Worst things you have ever seen?

[Greg]

Have you ever witnessed something so bad that it changes you forever?

I am not talking about Glitter or Catwoman or George from Grey's Anatomy's awful new haircut...all tragic in there own way...but they don't affect us like true life events.

This is what I'm talking about...

The other day a neighbor lady of my grandmother's was killed while getting her mail.

Somehow as she went to get out of her car to walk up to the mailbox and she didn't put her car in park. So she ended up falling under the car somehow and the car ran over her head and crushed her to death. Now I didn't see this happen to this poor lady in her 60's. But 4 days later the blood is still noticable on the pavement. It wigs me out now when I drive past those mailboxes.

I hate feeling so weirded out by it and I'm trying not dwell on it but I can't shake it.

Last summer I was taking my cat to the vet and as I was getting the carrier out of the car I heard a loud car crash. I turned around and I seen a man flying through the air. He hit the ground hard. Just like a doll being thrown around. This man was on a motorcycle. He ended up crashing into a car that was turning. Like 15 people(myself included) rushed out to help this man but it was to late. He wasn't wearing a helmet. He died like 1 minute later in front of all of us. I was shaking so bad I could not even control it.

To this day whenever I see someone on a bike going fast I freak and flashback to all that blood. I will NEVER own a motorcycle just because it scares me now.

So if a year later I can't look at a motorcycle with out remembering a man's terrible loss how in the hell does my Grandma expect me to get her mail?

All I can say is her bills will be late because I just don't have the nerve to go up to the mailbox yet.

I joke...But damn.

Have you guys been through some freaky [!@#$%^&*]?

How did you deal with it?

[SteveFrame]

Greg, I guess the worst thing I have seen like that was a few years back, I watched my very vital 70 year old neighbor turn into a weak frail man becauese of depression.

He had always been the type to keep things to himself. He had nightmares for years about World War I but never would talk about it to anyone. He was part of the group of soldiers assigned to clean out the concentration camps when the war was over. I can't even imagine what he went through.

Anyway for some reason unknown to us, this 70 year old man suddenly developed depression. He had been a man who loved to fish, work on cars, and constantly kept himself active after he retired, but suddenly he just wanted to sit in front of the TV and never got out and never talked.

His wife and children and I tried to get him to open up, but he wouldn't. He refused to see a psychiatrist. This went on for weeks and weeks and he kept losing weight. Finally one day I came home from work and he was sitting in his back yard laughing with his wife and son. His wife who not left him for weeks decided to go get groceries since he was doing so good. His son and I stayed while she left.

I was so shocked when his wife woke me at 5:00 a.m. screaming and pounding on my door. I went with her to their garage and he had killed himself. We did CPR on him for awhile but it was too late.

That bothered me for a long time. I have done a lot of research on elderly depression since then, and am shocked at the number of elderly people each year who commit suicide because they feel that life has no meaning anymore.

So yes I can understand sort of what you are talking about. Things we see and experience are what shapes our lives.

[Bree]

I saw a deer get hit head on and I was so close I saw some of its brain splatter out. It happened so fast, but I still can see it like it was yesterday.

[KLN]

Oh, sweet Jesus! I would've freaked.

I haven't seen anything in person, but I remember I watched a video of a beheading on the internet a few years ago. Part of all the war stuff. Anyway, the guy was talking, and suddenly they reached around with this HUGE sword/knife/whatever and sliced his neck from the front all the way back, then lifted his severed head up by the hair. The expression on his face slowly went from the pained/screaming look to complete emotionless death. Eyes still open. OH MY GOD. I will never forget that, ever. I've regretted watching that ever since.

I can only imagine his poor family having to watch that video for positive identity and whatnot. I'd never sleep again.

[Rebecca]

Pictures of babies after the persian gulf war in Iraq. Medical supplies weren't being given to the people there, and there were major chemical spills all over the country. Cancer rates went up 400% and babies were born deformed. Gigantic heads, one eye, no limbs, etc etc. I had to throw up. You can find these pictures if you search around the internet.

I think that tops it for me. My brother, the first week he had his permit, saw a man go threw his windshield. He didnt drive for a month after that. I dont think I've witnessed anything like that though.

[Toadstool]

Two come to mind; both similar to others already mentioned.

I was in my first apartment, a basement suite underneath a two-family building. An air shaft connected the three bathrooms and on one occasion my landlord who lived directly above, asked me to climb the shaft to his place when he'd locked himself out. He was a pleasant older gentlemen who'd offer me a drink once in a while on his patio; full of advice about being gay and young and he eventually came to confide in me that he was seropositive and his health was deteriorating. He said he'd off himself before he let any kind of dementia take over his life. I didn't think much of it at the time.

A few months later, he hadn't been seen in about three days days. He hadn't been come by my place or the top floor tenant to collect rent and his mail was accumulating. For some reason the other tenant and I decided to check his place first before making any other inquiries, so up the air shaft and into his place we went.

I prefer not to get into details except to say that once we opened the window to his place, we knew what had happened. We found him on the bed, TV still on, remote in his hands and a bottle of vodka on his night table. He'd used the vodka to wash down his overdose.

When I was around ten years old I was on a side trip to the store on my way to school. A kid from the other 5th grade glass, well-known as a pest, was teasing a group of older girls who then chased him out into the street in front of an oil truck. The wheels went right over his head.

Worse than the actual visual shock (and it was bad - those of us who saw it were given counselling) was having seen him running around, being a pest, calling names, just being a very lively kid and a split second later, GONE.

[Shawn]

The worst thing I have ever seen was when I was 20. I was out in NYC with my friends at a club, dancing the night away. My friend, who had just turned 18, was next to me. At one point, he started to look faint. I asked him what was wrong, he said nothing and kept on dancing. Just a few moments later, he dropped to the floor.

He died instantly.

Later we found out that he had taken a large amount of crystal amphetamine ("meth"), which didnt sit right with his pre-existing heart condition. The combination killed him.

I never got over that. To be right there next to someone when they die is forever going to haunt me.

[Cat]

Just the other evening I saw a major-line druggie on the streets and his arms were practically ripped to shreds where he'd obviously been puncturing the skin, looking for a working vein. It's not like I was walking in a bad area, either. Just to see that kind of desperation...

Oh, and last July I was in London when the bombs in the subway occurred. I walked past one station - King's Cross - and there were people and police all over the street, coughing soot and clearly in shock. One paramedic was throwing up in a corner of the street. I don't know why but that really frightened me. It was like, it's so bad, even the professionals are losing it. Later, of course, I found out that the bombers packed their explosives with nails in order to maim as well as to kill.

Wow. That's the first time I've ever really talked about 7/7 online.

[KBT]

Thats awful!

My uncle died of a meth overdose when he was only 26 in 1998 and my mom hasnt been the same since.

Cat, I am so glad you made it out of that ordeal safe and sound. Thanks for sharing....

[DanTheMan]

I saw my dog get hit by a car when I was 10. I was soo foolish thinking he would be safe unleashed and me being a kid I ran with him unleashed. As I started to run I stopped to stay close by my dad but my dog kept running until he went through an open fence near my Elementary School and an SUV crushed him. There was another dog over the road and I guess my dog wanted to go after him. I can remember seeing the stained blood on the concrete for months. It did haunt me for awhile and I was depressed for the rest of my 5th grade year but I did get over it. This is one of those times in life where you really need a good loving family and I'm glad I had one. That dog was more than just an animal to me. He was like a brother...a sibling. I'm glad we got good portraits of him before he died because at least I will always be able to remember him, even through my old age.

[OneLife Fan]

Witnessed an older woman get hit by a car. Bounced right off the front of the car and landed on the road. It was scary!! She came away with only 2 broken ribs thank heavens!! However,,witnessing this...i had a few dreams that week...and the thought lingered in my mind for about a month. Guess i was pretty shook up.

[KLN]

I think witnessing horrible things is almost as good as it is as bad. It tends to make us be thankful and realize all the good that we have, rather than just walking through life with the thought that nothing bad could ever REALLY happen.

[OneLife Fan]

Exactly!!

[R!ck]

I've had similar incidents...

I was playing frisbee with my uncle when I was 15 and the mailman was delivering mail across the street. He had his lights on and was stopped at the mailbox, and right then a car came speeding down the road and hit him. It knocked him completly out of the little mailtruck and he hit the pavement. My uncle went and called 911 and I ran to the man to see if I could help (not going into the details, but his head was completly open) The neighbor told me to go in the house, and I completly freaked out and went running and screaming. I was a basketcase for days, and I still have nightmares about it.

My whole family was gathered at my great aunt's house a couple years ago, because she was dying and they called in the family. (she wanted to die at home, rather than in the hospital) We all took turns saying our goodbyes, she was in and out and was fading fast. I held her hand, and kissed her on the forehead and told her I loved her and no more than 3 minutes later she passed away. My mom, cousin and the nurse from Hospice had to bath her after she passed and mom said it was the hardest thing she ever had to do.

Me and a couple friends were driving home from a movie one night, it was foggy and we hit a deer. The thing hit the front of the car, busted out the headlight rolled up on the hood, hit the window and busted it falling into the car. Matt hit the brakes and the deer made his way out of the car and ran intot the woods. My friend in the passenger seat was lucky. She only got a few cuts from glass and a bruise from the deer hitting her stomach.

[Bright Eyes]

this was odd but when i was like seven and i went to the zoo with my fam i ahd the surprise of my life when to tortoises started to have sex it was extremely nasty