Disclaimer: I in no way vouch for the authenticity of any of these stories. If people's lives are so dull that they want to lie about these things, I can't really stop them... but feel free to call them on it either on the forum or drop me a line and I'll post the comment here or on the mailing list.
In other words, please don't lie... or you'll probably be exposed in the end and won't you feel stupid then???

"My Brush With Morbidity" by Corella

"When I was 14 I was friends with this dumbass girl who I'll call 'Jane'. Anyways, she was seeing this older guy who thought he was cool. In reality, he was just an asshole redneck. Well, I needed a ride home and they were going out so I took a ride with him. I was sitting in the backseat like any normal teenager or moron would do, and Jane was in the passenger seat. We live in a really rural area, and there are dirt and gravel roads everywhere. We happened to be on a particularly bad one to go visit one of Jane's friends. [Jane's boyfriend] decided he was going to show off, and starting speeding to about 80 miles an hour on a dirt road. We told him to stop, or slow down, but he didn't listen. I don't remember exactly what happened but I know he lost control and we went flying 80 miles an hour off a 10 foot embankment to a bunch of shardy rocks. I don't remember anything until we were walking down the street. I was missing a shoe, and my face was numb. I felt my face and it was full of blood, and I felt my left cheek and noticed there was something hanging: it was a giant flap of skin with glass stuck in it. That's when I knew I was screwed. I even felt my own cheekbone - it was the most disgusting yet unusual sensation I had ever felt. I felt this sharp pain going up my neck when I touched it but that wasn't the worst part. When they got me in the ambulance they could barely fit the strap on my head because of massive swelling. I had a really bad concussion and they thought I had fluid on the brain. It was also a redneck hospital to so they lifelited me to another hospital.

"Anyways, the damage:
massive bruising to my left arm,
23 stitches on my face (the scar is humungous and ugly but it's my ugly scar and I like it),
8 stitches on my ear, which was ripped all the way up (it still looks weird),
cervical stenosis (basically 2 disks were herniated and they took nerves with them causing me non-stop headaches which I still have 5 years later),
a massive concussion (they said my head had swollen to almost double its size)

"The way the police described it was that I hit my head on the dashboard and then bounced to my face going through the windshield...

"My wonderful stupidity paid off, and I live in permanent pain."

Awful ordeal, but I must say I am incredibly happy that you like your scar. I like my scars too. I think we should all love our scars - after all, they remind us what we've been through to be here!

Posted 01.31.10

"My Brush With Morbidity" by Laura

(This was originally sent on January 30, 2008 - but the slow, senile Comtesse didn't post it until January 23, 2010.)

"I had a brush with morbidity last week... I watched my grandfather die at the age of 82. It was a very surreal experience.

"He was originally diagnosed with cancer in his lungs (of the bowel cancer variety), which eventually spread into his brain and spinal cord. He fought it for four years, but rapidly deteriorated in the ten days before his death.

"When I arrived at the house to see him, it was three days beforehand. He was sleeping pretty much all the time, but could mumble a little bit in recognition that he was being spoken to. That night he was given morphine, and after that he didn't open his eyes again - until about 3 minutes before he died.

"The family had gathered in the room, as we realised the time was drawing near. His breathing was heavy, laboured and very rapid and his jaw seemed locked open. It continued like that for about 10-15 mins. After which, his breaths were still sharp and heavy, but growing further and further apart. The death rattle wasn't very intense, which made the experience a lot less creepy.

"Then his breathing stopped... and everyone burst into tears thinking it was over. Then, all of a sudden, his body strenuously gasped, which scared the living daylights out of everyone --- at that moment, he turned his head to where most people in the room were, closed his mouth, and opened his eyes - which were all clouded over. (Apparently this isn't uncommon, as a few of my friends said they had similar experiences.)

"I know he was probably brain dead by that time, but I still wonder if he knew it was happening, or if he could hear us?

"Over the next couple of minutes, his breath became gentle, slowed down, and eventually just stopped.

"He died at 6:42PM on January 22nd, 2008."

What an intense experience. He was lucky to have you all there with him.

Posted 01.23.10