Harrowing Stories of People Ruining Their Life in One Day

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Mar 11, 2023 2:00 PM EST

Life can change in an instant. Sometimes, you see tragic things coming from miles away. If a loved one is slowly succumbing to an illness, it might not hurt so much when they die because at least you had time to prepare for the inevitable emotionally. But when a death or a tragedy comes out of nowhere, the surprise of the occurrence can be extremely traumatic. 

You don't have to be a wreckless or clueless person to suffer in a horrible accident or have your life ruined instantly. These things could happen to any of us. I thank the Lord every day that I haven't been hit by a car yet because I'm terrified that that will happen to me in the future. Sometimes, it just takes one terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day to ruin your life. Redditors shared some of those stories, ranging from tragic to unbelievable. 

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  • 01
    Font - How did life in one day? somebody you know ruin their
    via u/TunaSaladWithBeans
  • 02
    Font - eroofio 15h ● In college, my ex's friend was pulled over for speeding. He had drugs and alcohol in his system and when the cop reached in his truck to grab the keys, he panicked and took off, thinking the cop would let go. The cop did not let go, and was dragged for quite a ways before eventually falling to the ground and hitting his head, resulting in his death. My ex's friend was charged with capital murder and sentenced to 20 years in a Mississippi state prison. 21 years old and ruined
    via u/eroofio
  • 03
    Font - Draculamb. 13h Friend's son was with his recently-engaged fiancee who had a serious nut allergy. They were, driving not far from Bendigo. They stopped off at a cafe to buy sandwiches. The woman running the cafe assured them there were no nuts anywhere near the sandwiches so they bought them then went on their way.
    via u/Draculamb
  • 04
    Font - Driving out away from town, she was nibbling on the sandwiches when she struggled to breathe. He stopped the car, got out, figured what was going on, went to the back of the car to get her epipen (which he struggled to find) but by the time he did find it she was dead. A couple of weeks after the funeral, he got in his car, drove it back to the stretch of roadside where she died, put his foot down on the accelerator and deliberately aimed his car at a power pole. He'd left his Mum a note.
    via u/Draculamb
  • 05
    Font - Cloberella. 3h Sad lesson to learn here: if you need an epipen for an allergy the ONLY place you should keep it, especially when traveling, is on your person. Get a fanny pack. Be dorky, stay alive. 42.9k
    via u/Cloberella
  • 06
    Font - mourningdoo 16h ● A buddy from high school blew through a stop sign and hit a couple of motorcyclists, killing them both. He didn't stop to render aid and fled the scene. He was busted for vehicular manslaughter, and spent 12+ years in prison. He's lucky he can work for his dad, because where he lives now is not kind to felons trying to rehabilitate. Reply 9.3k
    via u/mourningdoo
  • 07
    Font - mugsimo 17h I distantly know somebody who tried to cross the US-CAN border without declaring >$10K in cash, which led to them searching all his stuff and finding no-no porn on his computer. He's in jail. Reply 13.4k
    via u/mugsimo
  • 08
    Font - Lostboxoangst. 17h Stood in the wrong place. He was stood in a bar minding his own business and a fight broke out. He caught an accidental blow to the back of the head and caught his head on a wall on the way down. He never woke up. Reply 4.8k
    via u/mugsimo
  • 09
    Font - Endlessly Unfinished 16h Had a friend from high school who decided to "opt out" by jumping off the roof at his mom's house.. he landed in such a way that he survived, but is now paralyzed from the chest down - as in: can't even breathe for himself and fully reliant on home health aids and his mom, whom he despised and named as the reason he wanted out of life (it's fair that she was a full blown heroine addict at this point and was a shit show herself).. Reply 2.5k
    via u/EndlesslyUnfinished
  • 10
    Font - Worried_Blacksmith27 . 14h A 19yo guy in Sydney ate a slug for a dare. Got Rat Lungworm disease. Went into a coma for 18 months, woke up a vegetable confined to wheelchair needing 24 hour care. Died about 10 years later. From eating a single slug..... Reply 10.5k
    via u/Worried_Blacksmith27
  • 11
    Font - thiscouldbemassive 16h ● Kid down the street had his best friend over, and his friend, being a 12-13 year old boy was being a total dick head. Kid picks up a shot gun his brother left lying around in the dining room and aimed at friend. Friend taunted him. Kid pulled the trigger and filled his friend's head full of buck shot.
    via u/thiscouldbemassive
  • 12
    Font - Two families instantly devastated. Kid went to jail. I occasionally see the friend when I go out for a walk. He's a grown up now, but is intellectually maybe 4-5 years old, and will be taken care of by family for the rest of his life. Found an article on it. Yes the friend lived -- though with a lot of brain damage. ... Reply 8.3k
    via u/thiscouldbemassive
  • 13
    Font - ----XXXZZZZzzzzz. 17h Worked in Seattle Airport and a coworker decided to take his own life by stealing an airplane, fly it in loops around the Pacific northwest air space while being chased by the airforce untill finally going nose down... ... Reply 5.9k
    via u/----XXXZZZZzzzzz
  • 14
    Eye - waterloograd - 16h He ate dinner alone, choked, and died. ... Reply 5.3k
    via u/waterloograd
  • 15
    Font - IIVIIORTAL_K. 16h A friend of my parents was a good family man who loved his family. One day he was playing with his toddler and was playfully tossing her on the bed. She would get back up giggling and he would toss her again. In one of the tosses he threw her a bit too far and she hit a bed post. She lived but became bed bound unable to even talk. Not quite vegtable but close. He went to jail on child abuse. Lost his wife, his job and his little girl would bever be the same. The guilt wa
    via u/IIVIIORTAL_K
  • 16
    Font - L_edgelord 14h I think this is one of the most depressing stories on here. It was an accident 46.3k 6.3k
    via u/L_edgelord
  • 17
    Font - tmotytmoty 16h ● Really great friend in high school huffed glue in her bed room one night and died. It was really weird bc no one knew she was doing inhalants, and she didn't fit the glue huffing stereotype: she was extremely social and well liked; extremely smart, athletic, she was the head chair in band in her section, and really into jazz band; but at night, she'd huff fucking glue. ... Reply 1.3k
    via u/tmotytmoty
  • 18
    Font - JediMasterPopCulture. 16h Some kid in our senior year of high school pulled the fire alarm every day. He was getting away with it for a while. The school had town officials and the chief of the fire department and police come in and talk about the dangers. The town would send trucks and be without them if there was another emergency. None of that worked. When they offered a reward the kid's friend's ratted him out. His family had to pay for all those calls, he was expelled from school and
    via u/JediMasterPopCulture
  • 19
    Font - Dire-Dog 16h Old coworker went to Vegas, felt really good about his odds due to the liquor and ended up betting his entire life savings on roulette and lost. He ended up losing his house, his wife, kids, and from what I've seen he lives in a tiny apartment and works a min wage job. Reply 703 703
    via u/Dire-Dog
  • 20
    Font - CannaBeeKatie • 7h 18 Awards More like a day horribly altered my life. I was a teacher and coach. For a field trip the principal "could not afford two busses." So I had to walk about ten girls to the field trip location, and back to school, while the one bus was filled with the rest of the junior high students and faculty. About a mile each way. I chose the girls of my team because they would listen to me outdoors, unlike lots of middle school kids. While crossing the street in the crossw
    via u/CannaBeeKatie
  • 21
    Font - the kids forward, very forcefully. Most of the girls fell onto the pavement in front of other vehicles waiting at their red light. (They were badly scraped up, like road rash from me pushing them. But no hospitals or doctors were needed for their scrapes.) I don't remember the impact. I remember seeing a Pontiac symbol between the headlights. I came too, and I was in a whole different lane, and facing where I had just come from. I could not get up. They say my body went up the car, and of
    via u/CannaBeeKatie
  • 22
    Font - from all my limitations, I remember those girls. I watched them go to college, get married, grow into mothers, and hold impressive jobs in their fields. And when they show a photo on fB of their happy moment, it recharges me to know they are safe, healthy, and happy. And it reaffirms my decision to save them from harm. Reply 10.4k
    via u/CannaBeeKatie
  • 23
    Font - d94ae8954744d3b0 5h ● Holy shit. You're a hero. Words just can't express. ... 2.8k
    via u/d94ae8954744d3b0
  • 24
    Font - CannaBeeKatie 3h ● I never thought Hero because I believe adults would step in to shield a child from harm, even if that child is not theirs. I don't think my action was rare, but my outcome was. The parents of the girls brought me dinner every night for months. They drove me to multiple doctor appointments. One parent who was an Ortho doc, had me see him. The girls and their parents were incredibly grateful, and actively cared for me in a variety of ways. They were instrumental in my rec
    via u/CannaBeeKatie

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