WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:03.640 Redditors who had a dying confession but then lived what happened. 2 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:07.160 Story one. I used to work on construction with this guy, 3 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:10.320 let's call him Larry. One day on sight there was 4 00:00:10.359 --> 00:00:13.919 this big mess with a scaffolding rig. A vehicle accidentally 5 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:16.760 backed into it while Larry was working underneath, and the 6 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:19.559 whole thing collapsed on top of him. It looked really 7 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:22.399 bad At the moment, he was pinned, bleeding from a 8 00:00:22.440 --> 00:00:25.320 head wound and said he couldn't feel his legs. He 9 00:00:25.399 --> 00:00:28.440 was absolutely convinced this was the end for him. While 10 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:30.519 a few of us were trying to lift the scaffold 11 00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:33.719 and give him basic first aid, Larry kept asking for 12 00:00:33.799 --> 00:00:37.119 someone's phone so he could call his wife, Susie. Our 13 00:00:37.159 --> 00:00:40.520 supervisor handed one over, and Larry, believing these were his 14 00:00:40.600 --> 00:00:43.280 final moments, poured his heart out over the phone in 15 00:00:43.320 --> 00:00:46.039 the most dramatic this is it way you could imagine. 16 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:49.039 While fully sobbing, He told Susie he hadn't been the 17 00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:52.600 husband he should have been. He confessed to having multiple affairs, 18 00:00:52.880 --> 00:00:56.399 stealing from Susie's parents, creeping on their neighbor's daughter, and 19 00:00:56.479 --> 00:00:59.920 doing drugs with Susie's sister. He was apologizing and asked 20 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:02.920 looking for forgiveness, thinking this would be the last time 21 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:06.359 they'd speak. Well, turns out Larry wasn't dying at all. 22 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:09.799 Once the scaffold was lifted. It turned out he'd only 23 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:12.959 been pinned by a few awkwardly fallen tubes and bracers. 24 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:15.640 They'd landed in just the wrong way to put pressure 25 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:18.359 on a nerve, which made his legs go numb. His 26 00:01:18.439 --> 00:01:21.760 head injury only needed a handful of stitches, and outside 27 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:24.480 of some bruises, he walked away in weigh better shape 28 00:01:24.519 --> 00:01:29.280 than we all expected. Susy didn't exactly appreciate the unexpected honesty. 29 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:31.680 By the time he got out of the hospital, he 30 00:01:31.719 --> 00:01:34.879 had lost his house, his truck, custody of his kids, 31 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:37.959 and ended up with a pretty hefty monthly child support 32 00:01:38.040 --> 00:01:41.319 and alimony situation. To top it all off, he got 33 00:01:41.359 --> 00:01:43.920 officially written up at work for not wearing his hard 34 00:01:43.959 --> 00:01:47.840 hat under the scaffolding, which was company policy. A while later, 35 00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:50.400 I talked to another guy who was working with Larry 36 00:01:50.439 --> 00:01:54.439 that day. Apparently the whole incident started because a forklift 37 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:57.359 picked up one of the storage carts for the scaffold pieces, 38 00:01:57.799 --> 00:02:01.599 but it hadn't been properly secured, which which was Larry's responsibility. 39 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:05.319 Before we continue, do us a quick favor. Smash that 40 00:02:05.480 --> 00:02:08.919 like button and subscribe to support our channel. Story two. 41 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:11.520 I was in a pretty bad accident a while ago 42 00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:14.360 that left me with a concussion and a spinal injury 43 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:17.360 that needed emergency surgery. By the time I got to 44 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:21.039 the hospital, things were moving fast. The surgeon came in 45 00:02:21.240 --> 00:02:23.759 and gave me the standard rundown of risks, but my 46 00:02:23.879 --> 00:02:27.719 concussion brain completely latched onto one line, there's a very 47 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:31.400 small chance of death, and suddenly I was convinced I 48 00:02:31.479 --> 00:02:34.120 wasn't making it out of that operating room. In that 49 00:02:34.199 --> 00:02:37.080 weird mix of panic and clarity that only comes when 50 00:02:37.080 --> 00:02:39.919 you're concussed and think you're about to die, I had 51 00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:43.439 one super specific regret hit me hard. I didn't tell 52 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:46.000 my brother I loved him enough. So with my phone 53 00:02:46.039 --> 00:02:49.120 barely hanging on at like two percent battery, I called 54 00:02:49.159 --> 00:02:51.360 him up. I told him I was proud of him, 55 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:54.319 that he should move on, live life to the fullest, 56 00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:57.560 and basically gave him the emotional version of a farewell 57 00:02:57.639 --> 00:03:00.960 letter in under a minute. Anyway, the surgery went great, 58 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:05.159 zero complications. I woke up groggy, but very much alive 59 00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:08.800 and almost immediately saw my brother without missing a beat. 60 00:03:08.840 --> 00:03:12.400 He smirked and said, so just because you survived doesn't 61 00:03:12.439 --> 00:03:15.080 mean I can't still live my life to the fullest. Right. 62 00:03:15.560 --> 00:03:18.919 It wasn't in either slash or situation. I obviously told 63 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:22.719 him he couldn't. Story three. So this happened during that 64 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:26.360 inland hurricane we had last year. The winds were insane, 65 00:03:26.520 --> 00:03:29.759 trees were snapping, debris was flying around, and I was 66 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:32.080 huddled in the hallway of our house just waiting for 67 00:03:32.120 --> 00:03:35.120 the roof to rip off. Genuinely thought the whole place 68 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:39.800 was going to come down. I remember sitting there, heart pounding, thinking, Yep, 69 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:42.639 this is it, this is how I go. At the time, 70 00:03:42.680 --> 00:03:45.039 my roommate, whom I'd had a bit of a complicated 71 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:49.120 friendship slash flirtation situation with, was at work, and in 72 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:52.680 that moment of total panic and existential dread, I figured 73 00:03:52.680 --> 00:03:54.759 if I was about to die, I didn't want to 74 00:03:54.800 --> 00:03:57.560 go without saying something real, So I pulled out my 75 00:03:57.599 --> 00:04:00.479 phone and sent her a text that said something like, Hey, 76 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:03.479 so I might actually die in this storm. Just wanted 77 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:05.800 to say I love you too much to risk not 78 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:09.240 saying it. If I somehow survive. See you tonight if 79 00:04:09.240 --> 00:04:12.199 I don't. Sorry for the levity. Well, the house ended 80 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:15.919 up being almost completely fine ninety five percent and scathed. 81 00:04:16.399 --> 00:04:19.600 Lost a couple of shingles, a tree branch dented the gutter, 82 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:22.360 but that was about it. When she got home from work, 83 00:04:22.600 --> 00:04:25.680 she was smiling from ear to ear. She'd been feeling 84 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:28.879 the same way for a while, said, my apocalyptic panic 85 00:04:28.920 --> 00:04:31.560 text kind of cleared the air. We decided to give 86 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:34.399 it a shot and actually dated for a while after that. 87 00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:37.680 We're not together any more, but it ended on good terms. 88 00:04:38.120 --> 00:04:41.040 I'd give the whole experience a solid seven out of ten. 89 00:04:41.480 --> 00:04:44.680 Would confess my feelings during a near death situation again 90 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:48.839 if necessary. Story for when I was fifteen, I tore 91 00:04:48.920 --> 00:04:52.360 my acl playing softball and needed me surgery. It was 92 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:55.639 a routine procedure, but teenage me didn't see it that way. 93 00:04:56.079 --> 00:04:58.480 Once they gave me the anesthesia and I was good 94 00:04:58.519 --> 00:05:01.639 and loopy my brain, I suddenly decided this was it 95 00:05:01.800 --> 00:05:05.439 my final moment on Earth. I became completely convinced I 96 00:05:05.519 --> 00:05:08.319 wasn't going to make it off that operating table. As 97 00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:10.319 they were wheeling me down the hall toward the ore, 98 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:13.240 I sat up, or tried to at least, and dramatically 99 00:05:13.319 --> 00:05:16.720 shouted at a completely random orderly tell my family I 100 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:19.360 want to be an organ donor. I have zero memory 101 00:05:19.399 --> 00:05:22.560 of this whatsoever, but my mom was standing nearby and 102 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:25.519 witnessed the whole thing. She still brings it up whenever 103 00:05:25.560 --> 00:05:29.079 the topic of hospitals or organ donation comes up. We 104 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:31.959 still laugh about it now. At the time, I didn't 105 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:35.680 fully understand how organ donation actually worked. I had this 106 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:38.839 vague idea from TV and health class that organ donors 107 00:05:38.839 --> 00:05:41.839 were walking around just one emergency away from being whisked 108 00:05:41.839 --> 00:05:44.920 away to donate a kidney to a stranger. It honestly 109 00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:47.160 freaked me out a bit. I thought it meant someone 110 00:05:47.160 --> 00:05:49.279 could just ask for a piece of you and you'd 111 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:52.560 have to hand it over. Eventually, I realized that's not 112 00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:55.480 how it works at all. You're not getting harvested just 113 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:58.399 because you're on a list. It's about helping others if 114 00:05:58.600 --> 00:06:01.680 and when you truly can't be helped anymore. So I 115 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:04.959 educated myself, got over the weird fear, and signed up 116 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:08.319 to be a donor like I'd always wanted to. Funny enough, 117 00:06:08.519 --> 00:06:10.519 I had a room eight years later who gave me 118 00:06:10.600 --> 00:06:13.560 grief about it. He argued that you're going to be 119 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:15.600 so mad when they bring you back to life in 120 00:06:15.639 --> 00:06:18.519 the future and you don't have your eyes, like we'd 121 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:21.399 reach a point in human history where full on resurrection 122 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:24.000 is on the table, but eyeballs are the one thing 123 00:06:24.120 --> 00:06:26.759 science can't replicate, and out of all the people in 124 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:30.120 the world, I'm the lucky one they bring back still blind, 125 00:06:30.120 --> 00:06:33.079 though because I checked a box at the DMV, the 126 00:06:33.160 --> 00:06:36.680 logic was wild. Anyway, I'm thirty seven now and still 127 00:06:36.680 --> 00:06:40.079 an organ donor and thankfully still in possession of both 128 00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:44.319 eyes for now. Story five. My dad was recently diagnosed 129 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:47.839 with cancer, and after his initial surgery to remove the tumors, 130 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:50.079 he was in a rough spot week, in a lot 131 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:52.560 of pain, and for the first time in his life, 132 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:55.920 not in control. That was a scary realization for him. 133 00:06:56.279 --> 00:06:59.040 Now let me give some background. My dad has always 134 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:01.759 been kind of selfish, the type of guy who really 135 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:04.199 only puts effort into things if there's something in it 136 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:07.160 for him or if it's convenient. My brother and I 137 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:09.800 were raised mostly by our mom and later on by 138 00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:12.439 our amazing step dad, who's still a solid part of 139 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:15.560 our lives to this day. Growing up, my dad would 140 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:17.879 always make it clear that we weren't getting any kind 141 00:07:17.879 --> 00:07:21.240 of inheritance. He planned to spend everything before he died. 142 00:07:21.639 --> 00:07:24.560 He's been a bachelor for thirty plus years, no spous 143 00:07:24.839 --> 00:07:27.439 and he'd repeat that no one's getting anything. When I 144 00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:30.079 go like it was a badge of honor, my brother 145 00:07:30.120 --> 00:07:32.839 and I always just shrugged it off. It's his money, 146 00:07:33.079 --> 00:07:35.560 after all, and saying we didn't care was our way 147 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:38.399 of not letting it hang over us. So cut to 148 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:41.600 him lying in a hospital bed, genuinely thinking he might 149 00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:44.399 be on his way out. He has this emotional breakthrough 150 00:07:44.439 --> 00:07:48.000 and calls us both saying he's changed his perspective, says 151 00:07:48.040 --> 00:07:50.160 he doesn't have to be in a pine box to 152 00:07:50.199 --> 00:07:52.839 start giving, and wants to gift us each some money 153 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:55.560 while he's still around to see us enjoy it. We 154 00:07:55.560 --> 00:07:58.519 were surprised but touched. It felt like a big shift 155 00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:01.600 for him. There were some string attached, of course. He 156 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:04.800 wanted to approve what we used the money for. Fair enough, 157 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:07.759 my brother talked about putting in a new pool. I 158 00:08:07.800 --> 00:08:10.720 brought up replacing floors and windows, which are things I 159 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:14.240 actually need but haven't been able to afford. Dad approved 160 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:17.759 both ideas and even seemed excited about them. He never 161 00:08:17.800 --> 00:08:20.360 gave us an exact number, but the way he talked 162 00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:23.920 it sounded like these would be significant gifts. A couple 163 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:26.800 of weeks later, the test results come back and it 164 00:08:26.839 --> 00:08:29.920 turns out his cancer is very treatable and was caught early. 165 00:08:30.360 --> 00:08:33.159 We were relieved. Both my brother and I had flown 166 00:08:33.159 --> 00:08:35.279 out to be with him, helped take care of him 167 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:38.440 and support him through chemo. Then one day he sits 168 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:41.279 us down and says, now that I'm not dying, there 169 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:42.799 are still a lot of things I want to do, 170 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:45.159 so I'm not giving you guys the money. After all, 171 00:08:45.799 --> 00:08:48.000 if you knew the man, you'd know this whole thing 172 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:50.960 was very on brand. Still, I won't lie. It stung. 173 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:54.360 We didn't expect anything, but having the rug pulled after 174 00:08:54.440 --> 00:08:57.799 it was offered like some grand gesture was rough. Story six. 175 00:08:58.279 --> 00:09:00.639 My dad and mom divorced when I was really young, 176 00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:04.200 like two or three, and while we were technically in contact, 177 00:09:04.679 --> 00:09:07.600 it was never a father daughter relationship. He was more 178 00:09:07.639 --> 00:09:10.080 like an old acquaintance I saw from time to time. 179 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:13.519 He didn't parent me. We'd grab lunch every now and then, 180 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:15.600 maybe a drink if we happened to be in the 181 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:19.360 same town, but it was always surface level. Over time, 182 00:09:19.679 --> 00:09:22.200 I started to realize just how invisible I was in 183 00:09:22.279 --> 00:09:25.720 his life. Once, not long before the pandemic, I ran 184 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:28.399 into him at a pub. I walked up and said hi, 185 00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:31.799 just casually trying to make conversation. One of his friends 186 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:34.159 came over and asked how I knew him, and when 187 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:37.000 I said, oh, I'm his daughter, the look on his 188 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:39.759 face was pure shock. That was the moment it really 189 00:09:39.799 --> 00:09:43.279 sank in. My dad didn't talk about me, probably never 190 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:46.000 mention me at all. When he passed, it got even 191 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:49.240 more surreal. His funeral was across the country, and my 192 00:09:49.320 --> 00:09:52.240 sisters and I went. Even though we weren't close to him. 193 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:55.159 We spent the day being asked if we were co workers. 194 00:09:55.639 --> 00:09:57.919 Not a single person there, people who had known him 195 00:09:57.960 --> 00:10:01.120 for decades, had any idea he'd even been married, let 196 00:10:01.159 --> 00:10:04.639 alone had three daughters. It wasn't even angering at that point, 197 00:10:05.080 --> 00:10:08.399 just hollow. We weren't in his will because there wasn't one, 198 00:10:08.799 --> 00:10:11.360 but we did end up finding out he had savings bonds, 199 00:10:11.720 --> 00:10:14.720 apparently all in my sister's name. She mailed out our 200 00:10:14.759 --> 00:10:18.759 shares later on, along with photocopies and receipts. My cut 201 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:21.600 came out to just under thirty dollars. It's not about 202 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:24.559 the money. It never was. It was just the final 203 00:10:24.639 --> 00:10:27.000 proof that we were never really part of his story. 204 00:10:27.480 --> 00:10:31.080 The worst part, honestly, was watching some of his friends react. 205 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:34.480 You could see how blindsided they were. They felt awful, 206 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:37.200 like they'd missed something huge about someone they thought they 207 00:10:37.240 --> 00:10:40.120 really knew, and weirdly, I felt worse for them than 208 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:43.200 I did for myself. He spent his whole life keeping 209 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:45.600 us out of the picture. I guess that part never 210 00:10:45.720 --> 00:10:49.840 changed even in Death Story seven. I actually witnessed one 211 00:10:49.879 --> 00:10:53.039 of these first hand. A few years ago. My husband 212 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:55.559 and I were driving behind his uncle when he got 213 00:10:55.559 --> 00:10:58.440 into a pretty bad car accident. We were the first 214 00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:01.120 to reach him. His car was mangled, there was a 215 00:11:01.159 --> 00:11:04.240 lot of blood, and he couldn't feel anything except his head. 216 00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:07.559 He thought he was dying. While we waited for the ambulance, 217 00:11:07.799 --> 00:11:10.879 he started saying what honestly sounded like his final words. 218 00:11:11.320 --> 00:11:13.240 He asked us to tell his wife that he loved 219 00:11:13.240 --> 00:11:16.039 her deeply and that he was sorry he hadn't always 220 00:11:16.080 --> 00:11:18.600 treated her the way she deserved. He called her the 221 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:20.720 love of his life, and admitted that when they first 222 00:11:20.759 --> 00:11:23.919 got together it was because he fantasized something about her, 223 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:26.799 and not out of love. He'd been initially drawn to 224 00:11:26.840 --> 00:11:30.399 her for some shallow physical reasons, but over the years 225 00:11:30.679 --> 00:11:32.879 he realized she was so much more than what had 226 00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:37.000 attracted him at first. She was kind, patient, resilient, and 227 00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:39.600 the best thing that had ever happened to him. He said, 228 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:42.039 she deserved to be loved holy, and if she ever 229 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:44.840 found someone new after he was gone, he hoped she'd 230 00:11:44.840 --> 00:11:47.399 never settle for less than she was worth. It was 231 00:11:47.399 --> 00:11:51.200 an emotional moment. He was barely conscious, clearly in pain, 232 00:11:51.519 --> 00:11:55.039 and genuinely believed those were his last moments. The ambulance 233 00:11:55.120 --> 00:11:58.679 arrived soon after and rushed him to the hospital. Turned out, 234 00:11:58.679 --> 00:12:01.120 the injuries looked worse than they were at first glance. 235 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:04.200 He had some surface wounds, but the real damage was 236 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:07.879 to his back. He'd fractured parts of his vertebrae, specifically 237 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:12.120 the small bony protrusions called transverse processes, but the spinal 238 00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:15.919 cord itself hadn't been seriously compromised. The numbness was from 239 00:12:16.039 --> 00:12:19.200 swelling and trauma. He needed a few surgeries and a 240 00:12:19.240 --> 00:12:22.600 long recovery period, but he made it. A few days later, 241 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:25.360 we shared a toned down version of what he'd said 242 00:12:25.399 --> 00:12:28.519 with his wife. She got emotional, of course, but took 243 00:12:28.519 --> 00:12:31.519 it with grace. Honestly, though it was a bit awkward 244 00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:34.440 for us, We'd always looked up to him, and hearing 245 00:12:34.440 --> 00:12:37.639 that his marriage had started on such shallow terms was surprising, 246 00:12:37.879 --> 00:12:41.240 to say the least. Funny enough, they're still together and 247 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:44.240 stronger than ever now. I think the whole incident made 248 00:12:44.279 --> 00:12:48.000 them both revaluate their relationship and appreciate each other more. 249 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:51.840 Story eight. This isn't exactly the dramatic life or death 250 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:55.519 confession you might expect, but it's my story. A while back, 251 00:12:55.759 --> 00:12:58.440 I was in a pretty serious car accident. I ended 252 00:12:58.519 --> 00:13:01.240 up breaking my neck and had a nasty injury where 253 00:13:01.240 --> 00:13:03.879 a piece of metal went deep into my thigh, causing 254 00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:06.919 a lot of bleeding. At one point, I honestly thought 255 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:08.799 I was going to die because I was losing so 256 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:11.720 much blood. While I was still conscious and in pain, 257 00:13:12.159 --> 00:13:14.679 I called my girlfriend at the time. I wanted to 258 00:13:14.679 --> 00:13:17.799 tell her something important, something I'd been saving up for 259 00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:21.639 for months. I'd been putting away money, about five thousand 260 00:13:21.720 --> 00:13:24.200 dollars with the plan to surprise her with a down 261 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:26.879 payment on a new car. My goal was to put 262 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:30.080 down ten thousand dollars total, so that her monthly payments 263 00:13:30.120 --> 00:13:33.559 would be really manageable under two hundred dollars. But in 264 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:36.440 that moment, thinking I might not make it, I told 265 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:38.679 her I wanted her to have the five thousand dollars 266 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:41.360 i'd saved, and asked her not to tell my family 267 00:13:41.399 --> 00:13:43.639 about it. I passed out on the phone with her 268 00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:45.960 after that, and when I woke up in the hospital, 269 00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:48.759 she was right there beside me. She asked me what 270 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:51.039 the money was for, and I told her the plan. 271 00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:54.720 That's when she started laughing. Turns out she'd been secretly 272 00:13:54.759 --> 00:13:58.720 saving too. She'd saved seven thousand dollars toward the same goal. 273 00:13:59.159 --> 00:14:01.639 Two weeks later, once I was able to walk again, 274 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:04.960 we took all the money we had twelve thousand dollars 275 00:14:05.240 --> 00:14:07.399 and went to buy her car. Then we went to 276 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:10.759 my mom's house in Florida so I could recover more comfortably. 277 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:15.000 Story nine. Not me, but my old boss's brother. He 278 00:14:15.080 --> 00:14:18.279 works in bomb disposal, specifically the kind of high stakes 279 00:14:18.279 --> 00:14:22.320 stuff involving land mines and chemical weapons. One day, he 280 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:24.879 and his team were working in a secure facility on 281 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:28.000 a device that contained some sort of nerve agent. While 282 00:14:28.039 --> 00:14:31.519 inside the containment room, one of the team members accidentally 283 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:35.840 dropped the device. Alarms went off, lock down protocols kicked in, 284 00:14:36.200 --> 00:14:38.639 and the three people inside were told to prepare for 285 00:14:38.679 --> 00:14:42.279 the worst. Basically, they were advised to call their families 286 00:14:42.360 --> 00:14:45.399 and say their good byes. It was that serious. He 287 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:49.120 tried calling my boss his brother multiple times to say goodbye, 288 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:52.399 but my boss kept ignoring the call, assuming it was 289 00:14:52.440 --> 00:14:56.480 something casual or unimportant. Meanwhile, in the locked room, the 290 00:14:56.519 --> 00:15:00.559 situation got even tenser. The device wasn't detonated, but no 291 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:03.720 one wanted to risk another move, So my boss's brother 292 00:15:03.799 --> 00:15:07.039 stepped up and volunteered to finish disarming the bomb. His 293 00:15:07.159 --> 00:15:10.120 logic was, if this thing's going to go off, I'd 294 00:15:10.200 --> 00:15:12.639 rather it be quick than die slowly from whatever it's 295 00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:17.879 packed with. Miraculously, he succeeded disarm the whole thing, no casualties, 296 00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:21.679 no detonation. Now, every time his brother's phone rings, he 297 00:15:21.720 --> 00:15:25.519 always picks up, no matter what story ten. This didn't 298 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:28.399 happen to me directly, but to a close friend, and 299 00:15:28.440 --> 00:15:30.960 I was there when it happened. Two days before my 300 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:33.919 friend's mom passed away. She sat us down and out 301 00:15:33.960 --> 00:15:37.320 of nowhere, admitted to killing my friend's dad many years ago. 302 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:39.600 She said she found out he had been essaying a 303 00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:43.240 disabled neighbor's child, and after that she couldn't live with 304 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:46.960 letting it go unpunished, so she claimed she started feeding 305 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:49.799 him rap poison. Now what's wild is that no one 306 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:53.120 ever suspected her. Everyone thought he just came down with 307 00:15:53.159 --> 00:15:56.240 some mysterious illness. He was in the hospital for about 308 00:15:56.240 --> 00:15:59.279 a month before he died, So we asked her, wait, 309 00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:01.879 but he was in the hospital for weeks. Wouldn't they 310 00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:04.639 have figured it out. She just looked at us and said, 311 00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:07.240 that's why I told him not to eat that horrible 312 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:11.000 hospital food. I brought him food myself every day. We 313 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:13.720 were all just stunned, no idea if it was true 314 00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:16.120 or if she was just saying something wild at the end. 315 00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:18.960 But she passed two days later and no one ever 316 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:21.679 brought it up again. Whether it was a real confession 317 00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:24.639 or something her mind created near the end, I honestly 318 00:16:24.679 --> 00:16:27.320 don't know, but it stuck with all of us ever since. 319 00:16:27.879 --> 00:16:31.440 Story eleven. This one came from my great grandmother, and 320 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:33.960 she was in her final days, completely out of it 321 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:37.360 on pain meds, and started having conversations with people who 322 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:40.440 weren't there. At one point, she began talking to me 323 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:43.720 but called me deb which is my aunt's name, so 324 00:16:43.720 --> 00:16:46.279 she thought I was someone else entirely. And then she 325 00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:49.720 just casually said her youngest nephew wasn't actually her nephew, 326 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:52.759 he was her great nephew. The woman he believed to 327 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:56.159 be his oldest sister was actually his biological mother. I 328 00:16:56.200 --> 00:16:58.480 didn't say a word about it at the time, just 329 00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:01.720 let it slide and keep my mouth shut. Honestly, I 330 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:03.919 wasn't even sure if it was just the med's talking. 331 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:08.000 Fast forward about two years, her sister passed away, and 332 00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:10.519 in the fallout, the truth came out from the niece, 333 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:13.799 who was actually the guy's mom. She finally admitted it 334 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:17.160 to him and it tore the family apart, huge fallout. 335 00:17:17.559 --> 00:17:21.200 People stopped speaking to each other, old wounds reopened, and 336 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:24.680 it turned into full blown family warfare. So, yeah, she 337 00:17:24.759 --> 00:17:29.200 wasn't just rambling. That confession was very real. Story twelve. 338 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:32.359 I was stationed in Hawaii when that infamous ballistic missile 339 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:35.240 alert came through, the one that said this is not 340 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:38.880 a drill. For a few long, horrifying minutes, we all 341 00:17:38.920 --> 00:17:42.119 thought it was real. At first, there was this eerie calm. 342 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:45.000 I had just been sipping my coffee and scrolling through 343 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:49.240 Warhammer subreddits, enjoying a lazy Saturday morning. Then my phone 344 00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:51.720 lit up with that alert. My brain did a hard 345 00:17:51.759 --> 00:17:54.319 switch from weekend mode toll we might all die in 346 00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:57.880 the next twenty minutes. I immediately called my wife. She 347 00:17:58.039 --> 00:17:59.920 was working up on the North Shore at the time, 348 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:02.920 a solid distance away from where we lived on base, 349 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:05.480 so there was no realistic way to reach each other 350 00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:08.680 in time. I gave her a rundown of what to do. Immediately, 351 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:12.319 get to shelter, avoid windows, stay underground if she could, 352 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:15.000 and told her to call her family. Then I called 353 00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:17.839 my parents, who live on the East Coast. I told 354 00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:20.319 them not to panic, that I loved them and that 355 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:23.200 no matter what happened, they'd always meant the world to me. 356 00:18:23.720 --> 00:18:26.000 But I also told them I had to hang up Rachel. 357 00:18:26.039 --> 00:18:28.680 My wife was out there alone and I needed to 358 00:18:28.680 --> 00:18:31.640 make sure she was okay. I called her back. She 359 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:33.920 was trying to keep it together, but I could hear 360 00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:36.440 the fear in her voice. I just talked to her, 361 00:18:36.680 --> 00:18:39.119 told her how much I loved her, reminded her of 362 00:18:39.160 --> 00:18:42.319 the best moments we'd had together, tried to keep her grounded. 363 00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:44.680 I didn't know what else to do, so I just 364 00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:47.480 stayed on the line while sipping RUMs straight from the bottle. 365 00:18:47.960 --> 00:18:50.119 It felt like we were either minutes away from death 366 00:18:50.519 --> 00:18:53.839 or about to be launched into war. Either way, everything 367 00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:58.599 was about to change. But nothing happened, no impact, no shockwave. 368 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:01.960 Eventually we found out someone had hit the wrong button. 369 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:05.319 It was all just a mistake, a very public, very 370 00:19:05.400 --> 00:19:09.640 terrifying mistake. It was a huge relief, of course, nervous laughter, 371 00:19:10.200 --> 00:19:13.559 some anger, but oddly it also brought us all closer. 372 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:16.640 What messed with me most was how normal everything had 373 00:19:16.680 --> 00:19:20.279 felt just moments before. One second, I was enjoying a 374 00:19:20.359 --> 00:19:23.519 quiet morning. Next I was trying to soothe my wife 375 00:19:23.559 --> 00:19:26.160 through what we thought were our final moments and prepping 376 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:29.200 to head to war. We joke about it now, between 377 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:33.559 surviving twenty twelve, the Great Recession, that missile crisis, and 378 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:36.079 a global pandemic, it kind of feels like we've been 379 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:39.160 running through a cursed timeline. But hey, we're still here. 380 00:19:39.720 --> 00:19:43.160 Story thirteen. When I was younger, my grandfather on my 381 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:46.920 dad's side fell seriously ill and was hospitalized with what 382 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:50.480 turned out to be tuberculosis. At the time, things were 383 00:19:50.519 --> 00:19:53.519 tense in our family. My grandfather had always been a 384 00:19:53.640 --> 00:19:57.279 very strict, traditional man. He had strong ideas about how 385 00:19:57.279 --> 00:19:59.960 people should live their lives, and he pushed those expects 386 00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:03.559 hard on both my dad and to a lesser extent, me. 387 00:20:04.119 --> 00:20:07.359 It created a lot of resentment over the years, especially 388 00:20:07.400 --> 00:20:10.880 between him and my father. Anyway, there was a moment 389 00:20:10.920 --> 00:20:13.599 in the hospital when he genuinely thought he was dying. 390 00:20:14.039 --> 00:20:16.279 He pulled my Dad aside and for the first time 391 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:19.680 in his life opened up. He told him, I'm sorry 392 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:22.160 for being a terrible father to you, my son. I 393 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:25.160 pushed too hard, forced my beliefs on you and your boy, 394 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:27.880 and I know you both resented me for it. I 395 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:30.720 was too strict, and I see that now. Maybe this 396 00:20:30.839 --> 00:20:33.559 illness is karma, or maybe it's a wake up call, 397 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:35.640 but let it be a lesson to both of us. 398 00:20:36.119 --> 00:20:38.920 I love you. It hit my dad pretty hard. He 399 00:20:39.000 --> 00:20:41.480 wasn't the kind of man to cry or show emotion much, 400 00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:44.759 but I could tell those words meant something. For years, 401 00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:48.079