The most terrifying moments of your life...

[ZONA]

We like to remember the good times, but we for sure remember the bad times. Saw something on the science channel once fear is a much stronger emotion then joy is. Something about it sticks with you and really stamps a lasting memory.

So what is the most terrified moments of your life. Not just a little scary, but what made you actually terrified?

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I have a few. All true stories.

#1 - Absolutely the most terrified I've ever been was to have a nearly full grown mountain lion jump on me. Long story cut short, friends found a cub stranded, took home, kept it it for well over a year so it was getting close to adulthood. Friend asked me to come check it out, went inside and he said stand there and let me go get it. Fully expecting to see it in a cage, at the very least on a chain or something. Waiting and I look down the hallway and I see this head turn the corner and I remember well, those yellow eyes looking at me. I heard my friends voice in the backroom and he said just stay still, don't move. The cat comes at me and my fight or flight is just going crazy inside me but I did what he said, just stood there stiff as a tree. The cat jumps at me and pushed me against the wall, dug his claws slightly into my shoulders and easily took his head and turned my head to the side and put his mouth on my neck. He didn't bite me but licked my neck instead. I was petrified. I heard my friend laughing and came out and put the leash on the thing. We didn't stay friends long after that but I heard within a few months they had to turn it in because they were having trouble controlling it. Definitely a story I'll never forget and the most horrified I've ever been.

I've had a few other close calls with Mr. Reaper though. Had a car collapse cinder blocks while working under it and it pinned my arm and chest under it. Came out with only some deep cuts. I had just moved my head out from under it to get another tool and it was a split second later if fell. That was close. And maybe a close 3rd was getting T-bone by a red light runner, flipped my truck twice and came to rest upside down. Thank god for seat belts. Came out with out a scratch. Just pissed because I had like 3 payments left on it. But I remember looking to my right as I turned and saw the car speeding through the intersection. It was as if my life flashed before me for a fraction and things slowed way down. It was really an odd feeling being in a car that was flipping over and over. I did have a gun pulled on me once, in Colorado Springs. A few friends, we were cruising down the road, just left a club and some mother F'er slammed into the back of the car, then pulled beside us and stuck his gun out the window and pointed at us. He never shot it though, and within seconds the idiots car was blowing steam from the radiator and they turned off. Cops found it the next day with drugs still in the car, it was reported stolen. That was definitely 1 freaky night.


Ok, what are yours?

[Breaker]

I was climbing Capitol Peak and had a rock break off in my hand mid move on the Knife Edge, almost fell 2500 feet.

[Pat Bowlen]

I flew coach once.

[Bronc0guy]

Nothing near as exciting, (so to speak) as yours. When I was 12 or so, I wore a retainer, and my orthodontist decided it might speed up the process to cut the large front wire off the front of it that went across my top row of teeth. One night I was getting a drink of water and the retainer just slipped out and went halfway down my throat. I started panicking and choking. Thank God my cousin was in the same room on his computer. He has very long and skinny fingers, and after 30 seconds or so was finally able to pull it out of my throat. It's not a story that would ever make "I Survived" on discovery or anything, but it's amazing how something as simple as a retainer could potentially end a life. Had my cousin not been there, I'm positive I would not be here typing this.

[Bronc0guy]

Another thing would be finding out my mom had cancer my junior year of high school. Not to be a Debbie downer, but I would say it was a terrifying experience, in a different sense.

[ZONA]

I was climbing Capitol Peak and had a rock break off in my hand mid move on the Knife Edge, almost fell 2500 feet.

Uh yeah, that would get the heart pounding really fast. I bet your heart rate went up like 75% within a split second.

[SouthStndJunkie]

Me and a bud were driving straight through from Denver to Toledo, Ohio in my VW Fox. We were on the west side of Illinois, maybe 40 miles from Chicago when I smacked a monster corn fed deer right before sunrise going about 85 mph. Some dude that saw it said the deer was huge and thought we were toast. That deer walked right in front of the car. Luckily, I had a fraction of a second and clipped it more towards the passenger side of the front of the car, which kept it from flying into our windshield.

I still don't know how that car didn't roll over about 30 times. It took everything possible to keep it from rolling. You could feel the force of the car getting ready to flip numerous times. For a while we were bouncing off the ground and then landing and bouncing. Managed to keep the car straight before we finally slowed down. It was terrifying. I thought our asses were deader than fried chicken. I had just bought a huge coffee and had it between my legs and completely scalded my cock, balls, and thighs when we hit the deer. I felt the momentum of the car ready to flip us and start rolling. If that would have happened, we would have been ribbons on a pole along the Illinois turnpike.

I'm also lucky I didn't permanent disfigure my cock and balls from that hot coffee. That was a painful and tender reminder of the accident for a while.

That car was so smashed up, but the officer told me to drive it home if I could....made it all the way into my driveway and then it quit running. I just wanted to get out of dodge....I had about $40 to my name at the time, which was just enough to buy gas to get home. I didn't want to have it towed or have anyone looking around it, as we had a little weed and opium, and a loaded Glock 40 in the car, that my buddy thought we be a good idea to take on the trip. Luckily, the cop thought we were respectable citizens of the law and didn't feel the need to nose around. That and he cringed when I told him about the scalding coffee exploding on my cock and balls when we hit the deer. We weren't under the influence of anything when we were driving home, we'd partied hard in Colorado all week and just wanted to get home. I was completely sober and that played a big part in helping me keep that car under control, instead of flipping it several times.

I was young and dumb at the time. Now I'm always paying attention for deer or wildlife when I'm driving....especially at night or in the morning.

I've come face to face with a few big brown bears in Alaska, but that didn't terrify me, as much as startle me for a minute. One of them was coming the direction of my dad and I on a small trail about 20 yards ahead of us. We stepped about 10 to 15 feet into the bush and he stopped in the trail and looked right at us when he got by us for a fraction of a second and then kept going on his way. Luckily, we were close to a river full of salmon and it was in September, so he was more concerned about filling up on nutrients before hibernating for the winter. We didn't startle him either, which helped.

The other time I had a close encounter with a brown bear, I was hiking down a trail by myself in Katmai National Park in Alaska and one walked out of the heavy bush and right in the trail in front of me about 20 feet away. It startled me and I froze in my tracks. The last thing you want to do is something stupid like run, so I took a few slow steps backwards when he was aware of me. The bear looked at me for a split second and then went about his business.

I've seen a lot of brown/grizzly (same species, browns are coastal griz) and black bears in Alaska, a few griz and a few black bears out west, and a lot of black bears on my fishing trips in Canada. Those two situations didn't terrify me, but I was a little startled....being in big time brown bear country makes you feel more alive and aware of your surroundings than anything else I can think of.

Hitting that deer was the most terrifying moment by far, as I know we'd have been toast if that car would have flipped.

[theAPAOps5]

The most terrified I have ever been was when I was in middle school on the Army Base in Germany. It was right about the time that Bin Laden and his crew started getting recognized. They had started posting alerts on base about known terrorists being seen in the area. Well we were sitting in Talented and Gifted class herding out about the symbolism in "Old Man and the Sea" when ****ing assault rifles start going off and these huge ****ing hooded dudes came running into class and took me and my friend hostage. I screamed like a damned p***Y... So did everyone else, but I just remembering telling myself to shut up. I may have even farted because of the startle.

Long story short is was the base MP's demonstrating a potential scenario and it gave them practice, while helping us learn how to be alert in a situation and aware of all our surroundings. I was taken hostage because the officer in charge of the exercise was friends with my step dad, they both were Apache Pilots, but as officers had other leadership duties on base. As an officers son they took me hostage. But it was more to see me freak the **** out, so they could laugh about it It worked!

Oh man if they pulled that **** now days, even on a base, there would be huge uproar.

[Guess Who]

Saw a buddy run over a landmine in Iraq...pieces everywhere.

[Rabb]

Mine was my own stupidity, but it happened this past August. Fiancee and I were out riding our ATVs and were back at the truck loading one of them up into the bed. We have a detachable ramp that hooks onto the tailgate. I was riding it up like normal, and the thing decided (not really sure if I just goosed the throttle or what, but it happened so who cares) to start going over backwards. It was pretty much onto the truck bed, so it was fairly high up when you consider the added height of the ATV itself.

I jumped off backwards, but was high enough and it all happened fast enough that I fell flat on my back on the dirt, smacking my head pretty well. The fun part was the ATV coming backwards onto my head and upper body. Bonus round? I wasn't wearing a helmet at the time. I felt the hardest impact I have ever felt in my life and instantly thought my jaw was broken. My woman, and some amazingly helpful bystanders rushed over and pushed the almost 700 lb. machine off of me. She thought I was dead, quite literally. I immediately put my left hand over my left ear and head because it hurt and I felt nothing but blood gushing from my ear and my jaw had a golf ball sized lump in it.

I wouldn't move my hand at all because I was obviously in shock, but I never lost consciousness during the entire thing. Paramedics came, rushed me to the ER and 5 hours later and many x rays they let me go home. Nothing broken, just bruised ribs (which turned out to be the most miserable part), a minor cut just inside my left ear which was causing the bleeding, an enormous gash on the left side of my face where the handlebar grip ripped my face open. Took 3 layers of over 50 stitches to close up, almost tore right through my face and cut into my salivary gland a little but it's all working fine now. I have a sweet scar from it that everyone looks at or asks about. No concussion either. The Dr. was amazed I was alive.

None of that was the most terrifying thing. The worst part was laying on the dirt, watching the absolute panic in my fiancee's face then my mind turning to my kids and if I had seen them for the last time.

Lessons learned:

1. Helmet, always whether I am loading or riding (I always wore one riding).
2. I can take a punch.
3. Trailers that can accommodate both ATVs are neat, and worth it.
4. I am a lucky, lucky man.

[Jason in LA]

I was at Crenshaw High School a few years ago, standing outside of a fence, talking to somebody inside of the fence. A car rolled up with two guys in it, looking at me and the guy I was talking to. I thought it was a wrap. But they knew the guy I was talking to and they were just stopping to say what's up. For a second I thought it was a Boyz N the Hood moment.

[Cito Pelon]

In no particular order:

- Driving from San Diego to Phoenix on the I-8, about 0100 in the morning a couple days after that Applewhite guy and his cult committed mass suicide in San Diego. They claimed they were going to meet a spaceship that was hiding behind that two-tailed Hale-Bopp comet. The comet was on my left the whole way, and suddenly in the middle of the Arizona desert this object with lights on it flies directly over my truck about 10 feet above it. I didn't hear a sound, just saw the lights, and I thought, "God DAMN, there really WAS a spaceship!"

And then, it starts to turn around!!! I remember thinking, "This could be it for you, buddy". However, seeings how it was a ****ing CROP-DUSTER plane it had to juice the engine to make that turn, and I heard it. It took a second to sink in, and then it was pretty damn funny. I bet that pilot did it on purpose.

- Had a cinnamon black bear charge me and a fishing buddy. It probably smelled the salami & swiss sandwiches I packed for lunch. We saw it sitting uphill staring at us. I clapped my hands and yelled at it, it turned to run uphill for about two steps, then had a change of heart, turned around and came flying right at us. The hair on his back was standing up from his head to his tail and he was staring right at us. There was nowhere to go with the lake behind us, he came to a screeching halt about 15 feet away. It was actually a masterful performance of speed and agility. Don't let anybody tell you bears can't run downhill, this dude was flying.

- Flying from Frankfurt to the US in a 20-yr old DC-10, I could see the icebergs in the North Atlantic from 30,000 feet, and there's an electrical fire onboard in the front cabin, the flight engineer, the copilot, they're frantically tearing panels off trying to get to it. They got it out, but . . . . And then when landing the pilot overshoots the runway, I was looking out the window and I see all the skid marks where every other plane had hit the runway, but we were probably still 20 feet off the ground when all the skid marks are gone. I hear the engines cut out and the plane drops like a rock, slams into the runway, I'm looking at the left wing and that thing bends like a boomerang. Plane bounces off the runway a couple more times, finally gets stopped well past all the taxiways, they have to hook up one of those machines and push it back down the runway. Good times.

- I was helping a friend as a part-time job. He had a business in a shady neighborhood, a guy comes running in the garage door plainly terrified, saying "You have to help me, he's chasing me with a gun!" Thing was, I recognized this guy from another job I had, knew he was an asshole and probably did something that deserved to be chased with a gun. I shoved him back out the door and told him "Well, then you better run." He ran, but somehow the guy chasing him saw him run IN the door, but didn't see him run OUT. He came charging in wild-eyed, sure enough had a pistol in his hand ran smackdab into me knocked me into a workbench. Fortunately he only wanted to shoot the asshole, saw he wasn't there only me, took off again. The asshole, as asshole weasels seem to do, got clean away. Pistol dude got back outside trying to locate said asshole, started yelling at a few people "Where is he, where is he". Funny thing was, this old Greek guy with a business a few doors away maybe 68 years old, yells right back, "I have one of those too!" and he reaches under his shirt and there it is. I remember thinking, "So THAT'S why you always wear loose shirts". I thought it was because he was kind of fat. But that's how it was in that area, the businesses had thousands and thousands of dollars in cash on the premises (produce businesses), but NOBODY tried to rob them. Too many tough guys.

[ShiftyEyedWaterboy]

The most terrified I have ever been was when I was in middle school on the Army Base in Germany. It was right about the time that Bin Laden and his crew started getting recognized. They had started posting alerts on base about known terrorists being seen in the area. Well we were sitting in Talented and Gifted class herding out about the symbolism in "Old Man and the Sea" when ****ing assault rifles start going off and these huge ****ing hooded dudes came running into class and took me and my friend hostage. I screamed like a damned p***Y... So did everyone else, but I just remembering telling myself to shut up. I may have even farted because of the startle.

Long story short is was the base MP's demonstrating a potential scenario and it gave them practice, while helping us learn how to be alert in a situation and aware of all our surroundings. I was taken hostage because the officer in charge of the exercise was friends with my step dad, they both were Apache Pilots, but as officers had other leadership duties on base. As an officers son they took me hostage. But it was more to see me freak the **** out, so they could laugh about it It worked!

Oh man if they pulled that **** now days, even on a base, there would be huge uproar.

Crazy. My dad got kidnapped/questioned by Baader-Meinhof when he was stationed in Augsburg.

Scariest for me would probably be my heroin overdose when I was using. They gave me Narcan to bring me back. Waking up surrounded by EMT's and not having a clue what is going on is terrifying. They were asking me what I was on, how much did I take, etc. I could understand everything they were asking, but was totally incapable of responding for about 10 mins. It was like being paralyzed.

[Miss I.]

1. The time I dated a guy in England and after we broke up he kept stalking me and I had to call the police a few times and change my phone #s.
2. When my brother tried to drown me in the swimming pool in the back when I was 10, that was scary mostly because I thought he was kidding and then I couldn't breathe. My sister broke his tooth getting him off of me.
3. One time I woke up in the middle of field with my head, face up with the back of my head in my friend's lap not remembering anything after having a seizure in the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere. I was kind of giggly after that though.
4. After my mammogram finding out there was a lump and then spending 3 weeks going through ultrasound and biopsy to finally be told I was okay (biggest sigh of relief).

[Bronc0guy]

2. When my brother tried to drown me in the swimming pool in the back when I was 10, that was scary mostly because I thought he was kidding and then I couldn't breathe. My sister broke his tooth getting him off of me.

What the hell?