10+ People Who Couldn’t Believe What Was Happening to Them

Life sometimes brings about moments so unbelievable that people question if they’re really happening. From positive experiences, like marrying your childhood crush, to negative ones, like a shocking incident where your life is left on the line, nothing is impossible. Those who chose to share their stories online are living proof of that.

• I choked on a sandwich at a mall food court as a teenager. My friend had gone to get a drink, so I was alone. And I was like, really choking, not “there’s a bit stuck in my throat.” Every time I tried to breathe, almost no air got in and the chunk of chicken moved slightly in my airway.
  I began trying to get people’s attention. To no avail. PSA: if you’re choking in public, be prepared to die alone, unless you do the Heimlich maneuver to yourself. Which is exactly what I ended up having to do. © issathrowaway12 / Reddit

• The time I got punched by a wild mountain gorilla.
  Backstory: I was in Uganda, where they sell $500 permits where you can hike into the forest with guides and then spend an hour with the gorillas. (If that sounds steep, I believe it’s even more now, and is kept high, so the locals have incentive to protect over poach the gorillas.) One of the gorillas in the troop we were going to visit had the name “Punchy” in the local language because he enjoyed the teenage male game enjoyed by many species of “I hit you, you hit me back.”
  So upon seeing us he ran towards our group, knocked over one girl, and came to me and hit my gut. Luckily, it was a “play punch” to see if I was interested, and the guards dragged me away to make sure he wouldn’t think I was hurt more. But yeah, wild moment for sure! © Andromeda321 / Reddit

• I was checking a regular guest out of my hotel when I realized he was having a stroke. He was mumbling, repeating himself and couldn’t even sign his name. I called 911, so an ambulance could get him to a hospital. The moment it really hit was the next day, when his wife called and said I saved his life. This was not something I ever expected to hear. © Yotsu / Reddit

• I broke down in the mountains late at night, back before cell phones. I had my flashers on and my hood up and was standing outside trying to figure out what to do. Two cops and a tow truck drove by without helping me! Hours later, a group of teenagers finally pulled over and offered to drive me to a phone to call for help. © Unknown user / Reddit

• My first dance with my wife at our wedding. We are 30 and have been married for 2 years now, but we have been friends since we were 13. I always had a crush on her. In school, I was more focused on soccer, which lead to many universities offering scholarships. I was also preoccupied with a severely tough home situation. Things never really worked out.
  After high school, she went to college. I went to work far away. Fast-forward a bunch of years. I messaged her on my birthday because she was in France celebrating her Master’s Degree. We hit it off and have been together since that message.
  All these memories and this timeline flashed in my head during our first dance. I sobbed. I never thought I was worthy of love. Today, I am the happiest I have ever been. I honestly can’t believe this is happening right now. © Nashtymustachety / Reddit

• I got a message one day from a stranger that said, “There’s something we need to talk about that is important to both of us.” I made some time for a call shortly thereafter, and the stranger called me.
  “Hi. You don’t know me, but I think it’s important that you know that my husband is sleeping with your wife. I know this, because he left his Facebook logged into our computer at home, and I see everything they have been chatting about for months.” BOOM. Life upended. I was good to my wife. Really good. Then my life exploded. That was the start of the worst year of my life.
  Fortunately, it’s all good now. It was bound to happen, as I learned later she was a serial cheater before me, so it’s not like it wasn’t going to happen at some point. I am with a great person now, and family life is great. © RedOctober907 / Reddit

• In 2014, I “won” tickets in the lottery to go see Saturday Night Live with my husband. After they had showed us to our seats in the balcony, they asked if we wanted to sit up front, and of course we did. So they ushered us to the front row, and oh my god Lorne Michaels walked by, and I thought I was going to die.
  As the show started, the host (Sarah Silverman) starts into her monologue, and she glanced our way. That was when I knew something was going to happen involving us. The next thing I know, she is walking towards us, and she SITS IN MY LAP. There is a camera and cue cards in my face, and Sarah Silverman is sitting in my lap asking me questions.
  So I put on my best (not so great apparently) game face and tried to keep up whilst thinking, “all of my family and friends are watching this and oh my god this is going to be on YouTube, and please stop making that dumb face.” I didn’t stop making the dumb face and people later thought I was about to cry — I wasn’t, I have just never felt so many emotions at once. And that’s how I ended up in an SNL monologue, and there’s a YouTube video to prove it. © b***methestrength

• I was selected to carry the Olympic torch back in 2002. I still to this day do not know what was submitted that convinced them to allow this. I am not anyone special. Didn’t really think too much of it until the day I’m running down the street carrying the torch, people lining the road for miles on end to see this event. It was an experience that I cannot even describe. © KerroDaridae / Reddit

• I am not an attractive human being. I’ll open with that.
  I’m at Starbucks prepping my cup of coffee. For a Venti I tend to splash some half-and-half, and do three raw sugars. A woman standing next to me says with a smile, “Take some coffee with your sugar?” I politely chuckle and hold up a packet of the raw sugar I’m using, then say, “My wife doesn’t keep this at our home, so I tend to indulge in the good stuff when I find it.”
  She makes, what I can only imagine, is her “bedroom eyes” at me, reaches for my arm and says, “Maybe you need to start looking outside of your house for the good stuff.” I laughed loud, and I laughed hard, because as far I could tell, this stranger was serious. I laughed all the way out the door and never looked back. © Unknown user / Reddit

• I’m running late for work in the morning, trying to get the 4:59am train, and in my foggy morning brain only see the cat too late. Swerve. Bang. The cat is ok, but I pranged the parked Mercedes van. I freak out, leave a note and call my boyfriend for help. I don’t have insurance and am a broke university student.
  Fast-forward to an anxiety ridden phone call I answer from the CEO of the company whose work van I hit. Tearful, sobbing apologies are made as I explain I can get a loan to cover the damage to his car, but it has to be a cash job. He asks to meet and discuss the situation in person. I have to pay the money anyway, and this man deserves the respect of a heartfelt apology face-to-face.
  I meet him and his assistant for coffee, we talk, and he gives me life lessons. We talk some more. He asks personal questions and I answer honestly because why not, I’m sure this dude could find out anyway if he wanted. He gets up for a moment and I chat with his assistant.
  He comes back, gets the nod from his assistant, and then proceeds to shove a wad of cash into my hand. Tells me to sort my life out, fix my car, get insurance and pay it forward when I get the chance. And leaves. © acid-vogue / Reddit

• I went to a concert of my favorite band ever. Bought the VIP tickets, chatted with artist before concert. Then, I ended up going out to dinner with the whole band after the concert at some 24 hour diner. Best moment of my life. © JoinedRedditForEsper / Reddit

• I couldn’t believe the first time I walked up to a plane I’d rented for the day, signed off, did a preflight, got in and took off. I legally took an airplane out for a spin, and no one was monitoring me. It just seemed like an insane thing. © GryphonGuitar / Reddit