re: What Was Your Closest Brush With Death?

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Shot at in Grenada, Philippines, Brazil and Panama

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OJC? Who were you there with? I was in the 82nd at the time.


Not counting the military because its hard to judge how close I was because I was never actually touched, I still have a laundry list because I have always been an adrenaline junky. One that was very close that I don't think I have ever told here:

My climbing partner and I had been climbing all day on Table Rock in Linville Gorge and at the end of the day we decided to climb out instead of hiking around. There was a very easy route (maybe 5.7/5.8) we usually used. My partner climbed out and set up a belay. I started to climb out and I noticed my backpack with our racks/extra ropes and gear was top heavy because I was lazy when I packed it. No biggie just had to be aware of my unusual center of gravity. The crux of the climb is about 80 feet up and slightly overhanging. As I was shifting my weight out a bit to reach over the overhand to a nice fat thank-God hold I leaned back too far and came off. I was also off to the left of the belay so the rope slide across the edge of the overhang. We were stupidly (hubris mainly) using a 1/2 of a double rope system* and as the rope slide across the rock it was ripping through the mantle into the kern. You NEVER want to see the white fluffy kern (core) of a climbing rope! So now I am hanging in space 70' off the ground by a half rope that was cut well into the kern. Because of the overhang, I could not get back to the rock so my partner had to lower me. About 15' off the ground the rope snapped and I dropped. A turned ankle and getting scratched up were the extent of my injuries. Had it happened a few minutes earlier I would have been toast.

I made the long walk of shame around to meet my partner at the truck and noticed his shirt had a distinct line on the back and both hands had burn marks on the palms... my partner that I trusted my life with had not set up a belay anchor and was just butt belaying me up. I gave him the WTF look and he just said "you weren't supposed to fall dumbass". We climbed thousands of routes over decades and that was one of our closest calls, though there are a handful of incidents while ice, alpine, and rock climbing that were basically just as sketchy.


*double rope systems in rock climbing are two smaller diameter ropes designed to be used in pairs on meandering routes clipped into alternate pieces of protection to reduce friction. They are not as strong as single-rope or twin-rope systems.

Almost hit by a car while crossing LA 182 just north of Washington ,La. on foot.

I was in the 1st grade.

Same for me except in a lake duck hunting. Cold AF.

2nd marriage

I was wasted and had to pull myself up from a complete hanging position to keep from falling to my death. If I was even a modicum less in shape I wouldve died as I was barely able to pull myself up. I was so winded I had to sit on top of the particle board scaffolding for a long period of time to regain my strength. I got to stare at the drop that wouldve caused my death.

Held at gun point a few times. Flipped a truck and a 3-Wheeler.

Was doing about 55 down a highway , turned to look at something and veered right , my side view mirror hit a telephone pole and got knocked off.

Maybe not death but woulda been ugly

Right after I had my kidney removed after all the cancer treatment, I landed in ICU at Tulane for a week because my blood pressure would not stay up - like 60/30 range. I passed out several times from it but never flatlined.

Posted about it before: getting robbed with a knife at my throat by 3 white guys in a Mississippi soybean field just about this time of the year. The knife wielder wanted to kill me and did leave about 9 slits across my throat but the other 2 wouldn’t let him.

They thought since I opened for business (fireworks stand) I had to have a bunch of seed $ for making change and stuff. Those stands start with $100 with like $65 of it in coin.

Guess the next closest would be falling asleep driving 70+ on a narrow snakey E. TX 2 lane highway. Right tires dropped off the pavement onto soft shoulder to wake me just in time to avoid hitting a concrete bridge and get back on the highway.

Or it could be freshman year at LaTech driving back from Christmas in Memphis with my sister (transferred to NLU Funroe) in her little red 82 Toyota Tercel that got zero road feel through the steering. Took I 40 to Little Rock and turned left to head south to Ruston down US 165. In central AR it was a nice wide 2-lane blacktop with slow winding curves. Pretty drive usually but this time was a slow steady rain. Traffic was sporadic and clumped together as usual in bad weather.

As we started into a long slow curve to the left there was a cluster of 3 cars coming. I got about 1/3 of the way into the curve when my eye catches the rear end starting to break loose out of the side mirror. We ended up doing a complete 360 drifting/sliding between the 1st 2 oncoming cars and stopping perfectly parked facing south on the opposite shoulder.