Have you ever saved someone's life or found a dead body?

[Flyer]

When I was 15, I went to see my friend at his house. He was going through some really hard times mentally. I was probably his only real friend. Anyway, he was hanging from the ceiling fan...dead for hours. That image comes to me every now and then. :moping:

 

[Dispense]

Been in the military for over 16 years.

Have been a Medic/EMT, Independent Duty Medic and now a Physician Assistant.

Honestly, too numerous to count over the years.

As a Family Practice provider, I bet I catch something terrible or treat something acutely that drastically alters a patients mortality weekly.

I truly love my job.

 

[huntsonora]

Had a 15 year old young man bleed to death in front of me a few years back. It was a horrible thing to witness but there was nothing that could have been done.

This year I found a dead guy while hunting. He had been there for at least 2 years and was just a skeleton. The critters had scattered him around pretty good. It was weird to find that in the middle of the desert

 

[jirehn]

I never experienced that and I don't want too. I am really scared when I see dead bodies.

 

[Stockwell45]

I've worked at a marina the past 5 years. After talking to a nice fisherman at 6 am, I had to see him dead after having a heart attack and falling in the lake several hours later.

A year after that a drunk guy tried to jump in the lake from these really high sketchy rocks, he hit a ledge and didn't make it. People pulled his body onto a pontoon boat we had rented out to bring him back to the marina. I had to clean all the blood off the boat and I was only 17, that was hard.

 

[gaterose]

Wow, a lot of heroes on here! Thanks a lot guys!

Once my Vietnamese neighbors' child had a seizure, the wife doesn't speak English well and hubby was gone so she brought their 3 yr old son over (frantic!), he was unconscious but breathing so we called 911 for them. Based on the gestures she made (grabbing her throat), we reported that the kid was choking; he was breathing when she brought him so we didn't try CPR, just tried to clear his mouth of food as he was eating when it happened, it turned out he'd had a seizure. Anyway that's as close as I've come.

 

[20034RunnerV84x2]

My dad is 50 years old and has major complications from diabetes he's had since he was 4, gradually getting worse. When I was 4 or 5 I found him unconscious and having a seizure. Luckily my mom is an OR nurse and has taught me how to deal with these things. I managed to open his airway and keep him breathing until she could take over for me.

I've found him with a blood sugar of 12, inches away from a coma.

There are too many close calls with him for me to remember. He hasn't been home since the beginning of February, he's just been in the hospital. I know it may sound horrible some to people, but at 17 years of age, I've come to terms with the fact that my Dad's days are numbered and some day, hopefully not too soon, he won't pull through. And people wonder why I'm often dark and seem overly mature for my age... :/

I'm 17 too and when I was 8 I saw my dad slumped in his recliner dead because if his alcohol addiction. Yep, 8 years old, momma was putting groceries up in the kitchen and I'm staring as my dads lifeless body thinking "why is he still asleep?".

Yeah, now I'm 17, pay for my truck, trucks insurance and gas, which I wouldn't be able to do if I didn't start maturing like a 27 year old at age 14.

 

[Jeddy]

About a year ago now, i was babysitting my younger brother who was 14 at the time, he has autism and needs to be looked after fairly closely. Anyways, we were both having dinner while watching a movie as a kind of special treat for our brother time, and I had gotten up to go to the bathroom. When I came back I could immediately tell something wasn't right, his body was tweaked and contorted very unnaturally, not to mention he had no color in his face and was passed out. After trying for a good minute, I dislodged a chunk of potato, immediately after he began to convulse and went in to a seizure. Young men who have autism that re going through puberty have a much higher chance of having multiple seizures, so I knew that's what had happened and why he had begun to choke. At this point I was in a pretty good state of shock, I somehow managed to pick up my 'little' 190lbs brother and carry him out to my rig back then (95 4x4 suburban) and rush him to the nearest er. Luckily he was fine and it passed, but I still think about this experience often and thank the lord I am an Eagle scout and kept my head.

 

[bob3dsf]

Am a firefighter in NC. Ive been involved with 2 "code saves." Good feeling. I've helped scoop brains up off the road. Bad feeling. Yes, most of the tragedy I've seen was preventable and usually resulted from either stupidity or a lack of situational awareness. When the buzzer hits, there's no telling what we'll find. I've jumped out of aircraft in the army, fought in Afg., now I run into burning buildings. I don't feel like I'm afraid of anything, though I have a healthy respect for the risks in my job. With two little girls at home, pediatric calls take on new meaning. I like to look at them from their doorways when after they are asleep. I hope they never have to see the sh*t I've seen.

Now that I think of it I do know what scares me, the thought of my girls behind the wheel. Between inexperience, peer pressure/ influence of friends, and the crazy crap other people do on the roads, I won't sleep a wink when they first start driving.

Kinda got on a tangent there, sorry....

Cheers,
Bob

 

[chrisdowling84]

Three total years worth of deployments to Iraq... Definatley seen some dead, and saved at least one for sure. A little girl that the Iraqi police shot after they got mad after they were blown up. The decided a death blossom was the best retaliation.

 

[Mytoy4]

Terribly sad what some of you have seen. I've never seen a dead body or have had to save a human life.
FWIW, I have saved animal lives. Had to perform CPR a few times on dogs.
Maybe not a human but a life worth saving.

 

[KBLozano]

About 2 weeks ago I gave my bone marrow to a 15 year old boy from Italy. Apparently I was the best match. The kick is I have no idea who the kid is and I might not ever know.

 

[SJC]

Few years back when i was 15 or so my friend and i were playing basketball in his front yard. He lived off the road about 600 feet and was surrounded by trees when a drunk guy walked out of the woods with a 8 inch hunting knife in his hand. My friend and i both stopped and were stunned, his parents were at work. The drunk dude was yelling at us for "almost running him over" but neither of us could drive then. He then cornered my buddy against the garage and was yelling at him swinging the hunting knife thats when i ran into the back yard and grabbed something to protect myself with. I found a rake:biggrin2: then when i came back to the front of the house my friend was in the strawberry patch thingy his mom had in the garden and the drunk guy had his back to me. I used the handle of the rake to jab the guy in the back so my friend could get away quick then we both ran to the neighbors. About 5 min run away were he called the cops and tracked the drunk guy down on his dirt bike. It was cool, cops came and saved the day. Drunk hobos tsk tsk

 

[RandyDaytona]

FWIW, I have saved animal lives. Had to perform CPR a few times on dogs. Maybe not a human but a life worth saving.

Animal lives are always worth saving. Good for you.


Never saved anyone. I hope if the occasion calls or it, I can do what I need to.

I'm a law enforcement officer, but don't really see dead people in my line of work (game warden). I see a ton of dead critters, though, which is painful enough to me. Even when deployed to help after Katrina, I didn't see that much as far as people.

I did, however, once see an elderly gentleman get torn in half by a metro train in DC. That's a harrowing enough memory that bodies don't really bother me too much.

 

[SJC]

That is sad^ poor guy

 

[RandyDaytona]

That is sad^ poor guy

+1. It's tragic when people see no other way out than taking their own life. I've known several cops during my career who were too proud to ask for help and ended up going down that road.

 

[SJC]

My cousin is in Iraq or Afghanistan i don't know. But hes told me stories of his buddies that come back to the states and within a couple months they commit suicide. That would be hard to deal with, and he doesn't want to come home. Crazy what happens in peoples minds

 

[OverTheHills]

Not going to lie i teared up a bit reading all of this....way to sad. I was swimming this my 2 nieces one was 2 the other 5. The 2 y/o was behind me grabing some toys i was splashing the 5 y/o. After not hearing anything from the 2 y/o for a min i turned around. Found her floating face down in the pool. I jumped over as fast as i could and picked her up.....face was blue. My sister (her mother) ran over crying and screaming. she grabbed her from me she push on her belly and she spit up a ton of water and starting crying. I quickly called 911. luckly she made it i was scared out of my mind.

 

[Socco]

My cousin is in Iraq or Afghanistan i don't know. But hes told me stories of his buddies that come back to the states and within a couple months they commit suicide. That would be hard to deal with, and he doesn't want to come home. Crazy what happens in peoples minds

I saw an episode of "Our America" with Lisa Ling, a while back. Apparently now, more US soldiers die of suicide while Stateside than during active duty. Too sad.

 

[034RUNNER]

Interesting/scary thread.

I had a fairly similar incident as the OP mentioned - saving somebody from drowning but that was a long time ago. I was young with my cousin in our pool. I don't remember what happened but she was face down and not moving when I realized.

I've never found a dead body but honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to around here. There just seems to be so many places where people never go or even know of. Not that it wouldn't be an unbelievable experience; it's something I don't think I could handle.

I had gone into NYC around 9/11 and saw a little bit of some things, and in that quantity it's just surreal, disturbing nonetheless. It does something to you. It's hard to realize it's real when you see some things.

Animals is something I have more experience with. Driving on a back-road a few years ago I saw a dear literally half eaten down to bones, the other half was nothing odd (just a dead deer). I don't know why but I could never really get that out of my head, especially anytime I pass anything dead/hit on the roads over here.