12 True Stories That Could Be the Next Binge-Worthy Netflix Series

These moments seemed ordinary at first but quickly turned into life-altering, heart-stopping events. From saving lives to narrowly escaping danger, these stories will make you wonder if we’re all just one decision away from an unforgettable twist.

• I had just finished hosting a meeting (I swear it was productive) and a friend said, “You don’t look so good.” I had just come off a weekend boat diving in the Red Sea and figured I was just tired. My friend said, “Nah, man, I’m taking you to the doctor.”
  The doctor at our clinic poked me a few times and said, “Take him to the ER and tell them it’s his appendix.” I was in surgery less than 90 minutes later.
  My surgeon said I was 2–3 hours from it blowing up. I lived alone, and no one would have missed me until the next day. © ksuwildkat / Reddit

• When on vacation in a foreign town, I went to a public toilet with my 4y old. In front of the entrance was a woman, talking on the phone and taking a quick look at us. Something in that look felt really off, and I decided to keep my eyes and ears open for her.
  Entered the restroom with my kid and heard the front door open and close, but no stall door being moved or locked. I quickly grabbed my son and walked towards the main door, where said woman was already standing, looking at a map and trying to involve us in some form of conversation. I tried to keep moving towards the main entrance, but she stood in the way.
  Suddenly, I got a strange feeling, looked at the men’s toilets and saw a huge guy quietly leaving a stall that wasn’t all closed. Pushed the lady aside and got out of there with my son. © Unknown author / Reddit

• Sitting in my friends’ backyard with their two kids, my husband, and another friend, enjoying pizza that my host made. It was a beautiful, clear day with no real wind. We’re having a great time, just out of the pool and hungry for pizza, when I suddenly felt on edge.
  I looked straight at the kids (about 8 and 10 or so years old) and just said, “Get in the house.” We all scrambled, and a second later we heard creaking, and maybe 5 seconds after it started, the big branch fell off their pine tree onto the table where we were sitting.
  Thankfully, no one was hurt besides having to pick pine needles out of our pizza. I can only assume that I subconsciously heard the branch starting to give. © tomyownrhythm / Reddit

• We were up in the mountains, and the weather was getting iffy. One of the women was getting upset. The mountain road was a succession of curves.
  We had to leave one area to go to the next one, and she cried and told her husband, “Something is wrong. We’re not supposed to go up there. Stop, please turn around!” They had been married for decades, and he later said, “I’ve learned to listen to her.”
  So we did. It was several miles to the small town we just left. We got coffee at a drive-in, and after a while, she calmed down. The server came by with coffee and asked which direction we were driving.
  She told us, “No, you won’t. We just heard on the radio that they had a big landslide on that road. The sheriff and state police have blocked it off.” © prpslydistracted / Reddit

• An elderly woman asked me for directions. I helped her, but then she said, “Could you walk me there?” I was running late, so I refused and apologized.
  Later, I told my husband about it. He gasped, “If you see her again, don’t help her! That could’ve been a trap. That’s a scam some groups use to lure people into isolated places to rob them.”
  I laughed it off at first, “She was tiny and had a cane.” Then he showed me an article about it, and one story was eerily similar.

• When I was in high school, I used to go running at night in our neighborhood alone. I went out one night around 9:30 pm and was on my usual route. I was running towards a cluster of trees and started to get a weird feeling. I can’t explain it, I just felt uneasy.
  As I began nearing the trees, I sped up and ran to the side about 7 ft, and I saw a man hiding behind a tree with a dark hoodie on. He saw me see him and turned away, and I booked it out of there so fast. Never in my life did I ever run again at night. © Consistent-Duty-6195 / Reddit

• One time, I scrolled through my FB feed, and a suggested group had a post by a woman who was grieving the sudden loss of all her pet rats over two days. It had just been posted halfway round the world—it was late at night for them.
  I felt the nagging in my brain and joined the group, waited for approval, and finally was able to comment, “Hey, if you don’t have a carbon monoxide alarm, get firefighters out immediately—do not go to bed!”
  She thankfully saw that comment of mine right as she was about to go to bed, called the fire dept out, and had an air quality test immediately. They might have all died in their sleep if not for my niggling feeling. © Natural_Category3819 / Reddit

• Wednesday midday run along a beautiful river pathway near my apartment block. About 1km in, I felt people watching me and directly turned around and ran home (even though I did NOT see anybody!). Closed the two magnetic gates leading up to my door and didn’t see anybody around or following me.
  About 10 minutes later, two guys were at my front door trying to push it in. I was luckily on the other side of the door at that moment and pushed it back closed with all my force and began screaming. I managed to lock the front door and text my apartment block for help.
  I was on the second floor, and they obviously watched which apartment I went into. Looking back at the apartment’s security cameras, they were able to see the two guys pull apart the magnetic security gates, two of them! The block then quickly changed the gates to a mechanical lock that cannot be pulled apart. © Odd_Llama800 / Reddit

• I was freshly married in my early 20s. My husband (ex) was a marine and was at work, and I was driving home from visiting family further south. It’s already a super dark night, about 11 pm, and it’s a little foggy as well. I’m slowing down and coming around this slight bend in the road, and all of a sudden, the hair goes up on my neck, and I feel incredibly anxious.
  About 5 seconds later, a young woman jumps out of the brush directly ahead of me on the left-hand side of the road while waving her arms in the air and gesturing frantically for me to pull over. I swerved a bit to the right, slowing down even further—but I did not stop. She was young, maybe early 20s or even late teens, and a little dirty, and I was immediately conflicted over continuing to drive.
  But something told me not to stop under any circumstances. I got further up the road, slowed a little more, and dialed 911 with one shaky hand. The dispatcher said she’d send someone to check but encouraged me not to feel bad. Apparently, there had already been calls about this girl over the last hour, and they were unable to find her when police followed up.
  I heard a few weeks later about some carjacking/robbery attempts in the area. Very relieved, I listened to my instincts that night. © stillgot1111t / Reddit

• Driving uphill behind a flatbed truck carrying I-beams, I envisioned them sliding off the truck and hitting my windshield. I changed lanes, so I wasn’t behind the truck, and two seconds later, the I-beams were sliding off onto the road where my car would’ve been, sparking and gouging the pavement.
  Terrifying. To this day, I won’t stay behind a truck with anything that’s “strapped down.” © Infj-kc / Reddit

• I usually work late, way out in the middle of nowhere, so I drive home on dirt roads late at night. I never see a soul on these roads. I also live in the prairies, so I can see pretty far in every direction.
  There is a singular stop sign on my path home, and last night I was wondering whether or not I should stop because, really, there is no point. You all know where this is going now. I reasoned with myself that if I don’t stop now, I’ll make a habit of it, and then that’ll turn into a problem, so I began to slow down.
  As soon as I hit the stop sign, a truck came barreling through the intersection. There is no such thing as blind corners out here, but I still didn’t see it coming. It was horrifying. I will never entertain ignoring traffic laws again. © throwRA437890 / Reddit

• I’m adopted by the least maternal woman to have ever lived. She never had her own kids but did foster dozens of kids, eventually settling on pre-adoptive babies. The baby in this story was only our third; it was only 2 years earlier that I showed my mother how to change a nappy and fasten up a baby grow; she really was THAT clueless. Or was she?
  One Monday, she says the baby is ill, so she takes her to the doctor. Doctors say the baby is fine. Tuesday, and mom does the same thing, and the doctors say the same thing. Wednesday comes, same thing, but at this point, one of the baby’s eyes is glued shut, so doctors give antibiotics and diagnose an eye infection.
  Thursday comes, and mom is at the docs again; no new information, and the same on Friday. The baby was very quiet, though, and I thought mom was into something. Saturday comes, and for whatever reason, dad is at work. Mom wakes me up and says she’s going to the emergency room, and she needs me to go with her.
  I help her prep stuff for a 1-night hospital stay, and she gets me to book a taxi. This is serious stuff; taxis are forbidden because we have legs! The baby’s eye has now turned into what looks like a big purple bruise, and mom is scared she has been hurt and that she might get the blame. I assure her she has doctor’s notes to prove she knew something wasn’t right and no one has hurt the baby; this is something different.
  We get to the doctor; the doc calls us in, and we don’t say a single word to him, he just picks up the phone and dials 999. What? He chats on the phone for a minute, says it’s a life-or-death situation, then slams the receiver down. He gets up out of his chair, leaves the room, and comes back with the receptionist.
  He looks at my mom and says, “Sorry, but time is of the essence. I just called for an ambulance, but they are too busy, so I have asked the receptionist to take you to the hospital in my car. There will be someone waiting for you when you get there!”
  He then turns to the receptionist and says, “Ignore any red lights. You put your foot down. If the police see you, you keep driving until you get to the hospital. Do NOT stop for anything!”
  The next day, dad says, “Your mother saved the baby’s life. Not even I knew something was wrong, but your mother did!” He tells me that the purple bruise wasn’t a bruise at all; it was septicemia, and she had got that because that precious tiny little girl had got bacterial meningitis!
  A woman not known for actually liking kids that much had sniffed out a potentially fatal disease in a baby almost a week before there was any physical sign of any illness. Mum and baby spent 8 days in the hospital before baby came home, as I knew there was never anything wrong with her. What a relief. © Dogs_not_people / Reddit

And these 14 true stories push the limits of awkward and embarrassing in the best way possible: 14 Real Stories That Are Too Cringey to Be True