25 People Share The Single Life Decision That Ruined Their Lives Forever

One bad decision can alter your life forever. Unfortunately, something most people aren't prepared to accept is that it only takes one unthinking moment to ruin your life completely. The following collection of stories are a cautionary tale for anyone who likes to live recklessly as if they are infallible or somehow impervious to the ramifications of their decisions. Found on all corners of the internet, these heartbreaking stories may remind you to think long and hard before making rash decisions that have long-lasting consequences. More info: Reddit 1 | Reddit 2 | Quora

#1 Tl;dr: fake pregnancy scam involving basically everyone she knew.

Image source: MerylSquirrel, Curated Lifestyle/unsplash My brother broke up with his girlfriend when they were both 21. On the surface it looked like an amicable breakup- he even volunteered to move back in with our parents temporarily so she could keep the flat they were renting. About a month later, she sent him two pics, of an ultrasound and a positive pregnancy test, and told him she didn't want him to have anything to do with their baby but if he'd give her a few thousand now to help her through the pregnancy and to get ready for the baby's arrival, she'd release him from any future obligation to pay child support. She really laid it on thick that it was going to be a very hard pregnancy since he'd left her and she now had to pay for the flat alone, and even hinted he'd known she was pregnant when he broke up with her. When he ignored the message, she then sent it on to *everyone* - her family, our family including parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, his employer, his colleagues, some old college teachers they were still in contact with, and their friends (they met in school so almost all of their friends were mutual). She even posted it on her Facebook for good measure. He *then* replied - to her, and to everyone he knew of that she'd sent the message to, and also on her Facebook page - with two screenshots, showing that the pictures she'd sent him were literally the first that came up with you googled "ultrasound" and "positive pregnancy test". She didn't lose her job over that, but did a few months later, and most of their friends cut ties with her. She set out to extort a few thousand off him and instead outed herself as crazy to basically everyone she knew.

#2 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.

Image source: IIVIIORTAL_K, Getty Images/unsplash 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 was so much he ended it as soon as he could.

#3 Some kid in our senior year of high school pulled the fire alarm every day. He was getting away with it for a while.

Image source: JediMasterPopCulture, liam ward/unsplash 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 didn’t graduate.

#4 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.....

Image source: Worried_Blacksmith27, Curated Lifestyle/unsplash

#5 Guy I want to high school with was diagnosed with testicular cancer when we were about 25. For months, maybe years, I would see update posts about the progress he was making with treatment.

Image source: vicki5150, Kateryna Hliznitsova/unsplash Then one day he posted on Facebook that he was cancer free. The next day he was dead. He'd gone out that night and got absolutely wasted, fell down a flight of concrete steps outside his flat in the early hours of the morning and by the time he was found in the morning he was gone.

#6 I'm 49 years old, that context is relevant. When I was in college, a friend of mine started a company with a professor.

Image source: hiro111, ThisisEngineering/unsplash This company was basically the first social network, I won't list its name here. This was in the early 90s. He offered me a job as employee number 4 or 5. I didn't know what the hell the internet was, let alone understand the concept of a social network. I knew he wasn't going to pay me much. I turned him down. Three years later, that company was sold for $190mm. They still only had a few employees. Every employee had equity and every employee made millions by age 25, including several other friends. I was a junior employee at an insurance company when I heard. Gah. Several of those people have gone on to very successful careers in technology and private equity. They were all basically set for life because of a quick decision they made at age 21. I've had an excellent career so far, I haven't "destroyed my life"... but I think about this frequently

#7 In college, my ex’s friend was pulled over for speeding. He had d***s 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.

Image source: eroofio, Ahmet Kurt/unsplash 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 his entire life in 1 night.

#8 I did. Some drugs are fun with little to no consequence, while other, harder drugs completely take over and then theres drugs that fall everywhere in between.... I was a straight A student, Junior in Highschool, was going to prom with my first serious girlfriend in just a few weeks. Everything was going great, except.... I couldnt get any pot at all in the neighborhood I just moved to. After a few days without my normal tree smoke, I finally took the recomendation from a "friend" I just made in the new neighborhood, and purchased what narcotic they were selling. Just to try... figure it might hold me over till i get some green. My FIRST thought right after taking that first hit from the pipe was "How much $ could I sell ALL of my stuff for?" I kid you not, one hit, I WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED It took a little more than 12 yrs to kick my accidental crack habit. No job, No HS Diploma, no family, no friends, no possessions at all and 12 yrs just gone. And looking back... I really had no choice but to be a crackhead. There was no way I could stop, impossible.... No one wants to be a crackhead... it is the devils drug and I feel so bad for anyone who has ever crossed its path, because I promise... they can not make the choice to stop, no matter how bad they want to.

Image source: Working-Upstairs8727

#9 Near me there was a serious traffic collision. Several cars and 2 trucks. 3 people died when one truck ploughed into stationary traffic at around 50mph. The crash and resulting fire was so horrific 2 people were only identified by their dead dog on the carriageway (it was microchipped).

Image source: Tabby_Tibs, Alexandre Boucher /unsplash It was on the BBC news and have been documentaries about it. The truck driver was on his phone. He was charged and is now in prison.

#10 Pushed his girlfriend down a flight of stairs in front of almost everyone he knew seconds after she announced to everyone that she was pregnant with his kid.

Image source: HillInTheDistance, Vitaliy Rigalovsky/unsplash I ain't sure if she miscarried or if she just decided not to have that psychos kid, but he spent a few years in prison over it and he ain't welcome anywhere no more. She walks with a cane at 30.

#11 Some teenagers got drunk and ran over a gas station employee when he tried to stop them from stealing gas. They dragged him a few km's. The blood stained the roads for weeks. They were all tried as adults and got the maximum sentence of 25 years. I think they were charged for second degree homicide.

Image source: anon

#12 Friend of mine from a wealthy Middle Eastern country/family didn’t quite ruin his life but f****d it up for a while. Was in Canada on a student visa but was working after graduating and had applied for permanent residency.

Image source: mrdannyg21, Getty Images/unsplash Got rejected, so he took out every credit card he could find and ran them all up because he was leaving the country forever that week. Tells his parents he is coming home and why - mom makes a few phone calls and turns out the kid had screwed up some paperwork, and it was no problem to get it fixed up and approved. That was 15 years ago and he still lives here, but his credit card debt was more than his annual salary and his parents (correctly) told him he was an idiot and to pay it himself. He also lost out on a job opportunity the next year because his credit was such a disaster.

#13 Kid down the street had his best friend over, and his friend, being a 12-13 year old boy was being a total d**k 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.

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.](https://www.kgw.com/article/news/police-id-oregon-city-boy-shot-in-head/283-73534858) Yes the friend lived -- though with a lot of brain damage. Image source: thiscouldbemassive

#14 One of my childhood bullies joined the military immediately after graduation. Soon after that, he got drunk and dove into shallow waters. He broke his back and is now permanently paralyzed, as well as completely unable to do his dream job. He was always a miserable piece of s**t who always picked on people he deemed less than him, including disabled people. Karma is a raging b***h.

Image source: dybo2001

#15 Me! I didn't believe my mom she said she'd kick me out at 18, so I never bothered to get a part time job to save money. My 18th birthday came around, and I said "nope" to her when she asked if I'd gotten a job or had living arrangements figured out. The next day, I came home from a friend's place to a laundry basket of clothing at the door. She drove me to a homeless shelter and never let me come back home.

Image source: AkKik-Maujaq

#16 I have an acquaintance that was always overconfident, approaching arrogance. I could tolerate him as he was charismatic and not far into arrogant territory.

Image source: Rabid_Dingo, Alex Knight/unsplash One day he thought he could keep something he found at work. Cameras everywhere. The owner knew where it was and was able to track the item to him. Fired when the investigation showed him carrying it out. 30+ years with the company. Sadly it wasn't the first time his ego got him in trouble.

#17 Guy on our school band was crazy gifted. Like, full ride music scholarship, guys in the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra basically recruiting him/hiring him/whatever they do out of highschool.

Image source: Sorcatarius, Kael Bloom/unsplash Got drunk, got stupid, punched a brick wall, and broke most of the bones in his hand. He managed to keep the scholarship because he could also sing, but AFAIK never played an instrument on that level again.

#18 He didn't properly secure a ladder on a building site. He then fell off said ladder and fractured three vertebrae. Lucky enough not to be paralysed, but he spent nearly 2 months in hospital and then three months in a body cast from his armpits to his arsehole. His missus took this opportunity to leave him for a yuppie scumbag, taking his kids with her. He's been battling with depression and chronic pain for over a decade since then.

Image source: seefith, Getty Images/unsplash

#19 My brother got into the car with his friend, whom he knew had drank too much. He quite literally ruined/ended his life. I'm not looking for attention or condolences, but just remember that it's not just being the drunk driver that you have to think about.

Image source: AlwaysNipping, Maxim Hopman/unsplash

#20 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.

Image source: Dire-Dog, Ben Iwara/unsplash

#21 I had a classmate who tried to OD to end his life. He survived. He was in a coma for like a year, then when he woke up he couldn't talk or even remember who he was. He's getting better slowly but he's now mentally disabled. Just so brutal. He's only 22. I know the brain is an amazing thing, so hopefully he'll get to some sort of normal eventually, but he's never going to be the same.

Image source: now_you_own_me, Getty Images/unsplash

#22 Guy I knew in uni was inebriated and decided to try and clear a very tall spiked wrought iron fence. He impaled his balls and did not get to keep them.

Image source: raginghappy

#23 I ran into a former middle school football teamate at Wal-Mart a couple years ago and he gave me an update on his life.

In 7th grade he was considered an up and coming prospect locally. He was defensive end, big guy, nice guy overall, didn't do drugs, stayed out of trouble, decent grades. In the 90s, for some strange reason "pantsing" was a big thing. I don't know why, but it was hilarious to run behind someone and pull their pants down. It happened a lot in hazing, I myself was pantsed a couple times. It was stupid. But it was really a trending thing. Anyways one day while we were running our football cross country run on a long path that circled the school out to the wooded area, we ran by a couple girls from the track team sharing the path. A different player dares the lineman to pants one of the girls. The moron does. He reacted so quickly I couldn't even tell him not to. It was seconds. Well this girl was the daughter of a lawyer. As he ran away laughing she was screaming at the top of her lungs that she was touched. I remember the police showing up and handcuffing him and I thought to myself, wow why are the police here. It didn't occur to me at that age what was happening at all I thought it was a prank that she just didn't like. He was arrested for sexual assault, convicted, and spent the rest of his teenage years in juvy. When I bumped into him at Wal Mart he was picking up shopping carts. I had forgot all about him and that whole situation. He started to tell me that after juvy he was marked for life, a registered sex offender, he couldn't get into college, he couldn't find work. He lived in public housing and Wal Mart was his first job but he had to lie on his application. He begged me not to mention his past to anyone there because he was about to commit suicide before he landed this job. He said that every day he goes to sleep and remembers that prank and every night he considers putting a gun to his head for it. That shit hit me so deep. Thousands of pants were pulled down that school year and this dude picked the absolute worst person to target for a cheap laugh. After he was arrested I remember all the pantsing stopped instantly. And the kids moved on to hitting people in the chest and yelling "open chest'. Image source: [deleted]

#24 My dad once saw a patient who was a seemingly normal, well-adjusted family man in his early 40s with no major health issues and in good physical shape.

Image source: eroofio, Natalia Blauth/unsplash He was in town for a business trip and had suddenly gone blind. Come to find out, while out with his colleagues, he had tried coke for the first time in his life. It was cut with a something that created a blockage in his optic nerve and now he’s blind forever. This caused him to lose his job. He had a wife and kids and was the sole bread winner.

#25 Friend was having a beer in a tavern. Some guys came in and started messing with my friend. He moved seats twice and then got up to leave when one of the guys threw a punch. My friend threw ONE punch back and the guy he hit landed in the ICU and wasnt expected to live. Friend was sitting in jail waiting just waiting for the guy he punched to either die or recover. Turns out the guy he punched recovered. Friend took a reduced charge of aggravated assault...a felony. One punch.

Image source: Noelle305, Curated Lifestyle/unsplash