Yahoo Lifestyle 13 People Who Destroyed Their Life With One Bad Decision
Content warning: Discussions of drug abuse, suicide, assault, and graphic details of death.
Sometimes, I lie awake at night thinking about how just ONE different move could have completely altered my life... and not always for the better.
I've been fortunate that my life decisions haven't led to serious harm or trouble, but it got me reflecting on those who haven't been as lucky. This curiosity led me down a rabbit hole on various Reddit and Quora threads where people have shared stories of how a single wrong decision ruined people's lives (or, at least, gravely altered them).
Here's everything people shared:
FYI, if you have a fear of freak accidents or the worst-case scenario possibly happening, I would not read on.
1."I had a work acquaintance, not close enough to be a friend, just someone I talked to once in a while. This happened more than 40 years ago. He had moved into a rental house that had really bad calcium buildup in the toilet and shower. He tried cleaning it with bleach, and it had minimal effect."
"So he had some acid that he had brought home from work and dumped it into the toilet, which already had bleach in it. This released chlorine gas, which overwhelmed him. He barely managed to stagger out of the bathroom before collapsing. He had something similar to COPD for the rest of his life. He couldn't return to work, and I lost track of him."
—Bob
2."Near me, there was a serious traffic collision. Several cars and two trucks. Three people died when one truck plowed into stationary traffic at around 50 mph. The crash and resulting fire were so horrific that two people were only identified by their dead dog on the carriageway (it was microchipped). It was on BBC News, and there have been documentaries about it. The truck driver was on his phone. He was charged and is now in prison."
3."I once worked as a personal assistant for someone who broke his neck due to diving into snow that was a little too hard."
4."My father… Years ago, he started a trucking company with his best friend. The company's HQ was in a neighboring state, a six-hour drive or about a 40-minute flight. For some reason, my dad just wouldn't visit his company. Even with my mother pressing him to actually take care of his business, he would always say he trusted his friend, and since he only did the accounting for the company, he only needed the reports his friend would send him."
"Long story short, his 'best friend' scammed him out a million bucks, driving both their company and my family to complete bankruptcy. He then fucked off to live in some tropical paradise."
5."In college, my ex's friend was pulled over for speeding. He had drugs and alcohol in his system, and when the cop reached into his truck to grab the keys, he panicked and took off, thinking the cop would let go. The cop did not let go [of the keys] 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. He was 21 years old and ruined his entire life in one night."
6."When I was a kid, there was a family down the street with three small children. The parents had a fairly ugly breakup, and the mom ran off with her new boyfriend. Every single time she dropped the kids off at his house for visitation, the dropoff devolved into a screaming match in their front yard. One day, she showed up to drop off the kids with her boyfriend. The boyfriend and dad got into a shouting match, and the boyfriend punched the dad, laying him out on the front lawn. The boyfriend and mom then jumped in their car and took off. A moment later, the dad came to, hopped in his pickup truck, and floored it out of his driveway in pursuit."
"Not sure what he was planning to do, but he wasn't going to let them get away. He didn't realize his three children were standing behind the pickup when he threw it into reverse and floored it. All three were killed. He spent a decade in prison and lost everything he had. The worst part is that all the stories that came out said he'd been a great dad and wasn't at fault in the breakup. He was a good guy who got stuck in a shitty situation and then made one horrific mistake."
7."I'm 49 years old, and that context is relevant. When I was in college, a friend of mine started a company with a professor. 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 four or five. 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 $190 million. They still only had a few employees."
"Every employee had equity and 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, and I haven't 'destroyed my life'... but I think about this frequently."
8."A 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 wasn't expected to live. My friend was sitting in jail waiting, just waiting to find out if the guy he punched died or recovered. Turns out the guy he punched recovered. My friend took a reduced charge of aggravated assault... a felony. One punch."
9."An old coworker of mine 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, and his kids, and from what I've seen, he lives in a tiny apartment and works a minimum-wage job."
10."I did. Some drugs are fun with little to no consequence, while other, harder drugs completely take over. I was a straight-A student, a high school junior, and going to prom with my first serious girlfriend in just a few weeks. Everything was going great, except... I couldn't get any pot in the neighborhood I just moved to. After a few days without my normal tree smoke, I finally took the recommendation from a 'friend' I just made and purchased a narcotic they were selling. Just to try... figuring it might hold me over 'til I get some green."
"My FIRST thought right after taking that first hit was, 'How much money 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 years to kick my accidental crack habit. No job, no high school diploma, no family, no friends, no possessions at all, and 12 years just gone."
11."The daughter of my mom's friend. This was quite a few years ago, but 'coma drinking' was, for whatever reason, really popular with the youth here. And yes, it is exactly what the name implies: you drink until you black out. She actually did go into a coma and, from what I understand, suffered minor brain damage."
12."A friend of my parents was a good family man who loved his kids. One day he was playing with his toddler and playfully tossed 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 bedpost. She lived but became bedbound, unable to even talk. He went to jail for child abuse. Lost his wife, his job, and his little girl would never be the same. The guilt was so much that he ended it as soon as he could."
And lastly:
13."I ran into a former middle school football teammate at Walmart a couple of 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 a defensive end, a big guy, a nice guy overall, didn't do drugs, stayed out of trouble, and had decent grades. In the '90s, 'pantsing' people was a big thing for some strange reason. I don't know why, but running behind someone and pulling their pants down was hilarious. It happened a lot in hazing; I myself was pantsed a couple of times. It was stupid. But it was really a trending thing. Anyways, one day, while on a run, we ran by a couple of 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 screamed 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. 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."
(Cont'd) "When I bumped into him at Wal-Mart, he was picking up shopping carts. I had forgotten 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, and 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 that all the pantsing stopped instantly."
Do you have any other stories of people whose lives were completely changed by one wrong decision? Let us know in the comments or at this anonymous form.
And if you need a pick-me-up after this, here are some more wholesome reads:
The National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline is 1-800-950-6264 (NAMI) and provides information and referral services; GoodTherapy.org is an association of mental health professionals from more than 25 countries who support efforts to reduce harm in therapy.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org. The Trevor Project, which provides help and suicide-prevention resources for LGBTQ youth, is 1-866-488-7386.
