When it comes to near-death encounters, some tales can be quite literally unbelievable — even if they really did happen.

U/sintemp recently asked the people of Reddit, "In what unusual way have you almost died?" Wow, these are some pretty wild stories — chilling, even. See for yourself:

1. "By inhaling a cracker. I got pneumonia and was hospitalized. I don't eat those crackers anymore."

—u/EchoLynx

2. "I was digging a hole because I could — kid stuff. I only remember waking up and it was dark. I had apparently hit an underground electric line. No one knew. I was there for hours. I got up, went inside, and ate dinner. This was in the early 1980s. I pissed my pants and felt weird for a day or two. I never told my parents because I thought they’d be mad."

—u/BadLuckEddie

3. "When I was born in 1995, one of my lungs was filled with amniotic fluid. The doctors went in to drain it and inadvertently tore it instead. Then they proceeded to tear the other one in an attempt to fix the first one. My mother remembers two doctors getting into an extremely heated verbal argument over this. Doctor 1 thought he could treat me at the current hospital I was in. Doctor 2 knew that I would die if I wasn’t transferred to a better equipped emergency center. They were in such disagreement that Doctor 2 literally had to sneak me out after Doctor 1’s shift was over. Obviously, it worked. I turned out to not just make a full recovery, but I left a LOT of people scratching their heads because my body never developed scar tissue from all of that. My lungs work 100%."

—u/Ohlookitsyouagain

4. "I was born with a collapsed lung. The nurse noticed my heart was beating in the wrong place and said something. They had to dart my chest right then and there to relieve pressure on the lung. I still have a scar and it cut part of my lower pectoral muscle one one side, but I'm still alive."

—u/FaAlt

5. "In 2005, I attended the Boy Scout National Jamboree. Due to the sheer number of attendees and a heat index that reached upwards of 120°F, water was difficult to obtain until you reached the parade grounds. I became severely dehydrated to the point where I actually stopped sweating. Upon arriving at the parade grounds, there were fire trucks spraying us to cool us down. A bit of water from a fire hose landed in my bottle and I saw it foam up. In my delirium, I thought they were spraying us with soapy water. The next thing I knew, I was being carried across the grounds by multiple soldiers to a medical field tent. A woman asked me my name and it took me close to two minutes to register her question. From there, I was taken to an emergency tent where, after five failed attempts to find a vein with a needle for an IV, I was finally able to receive an IV drip. I went through 3 water bags before having to pee. From my experience, nearly dying of dehydration is far from fun."

—u/Ryanisreallame

6. "I was assisting at a target practice in the military when a trainee misfired. I got saved by my Kevlar helmet, but the force of impact pushed my head backwards and fell into the ground with so much force that I got a concussion. Next thing I know, the drill instructors are tearing that trainee a new one while I'm looking at a beautiful blue sky hearing shouting far away."

—u/CommieWhacker14

7. "I almost got crushed in a pin setter at the bowling alley when I was working on the pin table. I was lazy and, as the manager, I didn’t think anyone would turn it on but me. I was wrong, and it was a mistake I only made once."

—u/HappyHubby33

8. "I was pushed off a dock by a bully and almost drowned in front of a lifeguard who was yelling at me to stop faking. I was 9 or 10 years old and I couldn't swim. The town had a population of less than 800 and only had one lifeguard, and I was at the beach 3-5 days a week because of my family, so they knew I couldn't swim. My brother ended up pulling me out and resuscitating me himself. The lifeguard pretended she didn't notice."

—u/ModularArchive

9. "I fell 65 feet onto concrete at an indoor rock climbing facility. I was climbing up one of the easier walls to take a break from the more difficult ones I had been doing, and halfway up my climb the person holding my rope had disconnected from my rope. When I reached the top, I gave the signal that I was coming down, and I let go of the wall. I think I passed out as soon as I realized what was happening, although several friends also remember me shouting 'Look out!' I woke up on the ground and was rushed to the hospital. I was stabilized and spent two weeks in ICU and another six in hospital wards. I underwent five surgeries and several more weeks of physical therapy. My injuries include a shattered pelvis, a shattered left elbow, two broken ribs, a punctured left lung, a lacerated spleen, and permanent nerve damage on my left side. Fortunately, I was not paralyzed, and after a long recovery I'm able to lead a normal life with only a few permanent symptoms."

—u/dfieldhouse

10. "I fell down a mountain. My clothes and skin were torn badly, one of my pack straps was broken, and, while nothing felt broken, I felt like I had been beaten by baseball bats for a week. When I entered the hospital, I was bleeding from every orifice and couldn't eat or drink. For a CAT scan, they dumped 1.5 liters of a dye that, as it turns out, I was severely allergic to. I next woke up with a technician sobbing into my face and a doctor who looked like he just ran a marathon holding te shock paddles. I was informed of the allergy and was told I had died. I had to swear to the very upset technician that I'd always tell others I had such a severe allergy."

—u/Gurpguru

11. "I was sitting in a chair on my deck on my 35th birthday, hanging out around a fire with our neighbors after a cookout. Our deck has a towering, full-growth oak tree overhead. About 30 minutes after sitting down, a 25-foot branch falls from 60 feet in the air and lands squarely on my shoulder. Oddly enough, it broke my radial bone near my wrist. This tree branch scraped my neck when it hit, that’s how close it was to ending me. The cast comes off in a week."

—u/cschneider27

12. "When I was a kid, I accidentally almost choked myself by having my head sticking out of the car window. My hand accidentally hit the button that made the window roll up."

—u/East_Dog7971

13. "I almost died at a diner when I was 8, choking on a mozzarella stick that no one could get out until a doctor came to help me."

—u/FunkyFrog420

14. "I woke up during the night choking on my own acid reflux. I could not breathe anymore, and I felt like I was not gonna make it."

—u/bambagico

15. "I was 14 and pitching in baseball, and I took a line drive to my temple. It gave me a shattered skull and some internal bleeding. Apparently, if it struck more half an inch in either direction, it likely would've killed me."

—u/nwaterman44

16. "My stomach veins exploded. It was like something out of a movie, with blood pouring out of my mouth. I don’t recommend it. I'm still traumatized."

—u/pancakesquest1

17. "I was at camp, and there was a zipline-esque 'ride' simply called 'The Swing.' You were harnessed in, slowly lifted up via attached rope by your fellow campers, and when you were high enough you detached your carabiner and freely swung back and forth. The first time I ever did it, I was somehow strapped in the wrong way. The moment they started lifting me I felt discomfort around my neck and I yelled out, "It hurts my neck" and the staff on site didn't think anything of it. Moments later, I felt like my head was going to pop off, and I somehow wasn't alarmed when one of the counselors started screaming for the campers to stop pulling me up and to slowly let me down. As I descended, the pressure on my neck eased up and I was basically gasping for air. Long story short, I almost had my head popped off on the ol' swing ride."

—u/Party-Veterinarian60

18. "I went skinny dipping in a lake at night with a group of people while extremely drunk. I suddenly got out of the water and immediately passed out. If I hadn't gotten out at that moment, I probably would've drowned before anyone would have noticed, since it was pitch black outside."

—u/Speculative_sparrow

19. "Measles. I caught it on a vacation to Hawaii with my parents. It has a two week incubation period. My parents had a wedding to go to, and I assured them I would be fine on my own. I woke up on the couch fully delirious on day two.I went to the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and I see my face covered in red spots. I called my emergency contact in the area. They came over to see my condition and tried to take my temperature, but I broke the thermometer because I was under six or seven blankets, shaking uncontrollably. They called my parents. I passed out, but I remember my dad arriving. He scooped me up without a word and rushed me to the hospital. I woke up a few days later and heard that I had a temperature of 106 degrees Fahrenheit and was severely dehydrated. If I hadn't been brought in when I was, I would've died the next day. I was one of only seven cases in the US that year, and the entire state of Michigan had to get a booster shot because of me."

—u/Accomplished-Leg-149

20. "A tooth abscess. The infection traveled up my face and started under my eye, and it was going to my brain. During the hospital stay, not only was a possible brain infection trying to kill me, but the doctors overdosed me on morphine and gave me an antibiotic I was allergic to, twice. My mom tore that place apart."

—u/Intelligent-Jelly419

These stories have been edited for length and clarity.

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