What's the scariest thing you've done?

Riding a horse for the first time ever: seven hours a day in the Yukon helping to set up hunters' camps. The first night we discovered a bear had torn off the cabin roof and trashed the interior so we had to camp in the bush. I asked the wrangler for a gun, in case the bear returned, but he refused, saying I'd probably shoot his head off when he went for a pee in the night ( him, not the bear). I was so tired I slept like a log, but my female companion couldn't sleep a wink because of the noises of animals outside our tiny tent. A very fascinating experience as none of my existing skills were any use at all out there.

f77ms that makes sense now. Terrifying.

...Rescuing one of those Big, Black octopus sized spiders from the bath with my bare hands

A parachute jump! Admittedly in my youth, and it was for a bet. But it's a good conversation stopped to say I have done one more take off than landing in a plane!

Use a glass and a piece of card next time - easy peasy.

I think have my knee replacement was the worst- I am not afraid of much at all having always done mountain sports, etc. Use to hill race sports' cars aged 18.

Thinking of it- perhaps was what I did a couple of years back quite near to our house- DH still can't believe I was so stupid- but I am mighty pleased I did. We were walking the dogs on a minor road parralel to the busy main road, where there were lots of cars- and we saw 2 riders with their horses a couple of fields away. Suddenly one of the horses reared and threw off the rider- and came pelting towards us. I gave the dogs to DH and asked him to take them on to the path at the side- and stood in the middle of the road- as tall as I could and saying with a deep voice 'ohhh ohhh ohhh' with arms out- the horse came straight at me, and slowed down and went sideways on at the very last second- and I was able to take the reins and calm him down with low 'ohh ohh ohh'. the other horse rider arrived minutes later to take him on and back to the other rider- saying I'd probably saved his life, as he was headed straight to the main road and the traffic.

I did expect a later visit and a thank you- but none arrived. As long as the horse was OK, doesn't matter.

The low voice 'ohhh ohhh' I remembered from my childhood, as it is how the old farmer who walked the horse pulling the hearse from funerals used to calm the horse- no idea how I remembered that in such an emergency though.

Blimey, granjura! That WAS brave! The last time a horse ran at me I turned round and went hell for leather, throwing myself over a five bar gate at the last minute (not to be recommended at 69!). Not sure any amount of 'ohhh ohhh' would have stopped it. More a case of o' ohh!

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Receiving a phone call from the local hospital to say that my son (then in early 20's) had been in a RTA (as they put it) and had head injuries, could I come down? Not easy as he had been driving my car (which was a write off). Luckily it turned out his injuries were not as bad as it sounded and he was discharged into my care under observation, but I had a bad hour or so there. Also walking home across the campus at night at a school where I worked in Africa, during a power outage, and hearing on the internal (battery operated) radio in my office that there were armed robbers about who had broken into my house looking for me because I was the cashier and it was known that I had been to the bank that day in readiness for pay day. I hid in the dark until I heard they'd gone, but after that, there were several false alarms at night caused by animals or branches touching the newly installed electric fence, and I always slipped out of the house and hid in the trees rather than be trapped inside if gunmen showed up.

Flying to Japan knowing that when we left home DS1 was in intensive care there. We had no idea what we would find when we landed.

The scariest thing Ive ever done was to go through the op for bowel cancer, also the PET scans as like MRI you have to be inside the scanner and with your nose almost touching the top. Very scary, I think the next most scary thing was giving birth, I never forgot the pain and never had any more. I must be the biggest wimp of all. Im waiting to go today for a colonoscopy to see if my cancer has come back and Im terrified even though Iv ehad one before.

Wishing you the best of luck, ethelbags.

Parasailing while on holiday - towed behind a boat in a harness with a parachute thingy so that you are shot into the air God knows how many feet up at the speed of light, or that's what it felt like. And I was constantly petrified at the thought of the rope breaking! And I knew all along that I was going to hate it - and it wasn't exactly cheap, either.

I was talked (or badgered) into it by dds, who loved it and thought I was such a wimp not to have a go. Well, I AM a wimp, and since then I have never let myself be talked into anything if I know I'm going to hate it, just to show my lack of wimp-ness.

Some years later elder dd (who hasn't inherited my wispiness) confessed that although she was petrified at the time and wanted to wimp out but couldn't bring herself to admit she was scared, she HATED her bungee-jump in New Zealand and said, 'Don't ever do it, Mum - you'd hate it.'
As if I needed telling!

Wimpness, not wispiness, above. Why isn't there an edit function here??