Have You Ever Been Part Of Or Witnessed A Disaster?

[mickd1961]

I don’t think I’ve ever come close.

As a child I saw a van run over two old ladies on a zebra crossing and even 50 years later I can see them old dears covered in blood.

A kid was once knocked over outside a shop I was calling on in Compton, Wolverhampton and I had to make the only 999 call of my life and my mind went completely blank as to what junction it had happened at 😫

I often wonder if I’d completely fall apart if I was in a plane crash or a tsunami or a 9/11 situation.

Anyone here been involved in a major event or come very close to having been at one, maybe something that made the news?

[Albionic68]

I was present for every cup game and all but one league game in the largely disastrous season of 2017-2018. This made the news.

I've also been a part of numerous personal disasters, none of which made the news as such but I was featured on the news in a follow up story to one which I won't be going into.

Remember the IRA bomb that didn't go off near New Street Station and Hurst Street in the late 90s?

I was in a glass fronted restaurant around the corner from where the bomb was found whilst in the company of my wife and very good friends of ours.

Had the bomb detonated our son probably would never have been born and I would not be here to make this post.

[Baggiemadguern]

I was present for every cup game and all but one league game in the largely disastrous season of 2017-2018. This made the news.

I've also been a part of numerous personal disasters, none of which made the news as such but I was featured on the news in a follow up story to one which I won't be going into.

Remember the IRA bomb that didn't go off near New Street Station and Hurst Street in the late 90s?

I was in a glass fronted restaurant around the corner from where the bomb was found whilst in the company of my wife and very good friends of ours.

Had the bomb detonated our son probably would never have been born and I would not be here to make this post.

Attended many disasters through work in a previous role but was also in London on the failed July bombings on the 21 July 2005. We were in Hammersmith Hospital as my daughter was there for tests etc. Could not have mobiles on in hospitals back then. There was a television on and we were aware something had gone on as the cricket was interrupted for a news bulletin. Apparently one of the failed devices was discarded in the properties next to the hospital/ Wormwood scrubs area.

Long story short, we got back to our hotel the centre of London quite late that evening, thanks to a helpful great taxi driver. Traffic was at a standstill outside the hospital. We tried booking a taxi but to no avail, London was in gridlock. I saw a taxi and spoke to the driver who said we were welcome to get in and he would try to get out and around London and get us to where we were staying. It was slow moving but about an hour and a half later we got there. He did not even charge us anything like what was on the meter. Helicopters were flying over well into the night, so we did not get much sleep.

The worst thing was for me this was two weeks after the first London bombings on the 7 July, and my good lady said we should cancel our daughters appointment and wait a whileI had a hard time convincing her there was nothing to suggest there would be another attack in London. She does not let me forget how wrong I was on occasions.

[DaveP67 is back!]

I was very lucky to miss the 7/7 bombings in London, at the time I worked a short walk from Aldgate usually exiting at about 8:30am, morning of the 7th I had a meeting in Canary Wharf at 9 so came out of Aldgate earlier, by the time a colleague and I had got out of a taxi at Canary Wharf news of the suicide bombings had started to break, meeting was cancelled and London effectively closed, had to walk-in from Canary Wharf to Finsbury Park to get a train out, took hours, very surreal so many people walking in the same direction to get out. Was only later that afternoon when I watched the news that I realised how lucky I was, the bomb that went off at Aldgate was about the time I usually got off!!

[baggieal]

Yes when I was a resort rep for Horizon Holidays in Fuerteventura being a guide on an excursion a car went round a bend too fast and went down an embankment. What I saw in that car of three people inside will live with me for life and had nightmares for a long time after.

[SCOOP115]

I was lierally driving past the Restaurant in Dartmouth Square when they had part of the roof parapet fall off into the pavement and road. I thought "should I stop" but then though it would probably only add to the problems. It was only a little later that I found out a young kiddie had been killed by the falling masonry. Realise there was nothing I could have done, but still felt very guilty about not stopping.

[Joy_Division]

League Cup Final 1966. As a thir**** year old and someone who had never experienced being 2 up at half-time and then losing it seemed like a disaster to me when obviously when you get older you realise it wasn't. But then came my first marriage, now that was a f***ing disaster.

[SCOOP115]

I was also involved with dealing with the aftermath of the BM Plane crashat Donington Park anumber of years back (due to my involvemeent in the Motor Racing side of hings) Luckily it was a training flight with only 3 crew on board They were lucky that it was a Marshals training day that involved Rescue Crew (trained in using cutting and extraction equipment) and also doctors and paramedics who were all on the scene within about 5-10 minutes. I remember standing in a pool of dripping aviation fuel with a handheld fire extinguisher thinking " we are going to look pretty silly and be in a bit of trouble if this lot goes up" Getting home i had to dump all my boots,jackets etc because they were impregnated with the fuel. Luckily all 3 crew survived (albet with some serious injuries) to the extent that the following year on the anniversary they treated all those involved to a proper sit down meal at a local pub. (plus I did get a very emotional handwritten letter from one of the crew thanking me for being part of the effort)

[Q165]

I have already mistakenly posted this on the Fate? thread. Sorry.


My wife, son and I were flying home from home from San Francisco. A couple of hours into the flight the pilot came on and said ‘there is a problem’ and he was turning back to SF. I just felt pi55ed off and didn’t think too much about it. I could sense the atmosphere change on the plane and some starting grumbling loudly. As we were coming into land at SF I leaned over to look out of the window with my son. In the final moments of the approach I remember seeing fire engines racing up the runway following the path of the landing plane. We were both interested in looking at what was going on. I turned to my wife and stupidly said ‘Look at this, there are fire engines!’. She looked terrified. Very odd experience.

[stripes39]

I was a student at the time back in the 80's and was waiting for my lift to College one Friday morning. As I sat on a wall at the big set of traffic lights at the bottom of the A456 in Hagley I heard a loud grating noise. I looked up from my newspaper and saw an articulated lorry out of control heading towards a line of 6 or so cars all waiting to turn right in a filter lane to Stourbridge. The lorry ran straight over several cars and turned over, shortly after it exploded with the driver unable to get out of the cab and killing several other people in the vehicles it had crushed in the process. I was about 50 yards away and even today, it was just like something out of a Hollywood movie the way events unfolded.