudden the lumber started blowing off the truck Damned Kansas Wind! and blowing right toward our car. I was holding my Bible because my mom was taking me to church for Bible Club. I held the Bible up in front of my face and one of the pieces of lumber that was heading for our windshield veered off and didn’t hit us. I was terrified. I thought we were gonna die for a minute. My mom swears that Bible saved our lives, but I aint’ so sure.

Every time I was in a physical fight, I was scared. Every time I’ve confessed my feelings to a woman, I have been scared.

When my son is sleeping, I stop to check if he breathes.

@oratio I still check to make sure my kids are breathing every night…they are 9 and 6! I’m glad to know I’m not alone in doing that!

@knitfroggy Likewise. It’s quite unfounded, but I need to know and I feel a silent sigh of relief inside. Sometimes when I am not really sure, I poke him. He is not very happy about that.

Yes, when a tornado warning was issued during our travel in Indiana in 1992.

Oratio and knitfroggy
My boys are nearly thirty years old and I still check to see if they are breathing when they are sleeping at my house.

@oratio and @basp I’m so happy others do this! My six year old is a very quiet sleeper. I will stand and watch him for a while and if I can’t tell if he’s breathing or hear him, I will tickle his foot until he moves. Makes me feel better for some reason. I was a mess when they were in that SIDS window as babies! I didn’t sleep well for the first few months of their lives!

@mattbrowne I guess if you’re not used to it a Tornado Warning would be really scary! I’m from Kansas-home of the Tornado Warning. I am so immune to it, I don’t even go in the basement when the sound the sirens! I know it’s dumb, but they call for a Watch/Warning about every other day in the spring and summer months here, so it gets old after a while!

My ex, my niece, and I were in the car heading somewhere and all of a sudden I noticed the car was veering off towards oncoming traffic. I looked over and yelled at him to get the f*ck back on his side of the road and I realized he was having a seizure and there was absolutely no one in control of the car. We were heading directly for a line of trees on the opposite side of the road going about 55–60 mph and all I remember thinking was, OMG we are going to die.
That was one of the few times I was ever truly afraid I was going to die.

@Kelly27 What did you do? That would have scared the crap out of me! literally

@knitfroggy I remember reaching for the steering wheel but beyond that I don’t remember, I am guessing I got to it because we didn’t hit the trees. I got knocked out and when I came to the car was full of airbag dust/smoke or whatever it is, my niece was scared half to death and my ex-husband was still having the seizure. It might not have been quite so terrifying to me and my niece but my brother, her father, had just died in a car accident a month prior so it was very fresh in our minds.

@knitfroggy – I have the same problem. My daughter was very ill as a baby so I woke several times a night just to be sure she was alive. Now I worry about my husband and check periodically to be certain his chest is moving appropriately.

@knitfroggy – I lived in Lawrence, KS 1988 and 1989 and there was one tornado watch. That’s a huge difference to a tornado warning, which should always be taken very seriously. On May 4, Greensburg, KS was obliterated by a EF-5 tornado (the first after F was replaced by the EF scale). A relatively small number of people died because they took the sirens seriously. We should always take Mother Nature seriously in my opinion. A tornado watch will simply tell you there’s a small chance for it to turn into a warning with the sirens.

@mattbrowne Believe you me, I know the difference between a Watch and a Warning. I worked at an answering service the night Greensburg got hit and our service took the calls that organized some of the ambulances and emergency services that were needed. I know how serious tornados are, I’ve lived here for 33 years. What I’m saying is, they call for them so often and then nothing happens that you get immune to them. It’s kind of like when there is a hurricane headed for Florida and people don’t leave. Besides, if I hear one coming, I’ll get in my basement, the tornado is gonna be louder than any siren.

@knitfroggy – Yes, I definitely believe you. You’re an expert. I’m wondering what can we do to prevent people from getting immune to tornado warnings?

I was in barcelona last year and a herion addict attacked me.
I was alone and had only arrived the night before. I was coming out of the train station and he just started swearing obscenities at me and ran at me and kicked me and then ran off. A few people chased him but he disapeared.
A little while later he came back for me again, i heard him screaming accross the road and running for me – i ducked into a crowd and ran away.
It was scary because i was not in control of the situation and i was alone… I have since made my mind up to travel with a friend!

My boyfriend and I were walking back to my house late one night. As we were crossing the street, a car screeched to a halt and 74875896273428 guys come out. Drunk guys, by the way. They were all yelling about how they want to get us, and one of them punched my boyfriend and another one grabbed me. I was scared to death and tried to talk them out of it. Just then some guy came out of his house and told them to beat it, and they left, after the guy holding onto me pulls me in close and pushes his.. area.. up against me. Thank Goddddd they left, and thank the guy that made them go.

I almost got hit by a fucking train yesterday.

@ABoyNamedBoobs03 I told you not to play on the tracks.

What happened?

my shoe got caught in the tracks as I was trying to beat it (yeah I know it’s stereo typical) I lost my shoe, literally had to dive out of harms way, seconds before imminent death, I felt like a movie star, and like I was going to pass out, that was absolutely terrifying.

You really were playing on the tracks!? OMG. Don’t do that anymore, fool! Fluther would miss you!

Were you able to retrieve your shoe?

And was it wearable?

no, it was a sandal, damn thing was split right in two… could have been me. I was walking down to my friends house, (she lives right down the street so there’s no sense in driving). this car that was waiting for the train on the other side was full of teenagers, one rolled down their window and went “dude… I totally got that video on my phone, that was intense!”

thanks for the help, asshole…

8 scary years of George Dubya. Thank God for therapy.

@ABoyNamedBoobs03 Jeez! It generally doesn’t get any easier than managing to not be hit by a train. It runs on tracks! It’s not like they swerve out of control. As someone else mentioned, stay off the tracks. It’s that simple.

Wow….went from tears in my eyes to “BoyNamedBoobs…you a damn fool! Glad you’re still here!”

Yes. Scared when I didn’t know where my kids were or if something was wrong, especially when my four year old was with her unstable, psychotic, unfit biological mother for the weekend and I couldn’t find them….....and other times. Trains, planes and automobiles.

Lilly. You ask the damndest questions. This is the first Q that I’ve sat down and read, word for word, like a book.

@mattbrowne Please do not ever get immune to weather warnings..Take it from an Oklahoma gal. We can be educated and have a safe place and a safety drill.

I really had to think about this question. And I am having trouble coming up with a true answer. I have been truely afraid many times but time slows when I am in trouble so I would say that I have been afraid I would get hurt or that I would lose someone ( my kids) but I have never been afraid of dying… just the hurt of it. What a good question. I’ll have to study me some more.

Years ago my husband left at 10am and I said will you be home by 11?” and he said , “oh , I’ll be back Way before then.”
By noon I was a nervous wreck. After noon, I could barely move. At 1pm the hosp called and said he had been in a car wreck and was delirious. I drove the 15 miles to the ER and he was having his ear sewn back together. He had fractured his neck. The car was totaled. Another couple of mm’s and he would have been paralyzed. This pales in comparison to those of you who have lost a child. I cannot imagine that trauma.

This seems like a typical Social Section question…