We’ve all had a few brushes with death over the years. However, we’re willing to bet you haven’t had close calls quite like these 65 people.
For example, the guy who had a gigantic boulder roll right by his house one day. It caused some damage, sure, but it could have been so much worse. It’s actually a miracle that some of the people on this list are still alive.
Let’s all take a moment to be thankful that everyone is still here to laugh about these crazy situations now. In addition, we’ve thrown in a few less serious and downright funny ones in for your enjoyment as well and to lighten the mood a little bit.
1. Tree Roadblock
This driver narrowly avoided crashing into a fallen tree. He was literally one inch away from it. If his reaction time was any slower, he and his car would have been in big trouble.
2. Aquatic Life
It’s obvious that manta rays have no concept of personal space. This one almost swam into a free diver. Luckily, the woman was very flexible. Her last-minute maneuver saved the day.
3. Flying Objects
Everyone always stresses the importance of safety glasses when working on projects and this photo proves why. An angle grinder disc exploded and flew straight at the man’s face. The disc lodged itself in one of the lenses!
4. Smelly Land Mine
Some of the situations on this list are more serious than others. Here is one of the less-serious ones. A guy dropped his phone and it barely missed hitting a pile of poop. It was a super close call.
5. Crazy Baseball Game
Here we have a man whose arm is definitely going to be hurting tomorrow. However, the young boy’s face won’t be. The flying bat almost took the poor kid out!
6. Medicine Mix-Up
This person was seconds away from taking a laxative pill by accident instead of a sleep aid. It would have made for a very long night. Why would they make the boxes look so similar?
7. Accidental Motorcycle Stunt
When you crash a motorcycle, you’re pretty much guaranteed to end up in the hospital. Not if you’re this lucky rider though. He did a flip and landed unharmed on the roof of a moving car. It was like something out of an action movie.
8. Tough Phone
This photo might not look like much. However, it’s the result of a cellphone saving a man’s leg from a chainsaw. The blade cut threw his pants and into the side of the phone instead.
9. Valuable Coins
“My great-grandfather was shot in the chest by a German soldier during World War 1,” explains the photographer. “Luckily, the coins in his breast pocket absorbed the bullet and saved his life. You could say he didn’t need much money to survive.” It’s a pretty crazy story. A small handful of coins completely stopped the bullet.
10. Lucky Catch
The woman opened the fridge and this pitcher of red juice fell out. Miraculously, the handle got caught on the shelf and prevented it from spilling. It could have made quite a mess if it fell to the floor.
11. Windshield Collision
These sheets of metal went flying off the back of a truck and through the window of a car. Look at how close they came to the driver! A few feet to the right and they would have decapitated him. Yet, he walked away without a scratch.
12. Changing Fortunes
If you get a bad fortune in a fortune cookie, you might as well open another one to confirm it. Sometimes, you could luck out. Fate changes quickly and you never know what the future is going to bring.
13. Raining Trees
Here we have another car that managed to survive an encounter with a tree. It almost crushed the vehicle during a storm. However, the keyword is almost.
14. Risky Nap
This is a really dangerous spot for a cat to lay down and sleep. It’s especially true for black cats. They blend right in with the stove.
15. Toddler Obstacle
Here we have another really dangerous spot to sleep. The dad took a shower and when he got out he almost stepped on his son who had snuck into the bathroom and laid down. It was very close to being a painful accident.
16. Texting Confusion
There are a lot of ways text messages can be misinterpreted. It’s just not the same as talking in person. Luckily, this man figured out a clever way to save himself from embarrassment when things didn’t go as planned.
17. Near Miss
Imagine an ax flying at you going 70 miles an hour. It’s downright terrifying to think about it. Yet, that’s exactly what happened to this passenger.
18. Shark Encounter
A shark took a bite out of this woman’s back. However, it immediately let go. She was saved because of how fit she is. They say that sharks can detect your ratio of fat versus bone and muscle. If you are too skinny, they don’t consider you worth eating.
19. Wooden Spear
It’s never good to collide with a tree, even if you are in a Jeep. Just look at where this sharp branch ended up. It went right between the driver’s legs and stopped just in time.
20. Puncture Wound
Stepping on a nail is a pretty common accident. However, what happened to this man is not common at all. The nail pierced his skin, but just barely.
21. Slippery Boulder
Can you see what’s going on in this photo? Look closely. Do you see the pair of legs on the other side of the man in the red shirt? They belong to the man’s son. The man caught him right as he was falling face-first off of the boulder.
22. Balancing Act
Once you drop something down a street drain, it’s gone forever. However, this guy dropped his wedding band and it landed perfectly on the grate without falling in. His wife would have been so mad at him if he had lost it.
23. Wild Mudslide
“There was a mudslide just north of my town and this Caltrans truck driver had a very close call. To the left is the Pacific Ocean,” explains the witness. The driver almost got launched into a watery grave.
24. Brave Kid
They say you have to watch out for kids playing on the street when you are driving. This is why. Every once and a while, a small boy on a scooter will come flying out in front of your car. We have to say though, the kid weaves through traffic like a pro.
25. Tumbling Lumber
This photo has a very scary story behind it: “I work in lumber and had a customer shift a pile of 4″x4″x12’s that my hand was next to. One came tumbling down right on to my fingers. I heard a snap and thought my finger had lost the will to remain unbroken, turns out my tungsten carbide ring caught the full force, broke, but didn’t bend and potentially saved me a really chewed up finger. I’d rather replace a ring than a finger any day!”
26. Lucky Camera
Have you ever left something sitting on your car and drove off? That’s what this person did with their expensive camera. They managed to go for a twenty-minute drive and it never fell off!
27. Baby Rattler
It’s hard to tell in the photo, but this rattlesnake is extremely tiny. It’s only about the size of a silver dollar and doesn’t even have a rattle yet. The hiker was incredibly close to stepping on it.
28. Theft Attempt
Some potential accidents aren’t life-threatening, but they can still cause you a massive amount of problems. That’s what happened here. The man discovered a card reader attached to the ATM. It could have ruined him financially.
29. Almost Crushed
This cat looks exactly like the rug that it likes to sleep on. It makes it really easy to step on the cat. It is always one misstep away from getting flattened by the humans.
30. Safety First
Have you ever come close to sawing off your finger? That’s what happened here. However, luckily for the man’s thumb, the glove ended up taking the brunt of the damage.
31. Collapsing Street Light
These two car owners had a big scare when a giant light post came crashing down in the parking lot. Somehow, it fell exactly in the small space between the cars. It didn’t even touch them.
32. Potential Tail Injury
Cats are often completely unaware of their tails. The leave them hanging out in the most dangerous of places. For example, in the crack of a door that the owner is trying to close.
33. Parking Fail
“Being late to work saved my life. If I had left home 2 seconds earlier, this car would have fell on top of my head!” explains the man. It fell off of the second story of the parking garage and came flying down to the level below.
34. Sharp Screw
This screw managed to get lodged sideways in the tire without puncturing it. How lucky is that? The driver was so close to getting a flat.
35. Nail X-Ray
Other people got lucky with sharp objects as well. This man shot two nails into his leg with a nail gun. They barely missed his femur and kneecap. He walked away without any damage to his bones.
36. Burning Pillows
“If you’re feeling like a crappy parent, don’t worry, you’re doing better than I am!” writes the mom. “My kids almost started my house on fire today. I was only a few feet away talking to my husband. Thank god he looked over and saw that the stinkies piled pillows in front of our fireplace. It was smoking. It was terrifying.”
37. Full Sink
This could have resulted in a huge flood, but the woman returned just in the nick of time. She left her sink running on a small drip and went out of town for the weekend. When she got back, it was about to overflow.
38. Missing Keys
Losing your keys can be a huge hassle. This person came extremely close to having theirs fall down a storm drain. It almost caused them to have a heart attack!
39. Chop Chop
Here we have another man who almost cut his fingers off. Luckily, he just clipped off the tips of his safety gloves. They were slightly too big for his hand.
40. Stuck Knife
There is a reason that chefs don’t wear open-toed shoes in the kitchen. What if you spill some boiling oil or drop a knife like this woman did? She almost got stabbed!
41. Sewer Scare
It’s kind of annoying to have a big keyring on your set of car keys. However, sometimes it really comes in handy. For example, when you almost have your keys fall into a sewer but the keyring gets caught in the grate.
42. Eyes Glued Shut
On the right is a set of prescription eye drops. On the left is a bottle of nail glue. Can you imagine how bad it would be to accidentally get them confused?
43. Broken Glass
Here we have a pair of safety glasses with a glass shard lodged in them. We suppose it’s a really good thing that the man was wearing them. Otherwise, that glass shard would have been lodged in his eye.
44. Ice Cream Save
Eating ice cream can be quite dangerous. It’s especially true if it isn’t packed into the cone properly. You might have to pull a quick maneuver to save it like this woman did.
45. Bug Eater
Bugs are gross. However, it’s even grosser when you almost eat one of them. The man was about to put the toothbrush in his mouth and spotted the insect in between the bristles.
46. Speeding Truck
This truck came rolling down the highway and the pedestrians took off running. It’s a good thing that they were paying attention. It was heading right for them.
47. Typhoon Damage
It’s hard to see how this even happened. The winds from the typhoon in Taiwan caused the tree to bend into a really weird shape and fall over. Somehow, it still didn’t hit the parked vehicle.
48. Sketchy Stick
Who knew that sharp sticks could be so dangerous? This one nearly went into a man’s foot. It stabbed through the side of the sole of his shoe instead though.
49. Ranch Coffee
What would happen if you ran a cup of ranch dressing through a Keurig coffee machine? We’re not sure, but this woman almost found out. She noticed her mistake just in time.
50. Split Wood
The way this tree literally split in half is pretty wild. However, what’s even wilder is how it didn’t hit any of the cars. It is essentially balanced above them on a couple of toothpicks.
51. Wrong Name
“I work at a burger joint where customers fill out their order on a ticket and they put their name on it. When the food comes out we call the name on the ticket. Almost slipped up on Curt’s order today,” explains the cook. He was very close to having a very angry customer.
52. Tight Parking
This Jeep’s tow hitch almost hit the bumper of a car. It couldn’t have gotten any closer. It makes us cringe just looking at the photo.
53. Dogg Butt Thermometer
Some thermometers are for people and some are for dogs, specifically, a part of dogs that no human wants to have contact with. The person noticed the label at the last moment before putting it in their mouth.
54. Almost Blew Up
When soda cans heat up in cars, all sorts of crazy things can happen. Sometimes, they become ticking time bombs. If you don’t reach them in time, they will slowly swell up until they eventually explode.
55. Bathroom Emergency
Running out of toilet paper is a lot of people’s worst nightmare. If it happens, all you can hope for is that someone else will come to your rescue. In this case, it was the person in the stall next to the man who saved him.
56. Dangerous Sport
Ice skates are very sharp on the bottom. They can cut through anything, including the necks of other hockey players. This guy was super lucky that the skate didn’t strike him a few inches lower.
57. On The Edge
There is essentially no guard rail on this road. However, the little curb managed to stop a car from tumbling off of the cliff anyway. It’s a miracle that everyone walked away from the accident unharmed.
58. Fire Inspection
The fire department found these wires melting together on one of their routine inspections. It was a close call. The wires were days away from burning down the building.
59. Hole In One
Getting hit with a golf ball can be really painful. As you can see, golfballs move with a lot of force. This stray shot made a hole in the side of a man’s beer can while he was drinking it on the course.
60. Captain’s Orders
Big ships typically aren’t supposed to go under bridges. It can be pretty risky to do so, especially in turbulent waters. This cruise ship did it anyway though and barely made it through.
61. Snowed In
This driver feared that his car was done for when a tree toppled over right in front of him. It wasn’t until the snow cleared that he realized how lucky he was. The car was completely fine.
62. Deep Mud
Wellington boots are great for walking through mud, as long as the mud isn’t deeper than the boot. This person stepped in a puddle that went right up to the top edge but not quite over it. She almost sunk in!
63. Construction Chaos
This backhoe almost fell off of the side of the building. It was a really close call. The real question though is how it ever got up there in the first place.
64. Shocking Situation
We didn’t even notice what was going on in this picture at first. Then we looked in the top left corner. A bolt of lightning struck a tree directly adjacent to the field!
65. Dropped Dart
Playing with darts is inherently dangerous. They have sharp needle-like points on the ends of them. They can take an eye out, or if you drop them, they can almost jab through your toes.
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