21 Of The Absolute "Dumbest" Reasons People Almost Died That Range From Honestly Kind Of Funny To Scarier Than Any Horror Movie
HBO
1."I was about 8 years old. I was passing around a bowl of hard Christmas candy — my last memory until I took a breath and felt a final whack on my back while hanging upside down by my feet. The piece of candy bounced onto the floor."
"Skip ahead about 20 years. I was eating chili when a bean landed across my airway. I couldn't get the attention of my husband or two kids, so I jumped up from the table. That enabled me to blow out the bean. My husband snarled at me, 'What's the matter with you?' I answered, 'Nothing, just choking to death.'"
—smartwitch66
2."I ate a Larabar on the first day of law school. Turns out I'm extremely allergic to cashews, which make up Larabars almost entirely. I had a lot of firsts that day: ambulance ride, EpiPen, hospital admittance, and IV."
Bloomberg / Getty Images, Jeff Greenberg / Getty Images
—foureyedshark
3."It was my first job during high school, in a family-style restaurant kitchen. I was told to clear out and clean the inside of the stand-up refrigerator across from the main grill during a slow period. While wiping the interior down with a damp cleaning rag, I decided the hole near the top needed to be cleaned and, wrapping the rag around my finger, I stuck it into the hole to wipe it out. Yes, it was where the lightbulb would be placed. One moment I was cleaning, the next moment I had been flung across the kitchen and was sitting on the grill. It took a while for my hair to lie back down, and much longer for the burns to heal!"
—emoelf137
Related:
4."I was old enough to know better — a tweenager. I thought the inside of our new toaster looked pretty, so I stuck my finger in to feel it. What followed seemed like a cartoon, with zig-zag lightning bolts and me with outstretched arms and face contorted in frozen agony. That was my impression anyway. My mother had her back to me while sitting at the table, unfazed, and I had to tell her what had just happened. Apparently, my brain got not fried, but rather, frazzled; it shook me up to say the least, and that image of the cartoon character never left me."
—smileygoose175
5."I was probably around 10, and my 'buddies' dared me to drink some gasoline. God Almighty, was I sick! Crawled home, vomited. Never told anybody, ever, till now."
—Anonymous, 77 Toledo
6."One day, I was getting my hair washed by my mom because she had just cut my hair (she's a hairdresser), and I had just taken a Life Saver mint before I leaned down on the chair and started choking on it. Luckily, my mom used the Heimlich maneuver and got it out. Ironically, the Life Saver almost ended my life."
Bon Appétit, Bloomberg / Getty Images
—Anonymous
7."This happened this year, during winter. We live in the country, and this was my first winter out of the city, driving backroads. Snow had fallen a fairly decent amount, and as I was driving, I'd seen an oncoming car."
"I wasn't sure if they had enough room to pass me safely, so I moved over and started sliding off the road. I hit a batch of trees, and had I not turned the wheel to the left, I would've hit the power utility box a few feet away. Total time was five seconds and I made it back on the road safely. I was shaken, scared, and crying. I'm a city girl and only live in the country because it's cheaper."
—Anonymous, 53, Wisconsin
8."I had been around good golfers all of my life. On my honeymoon, one of the golfers was majorly slowing down the course, so I tried ways to speed up our play. I thought if we two women could hit our drives first and then move out of the way, that would help. Well, I didn't move out of the way enough — I was ahead of a beginner golfer on his tee shot. I was hit by the golf ball in my eye. Shattered the entire eye orbital, and I lost my vision in that eye. Lucky I didn't die or have brain damage! Btw, I still love to golf!"
CBS
—Anonymous, 58, salt lake city
Related:
9."When I was 5, I lost my uncle to a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and I was the one who found him, a trauma that has stayed with me my entire life. In my 40s, my husband suggested I try to confront my fear by going to a shooting range."
"I had just recovered from a tough bout of the flu and was still feeling weak, but I agreed. As I began firing, I felt surprisingly more confident with each shot. After a couple of dry fires, I assumed the gun was jammed and, in a split-second lapse of judgment, turned the barrel toward my face to check it, my finger still on the trigger.It dry-fired again. My husband immediately grabbed my wrist and shoved it aside — just as I reflexively pulled the trigger a second time, this time firing a live round.We were both shaking, and I'm not ashamed to admit I might have peed a little.
I truly believe my uncle was watching over me that day, keeping me safe. I haven't picked up a gun since, and yes, I'm still terrified of them."
—Anonymous, 42
10.Electrocution. About 7 (old enough to know better, I knew not to do this but never told WHY). Stuck a key in an outside outlet. Found myself lying on my back looking up the back stairs at my younger sister, who saw it and never moved. No obvious damage, but forever after I have issues with too much electricity in me."
—cheesyglue121
11."I was a freshman in high school on the track team. A few of us were practicing long jumps near the discus throwers. It's a saucer-shaped piece, heavy, with a metal band around the outer edge. One throw went off the back of the hand of the thrower and just grazed the top of my head, leading to a few stitches. A few inches lower, I might not be writing this…"
—charmingcoyote425
"I had one of those hit me directly in the head in seventh grade. It caused a concussion, and I'm convinced it's one of the reasons I have severe migraines today. Glad you're OK!"
—poeticwitch268
12."Covered a lamp with a towel because it was too dark for pre-teen me to sleep without the lamp, but too bright to try and sleep with it. Did too good a job, and the towel touched the bulb directly. The only reason smoke inhalation didn't get me was mother's intuition; she rescued me as the towel was smoking but not yet in flames."
—Anonymous
Related:
13."I was about 13 when my parents bought an electric toothbrush. This was in the late '60s, so it was a very new thing. It had an attached cord you needed to plug in. It was early morning before school, and I didn't really have my eyes completely open yet. I had the bright idea to put my finger between the prongs to find the plug, found it, and got a bad shock. Afterwards, I told my parents about it, and my dad just shook his head and said, 'Well, that was stupid.'"
20th Century Studios / Freeform / Via giphy.com
—Anonymous
14."I was driving a pick-up truck while working in a camping park at 15 years old, came across the field, and saw a friend. I grew up shooting bow and arrows. He turned and shot one at the truck. I was driving, thinking it would hit the windshield and glance off, but it came right through and only stopped at my neck from the quills getting stuck in the windshield."
35007 / Getty Images, ABC
—Anonymous, 68, Florida
15."1969, I believe. I lived in suburban Arkansas at the time. Crossing the street to go to school, IN A CROSSWALK, I was hit by a car that took off after dropping off a child in the other lane. The driver was looking to make certain their kid got on the sidewalk safely. She 'punched it' pulling away (her words). Knocked me about 10 feet. The driver was screaming in horror that she had killed me. I spent three days in the hospital. Bruises and a good-sized scrape on the back of my skull from the pavement skid. Someone stole the brand-new Superman comics I spent my allowance on the night before. "
NBC
—Anonymous, 54, South Dakota
16."For some reason, I thought I could examine and fix an outlet that wasn't working by myself with no guidance. Turns out that not only could I not fix it, but also being electrocuted hurts a lot."
—Anonymous, 30
17."When I was a toddler, I went to a pool party and they didn't want us tracking water through the house, so they taught us to pee in the drain behind the pool. So a few days later when I had gotten home, I saw a light socket on the floor, and remembering the drain, I peed in it. Luckily, I stepped away just as a wall of fire burst out of the socket, almost reaching the ceiling. My grandmother walked in just in time to see it. She said she had visions of the house burning down and is shocked to this day that I didn't get electrocuted."
—Anonymous, 28, Ventura, California
18."I wondered what it looked like when you used a spray bottle, so I looked straight into the sprayer and squeezed the trigger. A mist of chemicals entered my eyes, nose, and mouth. Yep, it hurt. No lasting damage."
—Anonymous
Related:
19."I was in elementary school and we were in the pool. I had not learned to swim officially; we learned in our middle school gym class. I thought I was being cool by jumping in the deep end. I nearly drowned. I finally found the side of the pool and grabbed on like nobody's business. Nobody, not even the life guards, had any idea I was in trouble."
—Anonymous, 53, Maryland
20."My dad was in the military, and we were living in Ohio. Being the baby and the only girl with two older brothers, I was often at their mercy. One day, when we were in the car, the window was down, and my middle brother told me to stick my head out the window, which I did. He then pushed the up button and got my head in the window with the window going into my neck. Luckily, my dad came out and yelled at him and made him stop. Who knows what would've happened to me."
—Anonymous
21."I have a severe peanut allergy, and someone gave me a peanut butter-filled pretzel in sixth grade. I ate it. 🫣"
—Anonymous, 21, Michigan
IDK about you, but I feel kinda dazed reading some of these! Please leave all your thoughts in the comments below. Or, better yet, share your own dumb near-death story! I love reading these.
If you have a story to tell but prefer to stay anonymous, you can check out this anonymous form! Besides, who knows — your comment could be included in a future BuzzFeed article.
Also in Internet Finds:
Also in Internet Finds:
Also in Internet Finds: Solve the daily Crossword
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Pregnant Woman, 29, Thought She Had Morning Sickness. Then, She Was Diagnosed with a Fast-Growing Cancer
"I went from looking at prams and cots to looking at wigs," the woman told SWNS NEED TO KNOW A pregnant woman who thought she had morning sickness was eventually diagnosed with a fast-growing cancer Sophia Yasin, 29, of Middlesbrough, England, said she was experiencing intense nausea, night sweats and itchiness before her diagnosis She said people around her assured her that her symptoms were 'normal' and would subside with time A pregnant woman thought her extreme nausea was simply morning sickness — until she received a life-altering cancer diagnosis. Sophia Yasin, 29, of Middlesbrough, England, became pregnant in June 2024. The housing support worker and her husband had just purchased a home, and they were looking forward to the future ahead, per SWNS. It was around that time when Sophia began experiencing a host of unpleasant symptoms. "I was [vomiting] all day, every few hours. I was getting night sweats and itchiness through the night. I was very uncomfortable,' she told the outlet. Sophia said people around her told her not to worry, reassuring her that this was all 'normal.' "Everyone told me it was very normal in the first trimester and should ease up,' she recalled, adding, 'I did have some worry, but I thought it was normal for my first pregnancy.' However, her situation took a sudden turn when she collapsed at work at the beginning of her second trimester. "I remember seeing black, and I blacked out,' she told SWNS. Sophia was rushed to the local hospital, where doctors initially suspected she had pneumonia. However, scans and a biopsy revealed that she had a tumor over her heart. She was diagnosed with pre-mediastinal large B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma — a type of cancer that affects the lymphatic system — in September 2024. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. "I remember saying, 'What does this mean for the baby?' I remember being numb,' Sophia said. The doctors told Sophia that the tumor over her heart was growing fast, and that she needed to begin chemotherapy immediately if she had any chance of survival. However, treatment could also harm or lead to the death of her unborn child. Sophia and her husband ultimately made the difficult decision to terminate the pregnancy based on the many medical variables at hand. While Sophia was devastated by the loss of her pregnancy, she also acknowledged that it may have saved her life. 'Because I was pregnant, I was prioritized [within the health care system]. In a way, because I was pregnant, they found the cancer in time," she told SWNS. Sophia said she was forced to fight for her next chapter while also grieving the loss of what could have been. "I was grieving a baby but trying to have treatment,' she recalled. She added, 'I lost a lot in a short period of time. I went from looking at prams and cots to looking at wigs. I lost my hair, my baby and my old life." Sophia officially went into remission in January 2025 after six rounds of chemotherapy — but she said she has not forgotten the baby she lost — a daughter whom she and her husband named Kainaat Pearl. She told the outlet that she would like to try for a child again, but that doctors have advised her to wait two years, as there is an increased risk of the cancer returning within that window. Sophia has since established a GoFundMe for a fundraising walk to benefit Lymphoma Action, a U.K. charity dedicated to lymphoma. 'Last summer, my world changed forever,' Sophia wrote on the fundraising page. 'In the midst of what should have been one of the happiest times of my life, I faced the unimaginable: fighting for my life while having to say goodbye to my baby girl, Kainaat Pearl.' 'Every step we take is for Kainaat, for those still fighting and for those we've lost,' she added. The GoFundMe has raised $1,356 toward a goal of $1,490. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Here's How This Forgotten Healthcare Stock Could Generate Life-Changing Returns
Key Points CRISPR Therapeutics' first approved therapy, Casgevy, was a breakthrough. One of Casgevy's biggest achievements may be demonstrating the viability of CRISPR Therapeutics' strategy. The biotech company could soar if it can follow up that win with more clinical and regulatory milestones. 10 stocks we like better than CRISPR Therapeutics › Over the past few years, the market hasn't been kind to somewhat speculative, unprofitable stocks. CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CRSP), a mid-cap biotech, fits that description. The company's shares are down by 24% since mid-2022. The S&P 500 is up 50% over the same period. Despite this terrible performance, there are reasons to believe that CRISPR Therapeutics could still generate life-changing returns for investors willing to be patient. Here's how the biotech could pull it off. CRISPR Therapeutics' first success CRISPR Therapeutics' first approval was for Casgevy, a treatment for sickle cell disease (SCD) and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia (TDT), which it developed in collaboration with Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Before Casgevy, no CRISPR-based gene-editing medicine had been approved. While it became the first, it still faces some challenges. Ex vivo gene-editing therapies require a complex manufacturing and administration process that can only be performed in authorized treatment centers (ATCs). Moreover, they're expensive. Casgevy costs $2.2 million in the U.S. Getting third-party payers on board for that is no easy feat. Still, CRISPR Therapeutics and Vertex Pharmaceuticals are making steady progress. As of the second quarter, CRISPR Therapeutics had achieved its goal of activating 75 ATCs. It had also secured reimbursement for eligible patients in 10 countries. The two companies estimate there are roughly 60,000 eligible SCD and TDT patients in the regions they have targeted. Let's say they continue to strike reimbursement deals and can count on third-party coverage for 70% of this target population (42,000 people), then go on to treat another 30% of that group in the next decade (12,600 patients). Assuming they could extend that $2.2 million price tag to those countries, Casgevy could generate more than $27.7 billion over this period. Based on its agreement with Vertex, 40% would go to CRISPR Therapeutics, or roughly $11.1 billion over a decade. That's not bad, but it's not that impressive either. So, while Casgevy could contribute meaningfully to CRISPR Therapeutics' results -- and may even reach blockbuster status at some point -- the medicine may primarily serve as a proof of concept to demonstrate that the biotech's approach can be effective. Substantial progress with its first commercialized product will help the stock price. But the company's performance will depend even more on future clinical and regulatory milestones, especially as it shows with Casgevy that it can manage the intricacies and complexities of marketing gene-editing medicines. Can the pipeline deliver? CRISPR Therapeutics has six candidates in clinical trials, which isn't bad at all for a mid-cap biotech company. One of its leading programs is CTX310, a potential therapy designed to help reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in patients with certain conditions. CTX310 is already producing encouraging clinical trial results. Additionally, it's an in vivo medicine, meaning it bypasses the need to harvest patients' cells to manufacture therapies; in vivo gene-editing treatments are easier to handle than their ex vivo counterparts. The company's path to creating life-changing returns hinges on its ability to deliver consistent clinical and regulatory wins over the next few years for CTX310 and other important candidates. If CRISPR Therapeutics can successfully launch several new products in the next five to seven years, its shares are likely to skyrocket. In the meantime, under this scenario, the company would succeed in making gene-editing medicines more mainstream. This would encourage third-party payers to get on board -- and healthcare institutions, and perhaps even governments, to help push for more ATCs, since there'd be a greater need to accommodate these treatments. Can CRISPR Therapeutics achieve this? In my view, the biotech stock is on the riskier side, but does carry significant upside potential. There's a (small) chance the gene-editing specialist will deliver life-changing returns in the next decade, but investors need to hedge their bets. It's best to start by initiating a small position in the stock, then progressively add more if CRISPR Therapeutics lands more wins. Should you invest $1,000 in CRISPR Therapeutics right now? Before you buy stock in CRISPR Therapeutics, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and CRISPR Therapeutics wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $668,155!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,106,071!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,070% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 184% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 13, 2025 Prosper Junior Bakiny has positions in Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends CRISPR Therapeutics and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Here's How This Forgotten Healthcare Stock Could Generate Life-Changing Returns was originally published by The Motley Fool
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
It's been a long road, but Blood Oxygen tracking is back for the newest Apple Watches in the US – but the feature isn't the same
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Following an 18-month ban, Blood Oxygen tracking is coming back to the Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Ultra 2 It's not an entirely on-device experience anymore, though The Apple Watch still measures Blood Oxygen, but the iPhone will calculate and display the final result It's been a long 18 months, but Apple's announced that Blood Oxygen tracking and monitoring are returning to the Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Ultra 2 in the United States. The feature was disabled and effectively banned on the Series 9 and Ultra 2 – then the Series 10, which launched later – after a ruling in January 2024 due to a patent dispute over the technology being used between Massimo and Apple. Now, thanks to iOS 18.6.1 and watchOS 11.6.1, which will roll out later today, the feature is returning in a 'redesigned' form. In its new iteration, the Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Ultra 2's sensors can take a reading, then transmit the data to the connected iPhone, where it will be calculated and displayed in the Health app under 'Respiratory' readings. So no, you won't be able to take the reading, watch as it progresses, and then view the results right on your wrist, as you could before. Still, this does effectively return the tracking and monitoring functionality to the impacted Apple Watch models in the United States. In a statement shared, Apple explains the changes as: 'Users with these models in the U.S. who currently do not have the Blood Oxygen feature will have access to the redesigned Blood Oxygen feature by updating their paired iPhone to iOS 18.6.1, and their Apple Watch to watchOS 11.6.1. Following this update, sensor data from the Blood Oxygen app on Apple Watch will be measured and calculated on the paired iPhone, and results can be viewed in the Respiratory section of the Health app. This update was enabled by a recent U.S. Customs ruling.' The U.S. Customs ruling is key here, as this will return the feature to the Apple Watches sold when the ban began and was subsequently enforced. If you still have an older Apple Watch, or one sold prior to January 2024, the Blood Oxygen functionality remains unimpacted and won't be changed. That also goes for any models sold outside of the United States, which have been unimpacted by this ruling. Still, this does return the Blood Oxygen feature to the Apple Watch, even if it splits the experience between watch and phone. But this separation is likely key to having this allowed and approved by U.S. Customs. For those who have purchased an Apple Watch Series 9, 10, or Ultra 2 in those many months, this is a return to form and rounding out of the health tracking features on Apple's star wearable in the United States. Even in our Apple Watch Series 10 review, we noted that the Blood Oxygen tracking feature was missing in the US. Apple has a pretty smart rollout here, and considering rumors of further pushes into health features that we might see with future generations of Apple Watch models, it might be helpful to have these readings going straight into the Health app. Either route, though, if you've been waiting for Blood Oxygen tracking to return, it's back, but you'll want to make sure your iPhone is nearby if you want to see the results. While Apple has not shared an exact timing for the rollouts of iOS 18.6.1 and watchOS 11.6.1, it has promised to arrive today – August 14, 2025 – in the United States, and we'll update this piece when we see it rolling out. You might also like Constantly dismissing notifications on your Apple Watch? You're going to love Apple's watchOS 26 latest gesture I'm a fitness tracker expert, and here are my top 3 subscription-free picks for 2025 Garmin Venu X1 review: The most innovative Garmin watch in years, and a genuine Apple Watch Ultra rival
