April 22, 2001    
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What was the single most frightening moment of your life?

Being confronted by a lunatic armed with a paring knife and a sense of entitlement.

Jill, 60
Saylorsburg
, PA  USA

I don't know.

Karen, 21
Marshelltown/Ames
, IA   USA

I'm claustrophobic. The time my husband made me climb the bell-tower of the cathedral in Florence Italy. I was fine until we got half way up. Then the stairwells got increasingly more narrow and dark. I didn't want to go up any more when it got to the point that if one person was going up the stairs and another was coming down, both people had to hug the walls in order to pass.  My husband insisted that I go. He may have walked behind me so I couldn't sneak down like I tried the first time I said I didn't want to.

I don't want to re-live the experience, but I was an absolute wreck, crying and almost hyperventilating by the time I got to the top. My husband felt bad. Ordinarily he's not a cruel person. I guess he thought I was exaggerating my fear. He tried to convince me that it was worth it for the view, but all I can remember is barely contained panic. I've had other moments of panic related to being in confined places, but that was the worst because it didn't seem like it would ever end.

Laura, 36
Lowell
, MA   USA

I almost drowned a few times when I was a kid (single-digit ages).  A near-death experience combined with a lack of experience in life in general seem to be a decent combination.

Alias Irrelevante

Two weeks after my son was killed in a road accident, my daughter collapsed (it turned out that our apartment building in NYC was filled with carbon monoxide). I was so terrified at the thought of something happening to Pam that I was totally paralyzed.

Jane, 60
West Linn
, OR   USA

I would have to see when my brother, accidentally, hooked my eye with his fishing hook. I don't remember too much about what happened...other than being really scared. It is one of the few times my brother put me in that hospital, which was not the result of us fighting, or rather him beating me up...getting a hook in my eye was totally bogus.

Mick, 30
Chicago
,
IL  USA

When my dad nearly died, it was a period in my life where all routine was out of the window, everything was up in the air and no-one knew where it would land. My dad pulled through though, he was lucky.

Maria

When I found out that Aleksandr, someone I once loved with all my heart, had been stabbed. They didn't know for days if he was going to make it. I was so scared at the thought of going through life without him. Thank God he survived.

Jennifer, 19
Wilkes-Barre
, PA  USA

When I realized that my dad was gone forever.

Kevin M.

I was raped 6 months ago by my b/f's best friend. Now, I am pressing charges and when i found out that he was let out on bail, and when the police question me everyday, these are the most frightening experiences of my life.

Adrianne, 15
FL   USA

When I was quite young, my friend accidentally stabbed me in the stomach. I was in excruciating pain and convinced I was going to die. Fortunately I was fine but I still have the scar. I'm still friends with the girl that did it but she couldn't forgive herself for months and was constantly trying to make it up to me.

Shanna, 15
Cardiff  ENGLAND

I drove right by a gun battle in the aftermath of the Los Angeles riots. Or maybe it was when I came out to my parents? I guess they're both really scary in different ways.

Eric, 19
Beverly Hills
, CA  USA

Wow, this is a tough one... hmm... actually, I don't think I've had any single experience that was truly frightening yet. I can say, though, that there are two experiences I've had that were scary. The first one was when my grandpa was in the hospital with cancer. He passed away and I remember being very scared for my family... I don't like to see people I love so sad. The second one was when my mom, brother, and I were driving to the airport and almost slid off the highway and over a steep embankment.

Jeremy, 14
Highlands Ranch
, CO  USA

Honestly, the day I stood in the driveway as the undertaker took my mom's body away from her house for the last time. Scary as all hell.

Fisch, 45
Preston
, CT   USA

Watching my son fall headfirst down a very long flight of stairs. Terrifying. He came out of it with a rugburned nose and a bruised ego, everything else stayed intact thank god!

Maggie, 20
Sandwich
, IL   USA

I was 17 years old and in a psychiatric hospital. I was very frightened because I had to stay there for a week and my Mother could only see me one time during that whole week.

Melodi, 19
Gahanna
, OH   USA

No real experience has frightened me so much as the illusionary monsters I have created out of thin air.

Felicia, 35
Lowell
, MA   USA

Probably when I had my wreck-I ran into the ditch that seperates lanes on the interstate. I spun around, went up over the edge of the ditch, and onto the other lane, facing traffic. I almost hit a truck head on before steering myself back into the ditch. I was really scared I might die that day.

Angela, 16
Aiken
, SC   USA

Being born, probably :P

Talia, 23
Wilton
, CT   USA

About fifteen years ago I had a "neurotic" episode (I don't know what else to call it) that lasted for about 3 hours. During this period, I was absolutely CONVINCED that my husband was trying to get me alone so he could kill me. It seemed so real and I was terrified and started screaming and fighting. Eventually this feeling subsided. I apologized to my husband over and over but he was really hurt for a long time that I could believe he was capable of such a thing. I guess that the things we create in our mind can be just as bad if not worse than reality.

Reba, 51
Rockville
, MD   USA

I thought during one of my car accidents that I was probably going to die. . .

mothmc, 36
Los Angeles
, CA  USA

Yesterday / Tomorrow