Life vs. Living

[Snowbear]

Got a question for you all. It's pretty much aimed at the diving environment (this IS afterall, Scuba Board), but actually applies to the rest of life, also.

If you have ever had an actual, true "shoulda been dead" incident and survived it (but not necessarily unscathed), did it change you? How?

Did you decide the activity was not worth the risk to your life - so you quit?

Since you survived once, all must be OK, no change or modification is necessary?

These are obviously the extremes - where do you fall in the spectrum? If you have never been in a truely life-threatening situation, how do you Think you would react afterwards if you survived one?

 

[Bob3]

Do you have something you'd like to share?

I don't know about "shoulda been dead", but I've been in a couple of situations where I fully expected to be cashing in my chips.
The topic is pretty hard to discuss in brief terms, but yah, it does change a person, hopefuly you wind up not taking things for granted nearly as much. (among a lot of other things).

 

[Diver0001]

Snowbear once bubbled...
Got a question for you all. It's pretty much aimed at the diving environment (this IS afterall, Scuba Board), but actually applies to the rest of life, also.

If you have ever had an actual, true "shoulda been dead" incident and survived it (but not necessarily unscathed), did it change you? How?

Did you decide the activity was not worth the risk to your life - so you quit?

Since you survived once, all must be OK, no change or modification is necessary?

These are obviously the extremes - where do you fall in the spectrum? If you have never been in a truely life-threatening situation, how do you Think you would react afterwards if you survived one?

I once got attacked by an elephant while camping in Africa. He was eating figs off a tree at the campground where we were staying and I was taking some pictures of it. I got too close and he started flapping his ears and shaking his head at me. Stupid me didn't know what that meant and at some point he just put his head down and charged at me trumpeting. That was really terrifying. I discovered at that moment that elephants are faster, bigger and more agile than you expect them to be and the closer the get, the faster, bigger and more agile they become.....

The thought literally went through my head "oh ****, I'm dead!". I dropped my camera on the ground and dove behind the first thing I could see (a tent) and laid on the ground as still I could. My heart was pounding so hard that I thought the elephant could hear it. It charged up as far as the tent and then stopped and turned around. I guessed it was looking for where i went. When it was facing the other way i scrambled to the next safest place I could see, which was on the ground under a big old Beford truck. He spun around again and charged a second time as I was diving under the truck and I suddenly had the terrible feeling that he was going to flip the truck over to get at me. About then someone else walked out in the open to see what all the noise was about and the elephant took off after them. All in all he spent about 5 minutes buzzing people before it was over.

Nothing in my life has had a pucker-factor as big as that.

R..

 

[Don Burke]

Snowbear once bubbled... If you have ever had an actual, true "shoulda been dead" incident and survived it (but not necessarily unscathed), did it change you? How?

Did you decide the activity was not worth the risk to your life - so you quit?

Since you survived once, all must be OK, no change or modification is necessary?

These are obviously the extremes - where do you fall in the spectrum? If you have never been in a truely life-threatening situation, how do you Think you would react afterwards if you survived one?

I've never had one diving.

There were a couple of times on submarines that I thought it was over. I also had a couple when I was driving trucks. There was much less change in my outlook than I would have expected. There wasn't any "smell the roses" feeling or desire to become more spiritual. I just looked at what got me into that mess and did what I could to minimize the danger.

I never got the feeling that no modification was needed. Getting bitten twice by the same snake just isn't my style.

 

[captain]

As a teenager I was hit in the head by a chunck of concrete that came through the windshield of the car while a friend was driving.
I never saw it coming . I was knocked unconscious and received a fractured skull. I was lucky to not have been killed. Since that event I never let the though of death bother me because you never know when it coming. I have been involved in dangerous activities all my life and firmly believe that when its your time you will go and locking yourself in a room will not prolong life.

Captain

 

[PhilD]

I've been in a couple of situations that could easily have seen me dead. Nothing changed afterwards, apart from I was mad at myself for getting into the situation.

Sounds to me like you are trying to get an answer to a question that only you can answer.

 

[CincyBengalsFan]

Diver0001 once bubbled...


I once got attacked by an elephant while camping in Africa. He was eating figs off a tree at the campground where we were staying and I was taking some pictures of it. I got too close and he started flapping his ears and shaking his head at me. Stupid me didn't know what that meant and at some point he just put his head down and charged at me trumpeting. That was really terrifying. I discovered at that moment that elephants are faster, bigger and more agile than you expect them to be and the closer the get, the faster, bigger and more agile they become.....

The thought literally went through my head "oh ****, I'm dead!". I dropped my camera on the ground and dove behind the first thing I could see (a tent) and laid on the ground as still I could. My heart was pounding so hard that I thought the elephant could hear it. It charged up as far as the tent and then stopped and turned around. I guessed it was looking for where i went. When it was facing the other way i scrambled to the next safest place I could see, which was on the ground under a big old Beford truck. He spun around again and charged a second time as I was diving under the truck and I suddenly had the terrible feeling that he was going to flip the truck over to get at me. About then someone else walked out in the open to see what all the noise was about and the elephant took off after them. All in all he spent about 5 minutes buzzing people before it was over.

Nothing in my life has had a pucker-factor as big as that.

R..

That's the scariest damn story I've ever heard. MY GOD man!

I've had one incident underwater in the Ky. River where I got entagled in some cable that was NOT supposed to be there. We were hooking up lines to lift a 100' 80 ton barge. I wanted to start on the end that was exposed out of the water and walk my way down to the other corner but the owner of the barge insisted that I go in at the far submerged in and so did my partner. I finally gave in but wasn't happy about it. Did my giant stride and found myself in a mess of mangled 1.5 inch cable. I was one PISSED OFF CAMPER. I was entangled pretty good but never lost my cool. And I'm obviously here today.

Life changing things for me has been giving CPR to a family member and watching him die. This was the big life changer for me...

Surviving Stage 4 Lymphoma...I whipped it's BUTT! This was a life changer of course but not like the CPR experience.

 

[Snowbear]

PhilD once bubbled...
Sounds to me like you are trying to get an answer to a question that only you can answer.

Actually, each person will have his or her OWN answer.

The question was prompted by an email with a statement about divers "falling by the wayside" partly due to having a scary experience.

 

[s7595]

snowbear to answer your ?
life is what you make it
I have rectal cancer , I belive I have beat it
does it change the way I think
yes and no , 1 I do not fear dying why I belive in god and my faith is very strong
at the same time I plan my life with a disclamer
example when planing a vaction this winter I always say if my test come back cancer free I will do this
i do live with a postive atatude that I have beat cancer
hope that answers your ?

 

[Diver0001]

CincyBengalsFan once bubbled...


<snip>

Life changing things for me has been giving CPR to a family member and watching him die. This was the big life changer for me...

I think the only thing that could be worse than that would be if it's your own child. Watching someone die is the ultimate life changer..... If that won't make you change, nothing will.

R..