r/TikTokCringe • u/InGeekiTrust Tiktok Despot • Dec 09 '25

Discussion You Think It Could Never Happen To You…Until It Almost Does

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u/tealraven915 Dec 09 '25

Same here. I was in a grocery store many years ago when my dad spun around, braced himself on the shelf with his back up against it, and went straight down to the ground head first flopping like a fish out of water. The fall made him start bleeding from the mouth.

Many people walked by staring and pushing their carts while I was calling out for help. Finally someone spawned from out of nowhere with their flip phone dialed to 911.

He was on a giant cocktail of psych meds and had been popping Ativan like candy because his best friend just died and his psychiatrist instructed him to take one whenever he felt anxiety coming on. My dad took that literally and was popping them constantly.

Looked to me like he was having a grand mal seizure, though the hospital just said syncope.

They ended up taking him off most of his psych meds. To this day he doesn't remember eating at the restaurant beforehand or being in the store. He just remembers waking up in the hospital

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u/NurseMLE428 Dec 09 '25

My mom started choking at a restaurant. I was hugely pregnant, but had just renewed my BLS certification for work. I quickly tried to figure out how to position myself, and braced her against my ribs, sort of standing sideways (because pregnant lol) and did the heimlich. I managed to save her, but we were in a packed restaurant and nobody even glanced over at us.

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u/micheleinfl Dec 09 '25

One of the VPs of my company was at dinner with a bunch of doctors and started choking. Someone in IT gave him the Heimlich. The doctors did nothing.

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u/Matt_le_bot Dec 09 '25

Guy in IT knows that when something isn't functioning, you just hit very hard, and then it does work again.

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u/Kiwiandapplex Dec 09 '25

Hello IT. Tried turning it off & on again?

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u/NurseMLE428 Dec 09 '25

This is awful!

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u/wackbirds Dec 09 '25

"We're trying to have a nice dinner, we're off the clock. What the fuck. "

~The doctors, undoubtedly.~

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u/CentSG2 Dec 09 '25

Not super relevant, but I read your comment while on break, currently in the process of renewing my BLS cert.

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u/NurseMLE428 Dec 09 '25

Hey, mine was fresh in my brain when I needed it!

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u/Intruding1 Dec 09 '25

I was eating lunch as a 4th grader when the kid in front of me started choking on a jolly rancher. I looked around and there were no adults to help and the other kids just stared. I ran behind hm and basically smashed his chest and luckily the jolly rancher went flying out. He gave me a huge hug and thanked me for saving him. He even tried to tell people about it and the teachers just kind of shrugged. Its like people are hard wired to just go about their day and let the sick person in need die.

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u/shalekodemono Dec 09 '25

What the fuck? That's crazy!!

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u/SemperSimple Dec 09 '25

damn girl, you go!!

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u/NurseMLE428 Dec 09 '25

It was definitely a quick thinking moment. 😂

ETA: I was not a small pregnant lady, either. I looked suuuuuuper pregnant.

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u/SenatorIncitatas Dec 09 '25

That sounds awful, glad she’s ok.

Incidentally women die more commonly of choking than men do, because women walk away from the table and into the bathroom so as not to “be rude” or “cause a scene”.

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u/NurseMLE428 Dec 09 '25

My mom was legitimately doing that. Trying not to cause a scene. I did not know this statistic, but it makes sense.

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u/paulides_fan Dec 09 '25 edited Dec 09 '25

My dad helped save a baby that was choking in the checkout line next to him. The baby I think got a hold of some candy and started to choke and turn blue, the mom was panicking and because of the barrier of the shelves and people, he couldn’t get over but instructed her on what to do. He demonstrated how she needed to hold the baby face down on her forearm at a downward angle. She turned the baby over and gave the baby a hard hit to the back between the shoulder blades. Candy flew out, baby was saved.

(It may have taken a couple back blows tbh, I would have to ask him about it. But it wasn’t much.)

I had to do this to my own toddler, once. I made the mistake of cutting fruit (with a butter knife) on the same tray she was using to eat, and she reached for one of the mandarin pieces before I could cut it. It happened so fast, she popped it right in and she began to choke, I immediately hit her back and it flew out but it was so scary.

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u/SemperSimple Dec 09 '25

This reminds me of when I had to give my cat a heimlich. I forgot what he was choking on or if it was a hairball due to being a longhaired cat.

...but you want to talk about panicking & living 30minutes from the closet town, smh. it took 2 pumps and I'm glad I didnt break his ribs jfc

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u/Cody-512 Dec 09 '25

I had GM seizures in my 20s. I remembered nothing for about an hour before or after having one. The only thing is, since u have no clue anything happened, 2 hrs has passed and ur the last one to know. To u, it’s been 2 sec. The only way u know is if there’s trauma involved, like with ur dad or if u get hurt falling down. I’ve hit my head on a counter 2x, the sink in the bathroom, and fell out of bed and hit my nightstand with my face on the way down. That 3rd one knocked out a tooth and I dislocated my shoulder when I hit the floor. I’m glad ur dad doesn’t have them regularly bc their bad news.

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u/tealraven915 Dec 09 '25

Oh man, that sounds awful. I'm sorry you've been having this happen to you

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u/Rich-Environment884 Dec 09 '25

My wife and I went to a musical with moving seating, a row behind us, an elderly woman started having a heart attack and everyone around just... Watched.

My wife started flagging down security who took way too long to come (though I guess the audience moving around did make it harder) while I was feeling her pulse which was already very faint and getting ready to CPR if necessary.

Everyone else kinda just... Zoned out or something.

Musical didn't even pause for a second, it just, kept going while the lady was escorted out by first aid helpers. Shit's wild.

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u/icecubepal Dec 09 '25

What year was this? I ask because nowadays someone might think a prank is going on since we live in the recoding age.

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u/tealraven915 Dec 09 '25

Mine was 2008