30 Lucky Moments That Made People Say “Wow… I Really Dodged That”

Life is full of close calls, those moments when you look back and think, Wow, that could’ve gone very differently. Recently, someone on Reddit asked the community, “What is the biggest bullet you’ve dodged in life?”, and the responses poured in. From near-miss relationships and career disasters to literal life-or-death situations, people shared stories that are equal parts shocking, funny, and quietly profound.

Here are some of the most unforgettable answers, proof that sometimes luck, timing, or one tiny decision can change everything.

#1

Image source: One-Ball-78, Maciej Karoń/unsplash Driving to my girlfriend's parents place in Montana for Thanksgiving... Crossing a mountain pass in my 1984 Toyota Tercel, it was a beautiful, sunny winter day, but coming around a bend I hit an ice patch and immediately started sliding off the road. It was next to a cliff, with no guardrail, and it was a slow-motion freak out. The car came to a stop just before going over. My girlfriend didn't even have room to get out on her side. We slowly and carefully slid out my side and both got out safely, but then our previous freakout turned quickly into some real concern about what the hell we were going to do next, and how we were going to get out of there in the middle of nowhere. And, it was cold. Not two minutes later a pickup truck with two guys in the cab and three in the bed came around the bend toward us. They pulled over in front of my car, and they all hopped out like a pit crew. One guy with a tow strap hooked it under the front axle, hooked it on the back of the truck and they pulled my car off the cliff and back onto the the shoulder of the highway. I thanked them PROFUSELY, and asked them what in the hell they were doing out in the middle of nowhere like this. One guy said that "there wasn't much to do around here" and helping people on the highway was kind of a fun activity. The entire event took a total of about ten minutes.

#2

Image source: mdellaterea, Ben Iwara/unsplash Not having a kid at 17 in high school. Ended up going to my dream university and am 18 years into a meaningful, fascinating career. Realized in my early 30s I actually don't want kids ever and I'm so so so thankful i didn't end up as a teen mom. I'm writing Planned Parenthood into my will.

#3

Image source: aprilmayjunejuly21, Getty Images/unsplash My anorexia was so severe that the doctors didn’t think I would make it. Hospitalized for over a year, and now 9 years later, I’m the healthiest I’ve ever been and am currently in Grad school to be a therapist that specializes in eating disorders. Pay it forward.

#4

Image source: No_Fan_gets_banned, Marco Gitti/unsplash Around 2019, we were struggling financially and as a result, our gas was shut off. After months of struggling, we were finally able to get the bill down and have the gas turned back on. When the worker came out, he had to do a mandatory test for carbon monoxide. Turns out our furnace was absolutely leaking carbon monoxide and we had no idea! I can’t help but think it’s entirely possible that we could’ve got carbon monoxide poisoning if we had not had our gas shut off in the first place. We got a new furnace and loaded up on carbon monoxide detectors. What was a huge misfortune of having our gas shut off due to not being able to afford the bill, actually ended up saving our lives in the end.

#5

Image source: ThoseDoots, Getty Images/unsplash When I was about 8 years old, we went on a family vacation to the mountains in western North Carolina. While we were there, we went tubing on a river. At one point there were some rapids and I fell off my tube and got caught in the undercurrent created by the big boulders in the river. I was stuck there for what felt like minutes and was unable to get to the surface. My parents didn’t see it happen, but some stranger did and he yanked me out. I doubt I’d be here today if it wasn’t for that man, I wish I knew who he was so I could say thank you.

#6

Image source: Sylwek313, Curated Lifestyle/unsplash Quit smoking cigarettes when I was in nursing school. I saw a COPD patient bent over in the tripod position in order to breath better, and in that moment, something in my brain clicked. I told myself "This is you, if you do not stop" and after some back and forth... I've quit 10+ years strong!

#7

Image source: --Clintoris--, Curated Lifestyle/unsplash Hurt my lower back last year and had to get surgery. During rehab I was still having balance and bowel problems that based on MRIs shouldn’t exist. Due to bowel stuff I went and got a colonoscopy at 38 years old and they found a huge polyp that was about 6 months away from turning into colon cancer. The doctor mentioned how lucky I was. Got it taken care of and found out recently my issues are due to a different higher up back injury where my nerve was compressed affecting my bowel and getting it fixed now. If I didn’t hurt my back, and it wasn’t misdiagnosed, I’d have colon cancer right now. A misdiagnosed back injury potentially saved my life.

#8

Image source: skith8431, Michael T/unsplash I was dating this girl for a while. I thought she was the one for me. Pretty, adventurous and fun. Then I discovered my at the time best friend and her were sleeping together for a few months. I was devastated. Went into a full spiral depression for about 4 months. When I came out of it I reached out to some friends who I had not talked to since. They chose the backstabber over me. My entire friend group abandoned me. I had no one. Then I hit up an old friend from a younger age who we drifted apart because of that friend group. We started hanging out again and he introduced me to some new people. Then a few years after that he introduced me to my now wife. Though at the time I was crushed by what they did. That "best friend" did me a huge favor and showed me that girls true side. And now I'm happier then I have ever been.

#9

Image source: leonprimrose, Greg Johnson/unsplash Was driving home with my then girlfriend down a normal road. We decided to go out for food and stopped at applebees. Food took forever. It was like 45-50 minutes between ordering and getting the food. We finished, paid and left kind of miffed. Continued driving home and the street lights were out at some point and a detour. Turns out a tornado ripped through that road just ahead of us. Probably would have been on the road if our food hadn't taken so long.

#10

Image source: Alanfromsocal, Nancy Wong I was looking in a store window in San Francisco in 1973 when a couple girls handed me a flyer for a church. It sounded sketchy so I passed on it. Good thing because the pastor’s name was Jim Jones.

#11

Image source: nWo1997, Jackson Wilson/unsplash I've given this story before. Twas a bed. Years ago, when I was in middle school, my brother and I had bunk beds, and he had the top one, which was held up with metal bars. If you've seen Step Brothers, you can see where I'm going with this, except it's with metal bars instead of neat boxes. Well, since we lived in an old house in a country neighborhood, we occasionally got bed bugs. My bed got them especially badly, and it was even worse during the summer. Usually, I went to bed first, but since I was tired of getting bitten, I chose to stay up as long as I could, while my brother went to bed. He jumped on his bed, which then fell onto mine. It did not fall flat. Rather, the side that fell was *where my head would be.* I slept in a chair that night. TL;DR: Bedbugs saved my skull.

#12

Image source: Mentalfloss1, Maxim Tolchinskiy /unsplash I worked with two nurses and had my eye on Linda, a pretty, vivacious, smart, flirtatious woman. Her friend, Deanna, was very pretty, but quiet, though she could hold conversations. I had concert tickets and went up to ask Linda out for the first time. She was wearing a wedding ring!! (Nurses don't wear rings, and Linda had forgotten to take hers off that evening.) Deanna was in an isolation room, all gowned and masked. I put on a mask, went to the door, and asked her out. We've been married 47 years this month. The bullet I dodged was that Linda was a flake. She was on her second marriage, broke up with him, and married twice more. She always wanted younger, then much younger men ... pretty boys. She aged out and would accept a man near her age. Last we knew, she was living alone.

#13

Image source: theinternetisnice, Getty Images/unsplash I desperately needed a career change in my late 30s and was originally going to go into nursing. For one reason or another I decided against that and ended up getting a degree in IT. A few years later the pandemic hit and instead of having to work in healthcare during that circus, I got to start working from home and received a sizable raise.

#14

Image source: Bitter_Composer6318, Lia Bekyan/unsplash I didn’t marry my ex. He’s still the same old loser who can’t hold down a job and lives with his parents ten years after we broke up. He also constantly told me I was “not smart” in a gentle voice and I just graduated law school and passed the bar on my first try.

#15

Image source: Ok-Bus1716, Janne Aspegren/unsplash Went to my gf's dorm after a date. Were snogging on the front porch of the dorm and I jokingly asked if I could drive her car back over to my dorm across campus because it was so late. Was about 3 in the morning at that time. I knew she'd say no which was fine because it was mostly a joke. I picked up a can of metal cleaner the staff had left next to the door and said I'd use it for self-defense if anyone tried anything. Gave her a quick kiss, put the cleaner back down and got about 100 feet away which I heard my name. Confused I stopped, turned around and she was running towards me with her keys. Told her I was joking and that'd I'd be fine. Turns out someone had just had their throat slit about 20 feet from my dorm window. The police were still on scene when I pulled into the parking lot. They ended up finding the guy hiding in the bushes next to our humanities building, a building, and bushes, I would have walked by about 2-3 minutes later, if my gf hadn't come running back out to give me her keys.

#16

Image source: livxwilted, Blake Cheek/unsplash 2 weeks from “I do,” found her secret phone: 400+ dudes, zero “work emails. Cancelled wedding, lost 30k, gained freedom + lifelong bragging rights, Best divorce I never paid for.

#17

Was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma and given a year to live. 30 years later, still here. i’ve truly tried to make the most of every minute since. Life is precious, don’t go through what I did to realise that. Image source: riskeverything

#18

I was with a woman in my early twenties that I'd had a crush on for most of high school. At the time I was tending bar and a raging alcoholic but she stayed nonetheless. We ended up getting pregnant and I just could not get my life together. We lost the baby and she ghosted me a few weeks later. We had known each other for a decade and been on and off for five of those years so the ghosting was like being stabbed in the heart. In the span of a few weeks I'd lost my first child and the only woman I had ever loved. She did reach out a few weeks later and apologized for ghosting me and we parted somewhat amicably. It took me a few years to bounce back from that but eventually I went to community college, moved across the country to transfer to a very prestigious college, found my niche in anthropology, and met my soul mate who I am celebrating 6 months of marriage with today. My ex met a good man she's super compatible with. She always wanted to be a mom. She now has 2 kids with him and loves being a Mom and I'm happily married and about to get my bachelors next month. So I guess we both dodged a bullet! Image source: LookHorror3105

#19

Image source: Karkenna, Getty Images/unsplash My ex-husband was a huge man child. Pretty much incapable of acting like an adult and probably had Peter Pan syndrome. Long and short, we divorced and I found out about a year and a half later he was arrested for “dating“ a 15-year-old. He was 24.

#20

Image source: sadkaoo, Getty Images/unsplash Not taking out $150k+ of private loans for a bachelor's degree in nursing at a private school. waited an extra year to fatten up my resume and experience to apply to the cheaper (more competitive) nursing programs and got into an accelerated 15 month program that only costs $45k. on the trajectory to walk and take the nclex next may. no regrets.

#21

Was offered an opportunity to move from my still current job to a director role of a department at a non-profit. 4-day work week, hybrid schedule. Minimal nights, weekends, travel. The money would've been great. I would've reconnected with an old boss that would've been above me that I liked working for previously... I let my current boss know what was going on and that I intended to put in my resignation when offered. She asked me what it'd take to help me stay (which she is a great boss to work for, very pro work/life balance). The 4-day work week and hybrid was a big thing about the other job... but i just had a feeling that I should give them an opportunity to keep me. They gave me a good offer and ability to earn a promotion (which i since have)... I decided not to make the move to the other job. Stayed where I am with some better benefits. Two months later, got a message from the person I would've worked for letting me know that they've been completely shut down as the board dissolved their program and everyone was let go immediately. Image source: an0m_x

#22

Ran for public office and lost thank goodness. Forced me to reevaluate my priorities. I’m a better man today than if I had won. Image source: Goodguy4fun2024

#23

Image source: Unhappy_Permit2571, Rebekah Haddock/unsplash I was jogging on a path in the woods and an enormous tree limb fell, crashing on the path ten feet behind me. If I was just a second or two slower it would have been gruesome.

#24

I left my baby daddy before he was able to break me into thinking I couldn't do better. When I got pregnant he said I'd get fat and ugly and he'd cheat. I dumped him, I never did get fat or ugly, but he sure did! Image source: Rainbow-Smite

#25

I was driving on the highway at about 70mph to meet my now wife's mom for the first time. Suddenly a 10-20 lb arrowhead-shaped piece of broken asphalt was launched at my car in a huge arch from the wheels of the speeding semi ahead of me. I had enough time to calmly realize "that's going right at me." I didn't know if I should hit the brakes, speed up -- no idea. I think I just took my foot off the accelerator . It landed on the hood of my car right in front of the windshield, leaving a huge gouge on the metal hood. The hood absorbed a lot of the impact, but momentum kept the chunk moving and it bounced onto the windshield and cracked it. It then rolled onto the roof -- gouging that -- then the back window and the trunk lid, scraping everything it touched. If I had been going the most miniscule amount faster or was literally 1 foot closer to that truck I have no doubt that thing would have gone through the windshield and me. I think everyone has some kind of similar story. Some of them we know about -- like this event -- but others we have no idea about because nothing happened. Image source: Anim8nFool

#26

Pulled over on the side of the highway when my car failed me (old 325CI). It was night time and drizzling. Told my GF at the time to get out of the car. She was confused and upset about it. Literally 2 min after she gets out a drunk driver plows into the back of my car. No airbags deployed and we wouldn’t have had our seatbelts on. The firemen who came were so surprised that we had gotten out and stood behind the barrier. Someone was watching over us that night. Image source: nb4us8mo

#27

My ex husband leaving me felt like the end of the world (he groomed me starting at 15, I'm 30 now so I didn't really know love/life without him much) but it was the best thing he ever did for me. My life has been miserable and hard but as a person I'm very happy. Currently with the love of my life. Had no idea a relationship could be this easy and happy. I feel STUPID lucky to have my boyfriend. Image source: octoberskank

#28

Marrying the wrong person. It would’ve been too easy to just go with the flow, he proposed and we had things in common, I liked his family and could see a life together. But I knew in my heart it was not the life I wanted and I’m so glad for both of us that I did the tough thing and broke some hearts. We are both now married to people who are a much better fit for us. Image source: notretiredanymore

#29

I was crossing an intersection on my bike when a city bus approaching from my left ran a red light going easily 45 mph. I saw it and stopped just in time; it grazed my front tire as it roared past. I would have been crow food if I hadn't seen it. Image source: citizenh1962

#30

Driving home with my wife after a party was like 2:30 am. We were coming up to a light after getting off the freeway the light was red so I was coasting to a stop, the light turned green and I just continued to coast instead of accelerating. Right before we get to the intersection another car flies through the red light doing easily 50+ mph. Had I accelerated through the light like normal we probably would have been t-boned. Image source: dr_shamus

#31

Image source: LauraTheSull, Bailey Burton/unsplash I dated a Mormon briefly when I was 19 and was a total wreck when he dumped me. Everything I’ve learned about Mormons since fills me with so much relief lol. Plus I got a much cooler husband.

#32

Many but this one sticks out. I hated math but loved the job my dad did. He travelled the world going to building's his company insured. So i was going to school for engineering...to travel. Like an idiot thinking that's what all engineers did. Was taking math classes and struggling. My brain just doesn't work that way. Cut to one year into college, at a party. Cops showed (I was 18 "OH NO THE COPS" Era). I was blacked out and woke up in the hospital. Apparently I had jumped off the balcony to catch a tree and missed. Fell three stories. Cracked my pelvis and broke my arm. Had to cancel my schedule of math classes. BUT, i had signed up for an online psychology course. So that semester, I was taking Percocets and reading psychology like a book i had never been so enthralled in. I switched my major immediately, realized i was a creative and started doing stand up comedy. I know the life i was heading towards would've been a disastrous and it took that incident to change my course realize I had a different calling. Image source: Money_Bet3057

#33

I’m neurodivergent, so I’m extremely socially awkward and have trouble making friends. No one has tried to recruit me into their MLM. I’m not saying I’m smarter than people who get suckered into pyramid schemes and MLMs. It’s just that the mere thought of talking to people I don’t know makes me so anxious that I immediately run the other way if the opportunity arises. Lots of bullets dodged there. Image source: Lil_Artemis_92

#34

Went to a friend’s house said his girlfriend is bringing a friend for me and to see if we hit it off. She was a major flirt and thought things were going well. At the end of the night I made my move and she shot me down. Fast forward 10 years at that same friend’s wedding. The girl was there obese drunk and very attention hungry. She comes up to me while I’m standing there with my date (future wife) and she begins with “hey do you remember me? Remember when you tried todate me and I laughed?” I hit her with “Do you remember when you were all wasted and bought up some awkward stuff at a wedding and made everyone uncomfortable?” She looked so confused. And went “No” I said “Oh because it’s happening right now.” She then proceeded to make a drunken best woman speech then went around to every guy at wedding asking if they wanted to dance even if they had dates or not. Image source: Genghishahn44

#35

Image source: Nuhulti, Velizar Ivanov/unsplash Literal bullets on two occasions and I'm uninvolved in any kind of industry or profession where you would expect to be shot at.

#36

I work industrial service. There was a time when I walked about 2/3 to my equipment from my truck to get the hour meter reading for the paperwork, and realized that I forgot my hard hat. In the time it took me to get it, a barrel of bronze bars had fallen from a mezzanine right into my walking path. Had I not gone back, I would have likely been crushed. So, indirectly, my hard hat saved my life. There was also a time when I had hopped a set of train tracks on my rollerblades with the gates down, and a train running full speed passed before my rollerblades had returned to the ground. That was a close shave. Image source: LiiilKat

#37

Not leaving the military when I got fed up, stuck it out and retired after 23 years. Image source: General-Plant892

#38

I was driving a 2000 Toyota Camry to play poker at Cherokee casino in North Carolina. I just got my check from Black Friday when online poker shut down in the United States. So for a couple years I was working restaurant jobs and going to school bc my dream was over. But then that $12k check came in. And I restarted my dreams. This was a couple months into me getting back into poker. I was driving down the mountain in a very bendy section of the interstate, right turn downhill and it was pretty steep for the interstate. A downpour came out of no where, just absolutely drenching the road. I start spinning out bc I have some bald tires on my car since I’ve been broke for so long. There’s a car in front of me, a car beside me, and a car directly behind me. I do one full 360, then I hit the median and do another 360, I’m still spinning and end up backwards on a patch of grass to the side of the road. This is the only patch of grass. Tree line 50 yards behind me. Tree line 50 yards in front of me. I just sit there. In shock. A bunch of cars pull over to make sure I’m okay. And a state trooper pulls over. Everything is fine. My car has one scratch on the bumper. So then I just drive off. Thinking wth just happened. I lost $1500 at the poker tables. ? could have guessed that would happen. Then on my way home my hood pops up while I’m driving and I can’t see anything while going 60 mph on the interstate. It’s all bent and messed up. I use straps to keep it down. Then the next week I have the craziest run in my poker career. I made $50k in 3 days in the sketchiest home games. They actually kick me and my buddy out of these games bc they’re sick of us pros coming. Anyway I go and buy a new car that week. And my poker career was pretty good after that. Never a $50k week. But I made tenfold that over the years. Now I’m a metal worker/artist and doing what I love. And it started out being funded by my love for a stupid card game. Image source: iplaypokerforaliving

#39

Image source: cwsjr2323, Giulia Squillace/unsplash I used to pray in grade school every night to get to marry a classmate. In high school she told me to get out of her life when I asked her out. Decades latter, she was morbidly obese and obviously a drunk. I am glad the answer to my prays was “no”.

#40

Said no to being with someone I thought was a good friend because he was lonely and I was last choice. Genuinely hope he's doing well, but God did that hurt. Image source: Infamous--Mushroom