When I was growing up, I used to make fun of my mother for being scared of seemingly everything. I felt invincible as a kid, and I couldn’t understand why playing in the park alone, swimming without adult supervision, driving home after midnight and leaving a candle burning when I left the house was so dangerous. As an adult, however, I’ve become painfully aware of how many dangers are lurking around us at all times.
Redditors have recently been discussing seemingly harmless yet potentially fatal things that most of us don’t worry about at all, so we’ve gathered some of the most frightening replies below. Good luck getting through this list without unlocking some new fears, and be sure to upvote the things you’ll be extra careful with in the future!
#1
My wife and I were at a Cracker Barrel and my wife ordered a salad. She asked for no bacon. She explained to the waiter that it was a bad allergy.
Food is delivered and there is bacon on the salad. We send it back and reiterate the health implications. The waiter brings it back, and it was clearly the same salad as before but with the bacon scraped off. Some bacon pieces were still in the bottom of the bowl.
At this point I asked for the manager. I explained what happened, what we told his waiter, and then showed him the bacon on the plate that got returned to us.
He looked furious. Excused himself briefly and returned with a fresh salad. Assured us he made it himself and to not worry. Then be disappeared with the waiter for five minutes. I don’t know what he said, but the waiter was visibly down the remainder of the evening.
My wife winds up spending an entire day puking with an agonizing migraine and severe pain under every joint in her body after contact with any pork (gelatin and chemical derivatives included).
Other people aren’t so lucky and go into anaphylaxis.
Just don’t cross contaminate food or assume someone is just being picky… You might kill them.
Image source: littlesweetiebabe, Valeria Boltneva / pexels (not the actual photo)
#2
Cars. I see so many people driving recklessly and putting other people in danger just to get somewhere a little faster. These things weigh several tons, calm the f**k down!
Image source: mrmasturbate, JESHOOTS.com / pexels (not the actual photo)
#3
Former rural ER doctor here. Things that I have seen either nearly kill or actually kill someone:
1. Taking a d**g at a party/rave/concert/etc. Surprise – It’s got fentanyl or carfentanil in it. And now you’re dead or permanently brain damaged.
2. Sticking your hand/arm/leg/head out a window while the car is driving. This is how you either lose a limb or lose your head if you get in an accident or someone sideswipes you. Keep your body parts in the vehicle.
3. Not vaccinating your kid. Watching kids die or become permanently disabled because of preventable diseases is both the saddest and most infuriating things I’ve ever dealt with in my career. (If you want to rip on me about how much you hate vaccines, stfu and save it for someone who cares. I’m not interested and I won’t entertain your BS)
4. Medications that you should not forget: Your insulin. Your asthma medication. Your EpiPen. Your various heart medications. Your blood thinner. I’ve seen all these missed d***s end up in very serious consequences in the ER.
5. Not knowing the signs and symptoms of a stroke.
6. Drink/doing d***s & driving (Also – if you are going to get super drunk, I promise you that the absolute worse place to walk home is along a highway)
7. Looking at your phone & driving
8. Dropping tools/any item from high places. I’ve seen this happen once in a construction site, and he lived, but I’ve heard of those that have not.
9. Operating power tools. Doesn’t necessarily kill someone but it was the number one reason I was sewing people up or sending them to plastic surgeons.
10. Finally – please don’t get up on a ladder without properly securing/stabilizing it and having someone in the near vicinity to call 911 if you fall off it, instead of finding you several hours later….
Image source: PetiteCuteness, Edoardo Tommasini / pexels (not the actual photo)
#4
For the love of god, when you’re boiling water on the stove, turn the handles of your pots inward.
My grandmother’s sister, when she was a toddler, was running around with her arms in the air and smacked the handle of a pot of boiling water. The water poured all over her and she died a few days later from her injuries.
Because of that, all throughout my life it was drilled into me to a) use the back burners first and b) if you need to use the front burners, turn the handles in. It wasn’t until I became and adult and moved in with roommates/SO’s that I realized so many people don’t think to do that.
Image source: Aggressive_FIamingo, cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo)
#5
Bartender here. I yelled at a new bartender for improvising a recipe with grapefruit juice. Told them that’s the one you don’t improvise with unless requested. It messes with people’s medications. Not sure if it’s *kill* worthy but I’m not taking that gamble.
Image source: awakami, Studio Naae / pexels (not the actual photo)
#6
Stress.
FuzzyComedian638:
This should be higher. Even lower level stress over a long period of time can cause heart attacks or cancer.
Image source: StandbyBigWardog, Ron Lach / pexels (not the actual photo)
#7
Lollipops. When I was in first grade me and my siblings and cousins were messing around in my room, I was jumping up and down my bed with them with a lollipop in my mouth. Seconds after jumping and rough housing the candy suddenly dislodged from the stick.
The lollipop wasn’t even halfway melted. I just opened it about 10 seconds prior to it being dislodged from the stick so it was impossible to swallow. I quickly jumped out of bed in panic. They all started laughing because they thought I was making a funny face until one of them realized I was choking. Luckily, my younger sister caught on quickly, went out and ran after my mother who was one shoe away from going out of the house for work.
My mother rushed in and tried to make me gag by fishing the candy out from my mouth, but it was too deep so she performed a heimlich instead which caused the candy to “pop” out. 5 yr old me would’ve died that day if my 4 yr old sister didn’t realize I was choking, and was minutes late into getting my mother.
Image source: fgzz_i, Tatiana Fet / pexels (not the actual photo)
#8
Cheerleading. I had an accident and almost died because one of my teammate’s lost balance while I was on top, and that caused me to fall. That fall broke my neck and I haven’t been able to walk or move most of my body ever again.
Image source: Glum_Benefit3704, Ashley Williams / pexels (not the actual photo)
#9
Riding a bike/skateboard/roller skates without a helmet. Your skull is going to crack like an egg when it hits the pavement. Heck, you can die just from falling over standing still. In 20 years of cycling I’ve seen so many fools seriously hurt themselves. For me, it doesn’t matter if I’m riding 100 miles or 10 feet. If I’m on the bike and it’s moving, the helmet goes on.
Image source: awtcurtis, Katya Wolf / pexels (not the actual photo)
#10
I made garlic infused olive oil once. Left it out because that’s how I always saw it on people counters. Used it a few weeks later. Botulism. Was out for four whole days writhing in pain with nothing left to expel. Turns out, I could have died.
samizdat1:
It’s specifically the combination of garlic and oil that is the issue here. The only other time that botulism can be threatening for most people is improperly stored home-canned foods.
Most of the time, you leave food out at unsafe temps for too long and bacteria that can make you sick will grow on it. Clostridium botulinum is a bacteria that is relatively common in the wild, but not very competitive; meaning that when you leave food out, odds are a different bacteria will outcompete it. This is a good thing because given enough time and food, the botulinum bacteria will produce botulinum toxin, one of the deadliest substances on the planet.
But clostridium botulinum thrives in low oxygen environments such as oil, garlic is low acidity meaning it’s the perfect place for botulinum bacteria to grow, and room temp is the perfect temperature for them. When you combine these factors, you create one of the few situations where your food might end up with botulinum toxin in your improperly stored foods, instead of a more common bacteria that might give you an upset stomach but probably not kill you.
Image source: Zabroccoli, Dan Phiffer / flickr (not the actual photo)
#11
Going to include very few details because I don’t want to ever deal with him finding this post. I have a friend who is the most loving and gentle father to his kids that he could be. Pure love for his family ever since he became a parent.
All the kids are very young, one of them was maybe 3 and like toddlers do they tend to explore and go wherever they can.
One of those simple activities we all do every day without thinking about it.
One day in the morning ready to go to work, he backs his car out of the garage, stops in the driveway because he forgot something inside. In between those slight hectic moments of being late, going in and out of a door, his 3 year old wanders out into the garage, and just outside.
My friend returned to the car, puts it in reverse ready to hurry to work like any other day, and bumps into his child who just happens to be in a blind spot near the corner of the bumper.
He was only going maybe 3-4 mph but for a child’s head, that’s all it takes to create severe trauma that became a brain bleed situation and he passed a couple hours later in the hospital.
This is a man who has lived life the right way and helped people every chance I’ve ever known, but this world is just an absolutely harsh, random b***h.
Image source: Kronography, Brett Sayles / pexels (not the actual photo)
#12
Allergies! A guy at work didn’t believe a coworker had a deadly peanut allergy and had to try it out. The victim had luck that the medical center in our company has a doctor and medicine.
HiddenA:
I have a friend who has an extreme nut allergy. He ordered a soy latte once… the shop was apparently out of soy and substituted almond milk.
He fortunately noticed it tasted off immediately, and asked the barista who said ‘We were out of soy. Almond milk is better for you anyway.’ And when he had to go to the bathroom to make himself puke, she responded that he was just ‘overreacting.’
He did talk to a manager eventually but after making sure he was healthy/okay/not dying.
Image source: Golemfrost, Karolina Kaboompics / pexels (not the actual photo)
#13
Swallowing a button battery, it can cause fatal internal burns.
Image source: your_digitalGF, Lead holder
#14
A dental infection. I went to grief support meetings, and a woman there lost her son to an impacted tooth that spread infection to his brain.
guylinerapologist:
This is why seeing those ‘veneer techs’ pop up drives me insane. Some of them are putting veneers/crowns over decay not knowing (or not caring) that it will probably create an abscess or infection. It is so dangerous.
Image source: jefuchs, Arvind Philomin / pexels (not the actual photo)
#15
Getting drunk going to sleep and choking on your own vomit. Always lay your drunk friends on their side, and lift their chin to open their airway. DO NOT lay them on their backs, friend died aged 32.
Image source: K8syk8, MART PRODUCTION / pexels (not the actual photo)
#16
Don’t use water on an oil fire. (Should be common knowledge)
Fine dust clouds can explode when introduced to flame, especially in confined spaces. Ex: dropping a bag of flour while using a gas stove top in a small kitchen.
Image source: Z0V4, Higor Marques / pexels (not the actual photo)
#17
Ladders. People think you have to fall far to get hurt or die. 8 feet is plenty.
Image source: Ancient-Valuables, Rafael De Lancer / pexels (not the actual photo)
#18
Pissed off or frightened livestock. Cows alone kill nearly two dozen people a year in the U.S. Hell, just the other day a sheep killed a man and his wife in New Zealand.
Image source: gniyrtnopeek, Min An / pexels (not the actual photo)
#19
Playing in a deep hole at the beach.
Strongpa:
I had a friend who had a holiday job in construction as a student. One day he dug a trench which collapsed on him, and he was dug out by his crew. It was about midday but they all knocked off for the day and went to the pub where they all got drunk, which he thought was great as they were buying. When he asked if it was some sort of tradition they explained that usually, the person caught in the trench didn’t survive.
vaexorn:
We had a very scary close call with friends. We dug a hole for hours, it was like three metres deep. All of a sudden one of the sides crumbled, burying one of my friends from the waist down. It was impossible for him to move. Needless to say, we got him out and closed the hole ASAP.
Image source: GuiltyLawyer, Francesco Ungaro / pexels (not the actual photo)
#20
Being shoved.
Seen too many videos of fights/scuffles where someone is shoved or punched, and the trip on concrete and suffer fatal TBIs hitting their head on concrete.
The brain is fragile. Protect it.
Image source: theblackshell, Chandri Anggara / pexels (not the actual photo)
#21
Slipping down the stairs.
Yes some people know stairs can be dangerous. But many don’t realize how deadly residential stairs can be.
Image source: Parking_War_4100, Pixabay / pexels (not the actual photo)
#22
Withdrawing cold turkey from alcohol when you’re a very heavy drinker.
33LinAsuit:
I was convinced I could do it at home on my own, my therapist talked me into going to detox. I’m glad I did, because even with all the meds I still had a seizure. I think I may have died if I did it at home
Image source: nj-rose, cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo)
#23
A trampoline. It’s actually the number one most dangerous children’s “toy”.
Image source: dma1965, Karolina Kaboompics / pexels (not the actual photo)
#24
Vending machines. People usually rock or tilt it in an effort to get something out but it can end up falling and crushing them to death. Apparently they kill more people than sharks per year.
Image source: CleanPerspective9746, Quỳnh Lê Mạnh / pexels (not the actual photo)
#25
A high pressure puncture wound/ high pressure injections.
Imagine you’re wearing all your PPE, got your goggles, your gloves, etc. And you’re working with high pressure liquids, I’m not talking cutting steel with water jets, just something with high enough pressure that can pierce or puncture the skin. And bang, you get a little stab from a pressurized fluid source. Not even bleeding that much, if at all, sometimes it’s just a little sting, but you go to medical and get the assistance and after a day, your hand is sore but otherwise fine. If you obtain one of these injuries and don’t alert the medical staff, you typically lose the limb. It can be just as bad with water/steam as with chemicals. This was a safety moment at my company due to a mechanic getting a pinprick while changing a line. While he went for medical help, he didnt tell them it was a high pressure wound. As such, he progressively lost three fingers on his hand because the substances were blasted into muscle tissues and cause necrosis, slowly.
bryrod:
Not fluids, but I had a teacher in the union who had a nail in his brain. He was an elevator worker and was shooting very, very thin nails into the shaft to reinforce certain parts. He said one sparked, and he thought nothing of it. When he came up, his buddy noticed a tiny hole and crack in his glasses and told him he needed to get it checked out. The teacher insisted he probably just dropped them earlier, but the coworker made him go to the ER.
Of course, they found a three-inch nail in his brain and couldn’t remove it. It’s a miracle it never affected him or anything. He was the one who got me to buy ballistic safety glasses that can stop a .22 mag. I wear them every day.
Image source: Daft_Funk87, Angela Roma / pexels (not the actual photo)
#26
Dont ration your water if you get lost in the woods. Many hikers die of dehydration with a backpack full of water.
Image source: Dick_butt14, Katya Wolf / pexels (not the actual photo)
#27
Party buses. My wife’s cousin was on one a couple of years ago. They were all dancing on the bus while it was driving on the 101 freeway in LA and she slipped and fell against the door. The door gave way and she fell out of the bus at freeway speeds and was immediately run over by a car. There wasn’t much left of her, closed casket for sure. She was celebrating her 30th birthday but instead she died and left behind 5 kids all under 10.
Image source: bowlskioctavekitten, Michael Discenza / unsplash (not the actual photo)
#28
A grape.
My wife had a friend/coworker whose young daughter choked to death in front of her and her mother. They tried to dislodge the grape and nothing worked. By the time an ambulance got there, the girl was brain dead. It’s about the worst thing I can imagine as a parent.
We were cutting our kids’ grapes in half until they were 10 after that happening.
Image source: jpiro, Karolina Kaboompics / pexels (not the actual photo)
#29
Crowded balconies or decks. When they’re over capacity, they can collapse.
Image source: BackyardByTheP00L, Eren Li / pexels (not the actual photo)
#30
Resting your feet on the dashboard while sitting in the passenger seat.
Image source: ThankYouMrBen
#31
Flowing water inches deep can still have the strength to sweep you away if you’re not careful.
Image source: akumamatata8080, Munkee Panic / pexels (not the actual photo)
#32
Eating a slug, any slug, is almost certain death. Sometimes people dare people to eat stuff, don’t eat a slug.
Image source: 420farms, Leon Woods / pexels (not the actual photo)
#33
Confined spaces. If it only has one way in and out, especially if it is below ground, there is a very real possibility that there isn’t enough oxygen in there to support life. Even something as simple as rusting metal can remove the oxygen from the air and if there isn’t airflow going through the space the oxygen-depleted air won’t be replaced. Other processes can remove oxygen or produce actively toxic gases. This sort of thing often kills more than one person as the first person to find the victim goes in to rescue them and becomes the second victim.
Image source: SuspiciouslyMoist
#34
Riding a horse with no helmet. Concussions are no joke and will kill you. The amount of times that I see tik tok vids of kids and teens racing around on horses is horrific. Especially among Western riders. A cowboy hat will not protect your brain.
Honestly horses in general will kill you if you aren’t careful. A well placed kick to the face while picking out hind hooves is no joke. I’ve had a few near misses. .
Image source: Moosyfate17
#35
People don’t realize that a lot of people who die in house fires die in their sleep. The fire is too small to wake them from the heat alone or it’s farther away, yet it is releasing carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide along with a ton of other toxic fumes into the air. You are just sleeping breathing in that gas, which makes you even more tired and eventually completely unconscious, then dead.
Edit: hopefully it scared a few people into checking their fire alarms/CO detectors or scared a few people into installing some. If you don’t have them, this is a big PSA, fire alarms increase your survivability in a fire by a TON. Literally you have a 50% better chance of survival with one compared to those without, even better if you can get laser fire alarms. Get/check those alarms, and make a plan in case of fires, and get fire extinguishers/learn how and when to use them if you can afford too if not for you but those you care about in your home. Check your batteries! Wish you all the best.
Image source: Reddituser8018
#36
Mixing bleach and ammonia when you clean provinces toxic gas that will make you REALLY sick.
Curlyquinn02:
Mixing cleaning products is almost always a bad idea. It can be fatal and doesn’t even make them more effective. In some cases, it can even make the outcome about as useful as using water.
Image source: Any_Assumption_2023, Karolina Kaboompics / pexels (not the actual photo)
#37
Swimming pool covers.
About 20 years ago, my next door neighbor’s 14 year old daughter decided to walk across their inground pool’s cover.
It came loose, and she sunk, wrapped in a tarp. She drowned about ten feet away from her dad who was eating breakfast at the kitchen table at the time.
Image source: Superlite47
#38
Rags covered in linseed oil can spontaneously combust when left in a pile.
I randomly discovered this fact in a reddit post titled, “The new guy burned down our workshop.” A carpenter I know confirmed that this is a real thing.
I’ve been getting into refinishing old furniture, so I’m glad I learned this now. You’d think it’d be more common knowledge!
Image source: doctor_x
#39
Sleep apnea.
Famous_Lab8426:
The only reason my husband and I can afford our apartment is because the guy who had it before us died in it of sleep apnoea.
My husband also has horrible sleep apnea. He finally got a CPAP.
Image source: bruderbond, cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo)
#40
Hitting your head. r/TBI is full of stories about simple slips and falls that resulted in death (at least temporarily) and lasting effects. I simply fell on ice at work. Bam ! Unconscious, woke up saying “I was okay”. Got talked into getting in an ambulance. Started dying in the ambulance from a severe brain bleed. Coma, expected to die, survived. Lost most of my memory, emotional stability, the ability to easily make new memories, a ton of IQ. Still… in all “I’m not dead !”
Image source: cbelt3
#41
Not shutting off the power supply, while working on a wall outlet.
Image source: Jiggly-Grandma-Sex, Markus Spiske / pexels (not the actual photo)
#42
Poison hemlock. It sounds strange, but it grows everywhere, looks very similar to many common garden vegetables, and it’s lethal in very small amounts. I encourage you to familiarize yourself with the plant so you never mistake it for a vegetable.
Image source: LiminalValency
#43
More well known now, but strep can easily kill you if not taken care of. I had a friend in high school who didn’t really have their parents around or anyone looking after them. We had just graduated and they got diagnosed with mono but it seemed to linger. They were in a bad place honestly, and there was talk of d***s but in reality, it was just undiagnosed, untreated strep. They found her past out on the bathroom floor. She had gone over to her dad’s house to talk because she was having a bad night and I don’t think they ever even connected. He found her body. I think about her all the time. She would be 30 soon, but instead she’s forever 18.
Image source: Mysterious-Survey864
#44
Overdrinking water.
wherestherum757:
There was a radio contest at one point in the US somewhere; the competition was to chug (I forget the amount & time exactly) but something like a liter every x minutes
If you puked youre out. If you pissed, you’re out. Last one left won a Wii.
The lady that won died shortly after
19Thanatos83:
Hijacking your comment: Giving little babys water to drink. Doesnt have to be much, it kills them very easy.
Image source: Visual-Reception3072, Maurício Mascaro / pexels (not the actual photo)
#45
If you see somebody on the ground who has had an accident, don’t move them unless you have to. They could have a spinal injury. This is especially true about motorcyclists. Leave their helmet on. That helmet could be the only thing keeping their skull together at that moment. If you remove it they can die.
And for God’s sake, if you see someone bleeding profusely and you can’t get it to stop, reach for the tourniquet! But also don’t take that tourniquet off unless you were a licensed medical practitioner. And write the time…. It’s not super critical that you write the time, but allows the doctors to know how long the tourniquet’s been on and if they’re going to need special practices to filter the blood before they release the tourniquet.
Edit: If you see somebody on the ground who is in imminent danger, moving them is more important than spinal injury risks. Better than be paralyzed than burn to death. With that said, try not to mess with the helmet if you don’t have to. If they aren’t breathing, and you know how to make them start breathing again, pull the helmet. If they have filled the helmet full of vomit, pull the helmet… But also there’s quite a bit of space between my mouth and the chin of my helmet.
Image source: jking615
#46
Pressure washers are quite lethal.
Image source: anon, Tima Miroshnichenko / pexels (not the actual photo)
#47
A cracked toilet. Even if it isn’t leaking or doesnt seem like its a problem – Replace it immediately! Do not sit on it! If it breaks while you’re doing your business, that s**t will slice your leg/assmeat open like a razor! Broken porcelain is no joke especially when you put all your weight on it!
Edit to add: Only reason I know was an old post from r/watchpeopledie . Dude didn’t die but got seriously deep cuts in the butt/leg area.
Image source: deftoner42, Michaela Pereckas / flickr (not the actual photo)
#48
If potatoes are not stored properly and becomes rotten, it produces a toxic gas and can make a person unconscious if they’ve inhaled enough, and or even death in some cases. There was a news article back in 2013 of an entire family in Russia that was killed by it.
Image source: Moon_Jewel90, Pixabay / pexels (not the actual photo)
#49
Things under tension are dangerous. Like steel cables or something similar. When the tension is released it can cause harm.
Image source: jucay
#50
Pushing too hard while pooping.
annabananaberry:
This is how one of my friend’s dad died. He had existing heart problems and it caused a massive MI if I remember correctly.
Image source: whatsthatpidge, Miriam Alonso / pexels (not the actual photo)
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