Has anyone ever saved your life?

I’m a recovered alcoholic, and I was dying when I came to the realization that alcohol was killing me. I believe my first sponsor saved my life. He was firm. He laughed at my stupidity when appropriate. He comforted me when I needed it. Most importantly, he led me through the 12 steps that helped me to learn to live without alcohol.

yes….back in the crazy 80s…..

I have never saved a life and no one has ever saved my life. As far as I know, no one has died because I failed to step in and I haven’t died because no one was willing to step in, so it’s not just because I am, and everyone around me is traveling through life without a net. It just hasn’t come up yet. I would, of course, like to believe that I would be up to it and also that someone would be there for me. We’ll see.

Yes, 5 years ago. We haven’t talked since.

Yes, a dear friend saved my life.

No, I’ve never been in any serious danger. But one of these days I’m pretty sure the ER is going to.

My life was saved in 1991 by a doctor who realised that my “indigestion” was actually a perforated stomach ulcer, and by the surgeon who operated on me the same day.

In 1977 I planned my suicide down the last detail. Part of the plan was to leave a “paper trail” so my family would know it wasn’t an impulsive decision. I picked a psychiatrist out of the phone book literally, I closed my eyes and pointed! and told her exactly why I was there. She told me that to be credible, we needed 3 months of weekly appointments. She was very calm and accommodating to my plan. 33 years later, I’ve never again considered it. I’m grateful to her and the fact that she was smarter than me!

The support, love and patience of people around me gave me the strength to decide to save my own life.

I would have drowned at the age of 7 if my Aunt had not seen my brightly colored swimsuit under the water. Got my stomach pumped, puked all night and then was good as new!

When I was a kid, about nine or ten… me, my brother & some friends were messing around by the bottoms…. It’s a River that runs at the edge of our town…. I remember crossing a foot bridge, I was eating an apple & basically just day dreaming, next thing I’m in the water. The river at that point was maybe twenty feet across with a varying depth of three to five feet but full of reeds. Luckily for me it was summer so the river was running quite calmly… I remember going under & not being able to find my feet, I remember the pain of taking in a breath of water… then I felt someone pulling back, my brother pulled me out…. As I was being man handled onto the bank I just remember seeing my apple disappear out of sight beneath that bridge….. Could have been me! :-/

Yes, quite a few times I believe but the first time was one of the most memorable. I was at the pool visiting my suburban cousins and they were all fishes in the water I was a city boy expert at sprinkler parks. Anyway they all were bouncing off the diving board having a blast and they urged me to give it a try. So I find myself at the end of a diving board over water deeper than the 6” I was so used to. I saw the side of the pool that seemed reasonably close so I took a leap in that direction. I some how surfaced and saw the side of the pool just 2 feet away…I dog paddled for my life and slipped below the surface…fought my way back up and was now 2½ feet away from the side of the pool….I slipped back beneath the surface and now only saw bubbles and the ripple of the surface getting farther and farther from me. I was not happy and knew I was in serious trouble. I was going down fast now and I see this shadow darken the ripples above me and this monstrous arm plunge down into the water and this face staring down at me!!! That arm grabbed me and swoosh next thing I know I am sitting on the deck of the pool coughing up pool water. A gentle admonishment from the lifeguard to be smarter about my choices…I slowly walked and coughed my way back to the shallow end scared and dejected.

When I was 5 years old my father took me to the hardware store, parking across the street & instructing me to stay inside the car. I decided to join him anyway. Before crossing the busy street I looked to the left but forgot to look to the right. Indeed a big car was bearing down on me & all I remember, besides the screech of tires, is ending up under the front bumper between the front wheels, with only a minor bruise. The alert driver had “saved my life”.

@JilltheTooth, that’s a goosebumps story. Does that astute and sensitive doctor know how it turned out for you?

@Jeruba : We stayed in touch for a few years after, she called me her “dream patient” because every therapist dreams of such dramatic success. Unfortunately, soon after that she was diagnosed with a rapid growing, highly malignant brain tumor and I only saw her once more. Told her how happy my life was, and thanked her. I know this is a bit goopy, but some mornings I toast her with coffee she was a bit of a coffee whore, it was Seattle, after all! and keep her updated. Still grateful to that brilliant woman all these years later.

I wish so many people could know your story, Jill. Including some right here on fluther.

@Jeruba : I see some of the sad questions here and wish I could get across to these souls that there are many roads away from despair out there, finding them shouldn’t be so hard. Part of it is realizing that when you make the choice to end your life it’s a choice and when there is one choice, there are others. I could go on… if one person reads this and is helped, this a a good thing.

A lifeguard pulled me out of the ocean. I wasn’t flailing, but I had nothing below my feet. I was being pulled but I don’t remember fighting. They do say when a person really drowns it’s not what you’d expect. The lifeguard was trained to recognize that and got me out right away. I think I was 7 or 8.

Yep. Several times.

Yep/ at church camp . A friend of mine was with other girls in deep lake water, treading. I had never done that but wanted to talk to her. So I walked out there towards her and sunk. I was desparately clawing at the waters’ surface until a camp counselor whisked me up and out of the water to a wooden deck chair in the sand next to the lake. She walked off and I sat there, stunned.