Incredible Stories Of People Whose Intuition Saved Them From Harm’s Way
Have you ever felt that pit in your stomach, signaling that danger is around the corner? Studies show that gut feeling is your brain absorbing sensory information and predicting a bad outcome. The following stories are shared by people who experienced that gut feeling and whose intuition ended up saving them from accidents and crime. None of these people are able to tell you exactly why they made a split section decision that diverted them from danger. But all of them agree a gut feeling prevented them from entering a terrible situation.
Two Friends Recognize Strangers' Bad Intentions
Reddit user NothingFirstCreate shared: "I used to live in a smaller Minnesotan town down near some train tracks and a bike/running path that extends out of town into the woods. One evening I'm sitting outside on my porch drinking a couple of beers with my buddy. Two dudes walk up on us kind of out of nowhere and immediately something seemed off with them. These dudes had a bad vibe to them. I had a little black Louisville slugger lying next to me on the porch so I grabbed and just held it across my lap. One dude asks us, 'You guys got an extra smoke?' Buddy says nope. The other guy comes up real close almost onto the porch and says, 'Did you see my face?' I just kept looking forward but not directly at him and just said, 'Nah man we didn’t see anything.' And they both walked away.
He continued: "Two nights later I’m sitting in my living room with the same buddy and the local news is on. Two guys arrested for robbing and stabbing a man a couple nights back on the trail down by the train tracks next to where I live. My buddy had looked at their faces coming up and I had seen the dude clear as day that had asked for the smoke. It was those same guys."
Woke Up In The Middle Of A Home Robbery Without Realizing It
Reddit user TheBigSqueak woke up in the middle of a home robbery. They shared: "I woke up at 3 AM once sitting upright in bed. I felt on alert and my heart raced when I saw that my cat was on alert too, wide awake by my feet with his ears perked up. But I didn't see or hear anything weird. Something didn’t feel right and I couldn’t relax. So I got up and went to the kitchen. Turned on some lights and ate food even though I wasn’t that hungry. Eventually went back to bed."
They continued, "We discovered the next morning that someone had stopped while in the process of using some kind of tool to silently cut a big hole in the glass window in the living room. They were trying to break in. Right next to the bedroom. I think the lights I turned on scared them away."
He Knew That Tire Truck Would Be Bad News
Especially when you're engaging in a dangerous situation, it's important to be alert. In motorcycle safety school you're taught to "use expert judgment so you don't have to use expert skills." Reddit user deadeyeAZ read the situation just right. And it saved him and a friend.
"Was riding my motorcycle with a friend on the back. We were going down a country road behind a truck hauling a bunch of old car tires when all of a sudden I decided we shouldn't be there, so I slowed way down to let the truck go ahead of us. Just as I did one of the tires fell off the truck and landed right where we would have been."
Firefighters Dodge Getting Electrocuted
Firefighters are always putting their lives at risk. It wasn't Reddit user DYESMOD's training that kept him and his crew safe one day, but his gut instinct. He explains: "I'm a firefighter. We got called out to a tree fire started by fallen power lines. We get out of the truck and we've parked next to a set of power lines (not fallen). It's a very windy night and I can see the lines swinging so I voice my concerns to my crew leader who says it'll be fine."
He continued, "We get out [the] hose (risk of the tree fire catching onto a house outweighing potential risk of arcing plus the line disconnected when it fell) and I'm on the branch ready to start putting it out with 2 others near me when I get a chill. I look up see the lines swinging violently and yell 'everyone move'. As the three of us sprint and dive out of the way we hear a whip and crack and sure enough the line we were under came loose and stayed connected to the power pole. If I hadn't got that chill chances are we would have had three fried firies."
If He Went Inside The Party, He Would Have Been Robbed
There are some bad people out there who are willing to pull some tricks to take advantage of others misjudging a situation. Luckily Reddit user My_Names_Jefff had a gut feeling he shouldn't go inside a party one night. He explains: "Had a friend who said we should go to this party he was invited to by a classmate of his. We ended driving out to it, we noticed the neighborhood was not too pleasant and sketchy. We saw that [the] house had some lights on in backyard but kind of quiet for a party.
He continued, "I decided that we should not go since something felt really off. Friend ended finding the classmate that invited him got robbed and threatened when he went to [the] party. It ended up being a fake party."
The Classic Creepy White Van
Reddit user ManicTypist followed his gut instinct and his mother's advice when he was young to avoid getting abducted at a bus stop. He recalls, "I'm about 7 [years old], my neighbors 8 and 9 and we're at a bus stop. Guy in [a] stereotypical white van pulls up and asks if we've seen a dog. He doesn't describe the dog, and the truth is, dogs ran around in our neighborhood. My mother taught me stranger danger since as long as I can remember."
He continued, "So one of the boys at the stop, we'll call him Paul, Paul describes a dog and man in [the] van is like, 'that's my dog, why don't you get inside the van, we can all go look for him.' Well, I had red flags going off at this point, and said, 'No, I have to ask my mother,' and as soon as those words left my mouth, he peeled out. It was only later that I realized I saved us all from child abduction, specifically Paul who was walking toward the van to get in.
She Knew That Guy On The Bus Was Planning Something
Reddit user idiedforwutnow knew a stranger on the bus had bad intentions. By following their gut instinct, they were able to escape a bad situation. She recalls, "Some dude get off the bus at the same stop as me. It's about 8 PM and October so it's quite dark out already. He had spoken to me on the bus, one line about nice weather. Anyway, he gets off the bus after me. I cross the road and make a mental note of him walking the opposite way to me. I make sure to watch him walking away. Something in my gut says not to trust him. To get to my house I have to walk up a hill with a path alongside a high stone wall. It is secluded. Usually, I listen to music as I walk. I decide not to this time. I'm about halfway up when I get this awful feeling. I take out my phone, dial my mother's number and as I do I hear fast steps of someone running up behind me."
She continued, "I know it's the guy before I turn around and as I do he is literally running full speed towards me. I look him dead in the eyes, ready to fight for my life. As I do this, my mother answers her phone and I say 'Hi Mom'. He slows right down to a light jog and says 'evening' as he jogs past me. I ask my mom to stay on the line. Her bf comes out to meet me at the top of the hill. The guy is nowhere to be seen. He was definitely running up behind me to strike me and by turning to face him I'm certain it threw him off."
She Changed Her Routine When She Felt Something Was Off
Reddit user Goldfishguru recognized that something was off, even in a situation that was relatively normal to her. Somehow, she just knew that a guy had bad intentions. She explains: "Worked as a Shot Girl at a pub. One night I rejected someone who attempted to get my number. Not unusual and he didn't seem that bothered. The whole exchange wasn't strange to me."
She continued, "In the early hours after the bar closed I went to leave through the back door into the car park like usual when I saw the sensor light outside was on. Someone stood just outside the door. I felt uneasy so went out the front and asked one of the bouncers to walk me around the back to my car. As we rounded the corner we spotted this guy lurking outside the door holding his belt like a makeshift garotte. When he saw us he started screaming that I should die. He scampered off into the road and never came back."
A Couple Tried To Take A Baby At A Gas Station
If these stories prove anything, it's that a bad situation can arise during the most normal routine tasks. A Reddit user shared a story about her friend that is absolutely chilling. She recalls, "Not me but my best friend was driving to California from Arizona with her 2 year old for work and she stopped at a gas station and just got a weird feeling. She normally doesn't lock her car when she pumps gas but she decided to do it. During that process a woman came up to her and started talking all nice and whatnot, She got an uneasy feeling about it and heard a noise like someone trying to open a door. She turned around and saw the woman’s husband trying to get into her car to steal her baby. She told him to get away from her car, and the man tried to play it off. She told them to [back] off and got in her car to leave."
She continued, "The couple got in their vehicle and followed her, tried to swerve her off the road and brake check her on the highway for a few miles. She was smart enough to call the cops (this was in Primm Nevada btw) and they caught up to her and ended up arresting the couple. They had gotten multiple reports that day of issues like that."
Almost Abducted In The Park At Five Years Old
Even from a young age, we have an internal signal that something is not right. Reddit user amtm032 will never forget the day he was almost taken in a park as a child.
"At age 5 I was almost abducted by strangers at the park who had a bunch of toys on a blanket and tried to lure me into their motor home. I looked back to my dad, who was talking to his friend maybe 100 yards away, I got a 'tummy ache' when one of them tried to coax me by reaching for my arm to lead me away, and I screamed and ran like hell back to my dad. Years later I found out those same people had abducted other kids who weren't so lucky. Never ignored a gut feeling since."
They Knew They Were Being Followed
Reddit user The_PurpleZone knew they were being followed and avoided what could have been a terrible situation. They explained: "Well, I was walking home. Wasn't late and I'm from a pretty safe area but it was that time of year when it starts to get dark really early so felt kind of ominous. Anyway, I pass this guy in a red sweater and red tracksuit bottoms and he looks at me funny. Maybe he's high, maybe he's drunk...either way something not quite right about him."
They continued, "I keep going. Look behind me, he's still there. Cross the road. He crosses with me. As soon as I turn a corner I sprint to my apartment complex and run into the coded gate and wait. He walks up a minute later and stares at me through the gate. He just stares at me for a good 10 or so seconds then runs back the way he came."
Their Instinct Told Them To Go To The Hospital Immediately
Reddit user leadpainter wasn't sick but had a feeling that a headrush might be something more. Their quick decision saved their life. They explain, "I stood up and had a quick Matrix-like wave (just like how the walls flex in the move). I turned to the closest person and asked for a ride to the emergency room. Honestly, it felt like a little head rush or lightheadedness that I've had a hundred times before. If I would have brushed it off as such, I would be dead.
They continued, "My lungs were at 30% capacity as I was drowning from fluids and had absolutely no other symptoms than the brief lightheaded feeling. Also, I had been feeling a bit down and hadn't eaten. The more I analyzed the situation I have no idea why I asked a stranger for a ride to the hospital."
She Knew She Was In Serious Danger
Reddit user Stuwe had a scary situation with a man who she later found out had been reported by several other women that day. She explains, "I am a petite woman, and was 19 at the time. Had a late shift that ended at 10 PM. Hit the grocery before my walk home (about 10 blocks). I've got arms full of groceries and notice a car drive past me in the opposite direction. Heard it pull a U-turn behind me and park. I tell myself, 'probably just getting home from work too’, but then I hear footsteps behind me. I turn around and its a man in his 30s, I’d guess. He doesn’t say anything but stops walking when I stopped walking.
She continues, "I keep walking, bit faster now and I can hear him speed up too. I turn around again and say, ‘Hey man, what's up?’ He says nothing. I turn around and keep walking, almost at a mini-jog pace and I hear him speed up too. I was about 4 blocks away from home. The adrenaline kicked in, I dropped my bags and booked it. Made it home, told my boyfriend what was happening. As he goes outside to find the guy, dude drives by in his car. Right past my house. We call the cops, give them a description and the operator tells us they’ve had other calls about the same guy. Really hoping he never actually caught someone. Really happy I listened to my gut."
They Randomly Woke Up And Ended Up Rushing Their Daughter To The Hospital
Reddit user Thr33wolfmoon woke up in the middle of the night for what they thought was no particular reason. But if they hadn't, things could have been bad. They recall, "My daughter was a year and a half at the time. She had a cold, but bedtime went off without a hitch. I woke up in the middle of the night that night, really uncomfortable and anxious. Something was off and I couldn't put my finger on it. I got up, had a midnight snack, tried to calm my nerves. I decided to check on my kids, who shared a room, before trying to go back to sleep.
I get in there and immediately I hear a light sound coming from her crib—wheezing. It was so quiet, there was no way to hear it outside of the room. I got her up and saw that her breathing was fast and labored. I took her to the hospital, where she ended up with an overnight stay, oxygen, and nebulizer treatments because her oxygen had dipped. She was diagnosed with Reactive Airway Disease due to the cold (which triggered the asthma attack)."
How Could She Have Known?
Reddit user clumsydogsdance shared an experience their mother had that can't be explained as anything other than a gut instinct that saved her life. Here's what happened:
"When my mum was a teenager on 18th November 1987, she was going to London to visit a friend. It was around 7:20 pm and she decided she was going to take a taxi instead of going by tube because it didn't feel right (King's cross tube station). Ten minutes later the whole station caught on fire and 30 out of the 40 people died. If she had decided to take the tube she would likely have died."
She Had A Gut Instinct As A Child
When she grew older, Reddit user gnattea's mother recalled when she unknowingly saved them from harm's way as a little girl. She recalls, "I was hiking with my mom and cousin when I was about 9 years old. There were other hikers around and we were just enjoying ourselves and nature. All a sudden my mom says I just stopped and refused to go any further. I was crying and begging to go back and finally she gave in."
She continued, "Well the next day on the news we saw that some crazy guy had been hiding on that trail and tried to attack a woman and her two daughters. Thankfully they were able to get away unharmed. My mom realized how easily that could have been us and we probably wouldn't have gotten away."
Most Kids Would Want Their Own Room, But Her Gut Told Her Otherwise
Reddit user CheapCurrency shared a frightening experience she had when she was eight-years-old. While most kids would be ecstatic to have their own room, her gut told her not to... Here's what happened: "On holiday when I was younger, my parents told me that I was finally old enough that I didn't have to share a bedroom with my brother, and could have my own room downstairs if I wanted. Got a gut feeling that I shouldn't and ended up rooming with my bro."
She continued, "Within a day or so, burglars broke into all the houses in the complex, and were using what would have been my room as a safe-point to loot through all the stuff they'd stolen. Don't know what would have happened if they walked into a room with an 8-year-old girl alone, asleep."
If He Had Stayed...
Reddit user WalkerBRiley knew that something was off while they were camping and made the abrupt decision to leave: "I was going to go camping in Western Maine. I was on a small mountain and the weather just felt off. I had just pitched my tent to but I had a feeling I wasn't going to enjoy the night so I packed up, hiked out, and went home."
He continued, "Next day I find out a tornado ripped through the area I was in. Next week I go out to find the path of destruction it left went right through where my campsite was."
"Always Listen To Your Gut"
Reddit user simpleerii was alert while they were at a bus terminal, and it saved them from danger. They explain: "A couple of years ago I was coming back from university late at night. Probably around 11:45 PM and I was waiting for the bus inside a terminal. The terminals are enclosed spaces with two exits on each side. As I'm waiting for a bus, a guy with a red jacket walks into the same terminal and at first, nothing really sketched me out about him. Then I noticed that we were the only people waiting for the bus and he started to look around suspiciously."
He continued, "He slowly started making his way over to me and he kept looking around. Something felt off and within seconds I started to walk towards the exit and ran after I turned the corner. The next day on the news I see that there was a stabbing at the exact same terminal I was in around 12:30 AM. The suspect was wearing a red jacket. Always listen to your gut in any situation that makes you uneasy."
They Survived the Boston Marathon Bombing
If this doesn't give you the chills you need to check your pulse. Reddit user romochsa recalls: "My grandparents were at the Boston marathon waiting for my aunt to cross the finish line and a young man brushed up against my grandmother with a backpack that felt strangely hard and she felt something was 'off'...
She told my grandfather she needed to move her legs and they went for a short walk. Five minutes later the bombs went off. When they started dating in 1953 my grandfather nicknamed her 'Lucky Legs'...she really lived up to her name that day."
He Saved Everyone At The Sleepover
Reddit user ALT-Legend was one another kid who had a gut instinct that led him to check things out. And it might have saved him and his friends. He recalls, "I was at a friend's house for a sleepover, there were 3 others who I was also friends with. It was about 1:00AM and my friend's parents hadn't gotten back from where ever they were going to (probably a night club or something like that). We were about to fall asleep when I had a feeling that something was not right."
He continued, "I decided to take a look out the window just in case there were any trespassers, and behold, two dark silhouettes were in the woods just outside of his house. I alerted my friends, we called his parents, they called 911. There ended up being a search for them in the surrounding area, his parents arrived about 10 minutes after the cops (the cops got there in like 2 minutes). I assumed they were probably robbers since my friend's house was a large, nice house that was independent. I still don’t know what could’ve happened to the house if we fell asleep."
Their Gut Helped Them Avoid An Avalanche
When it comes to adventuring the great outdoors-- especially alone-- it's vital to pay attention. But Reddit user Subliminal_Image wasn't just paying attention, they listened to their gut: "I use to do a lot of backcountry snowboarding, I'd climb a mountain and snowboard down the untouched snow. One trip I went up after the two hours of hiking up a path to the top of the ridge where I was planning on boarding down I hesitated, didn't push off. I stopped unclipped my bindings and trekked over to a different ridge to sit and enjoy the view."
They continued, "As I sat there watching the horizon and beauty of the snowy peak I heard the sound of the edge breaking off where I was planning on descending on my board. If I had pushed off and gone down id have been in that avalanche and prob died."
Motorcyclists Tend to Have a Sixth Sense
While riding their motorcycle, Reddit user Idiot_Savant_Tinker had an eerie feeling that stopped them in their tracks. "Many years ago (2003-ish) I was on my motorcycle when the traffic on the highway stopped. I rolled to a halt behind the car in front of me, and I had this feeling."
They continued, "I eased the bike over onto the stripes between lanes, and no sooner than I'd put my feet back down Donny Douchebag with his dually slammed the car that was in front of me into the car that was in front of it. I got showered with taillight bits but was otherwise OK."
As A Fifth Grader, He Somehow Knew Something Was Going To Happen
This next story is incredible and sad, too. Reddit user vngo99 recalls, "One day in fifth grade, I was about to leave the house with my mom and brother for school. All of a sudden, I get this strange feeling about my house. I felt the urge to look around the house, and just observe everything as if I wouldn't be there ever again. I also had the urge to bring my blanket with me to school because of that."
They continued, "It was unusual, and this was the first time I ever felt unsettled about anything. Later on that day, my house caught on fire and burned down."
They Had a "Feeling of Doom"
There's always a chance that we could end up in a car accident, but this situation is enough to give you goosebumps. Reddit user OMG-Ponies explains, "I was riding my moped home after 2 am on a Fri night, and I had made some repairs to it without completely reinstalling everything - specifically the muffler so it was pretty loud even with a full-face helmet on. The intersection had all four sides covered with bushes/trees with a stoplight, and I had the green light at the time. As I was coming up to [the] intersection, I had suddenly had a very bad feeling of doom and slammed on my brakes."
They continued, "A sports car without lights on flew through the intersection - against the red light and would have run me over. As I drove through the intersection, a police cruiser with its lights flashing turned onto the road the car came from and was apparently trying to catch the sports car."
He Had A Strong Feeling Telling Him To Call His Mom
Luckily, Reddit user Human_DumpsterFire kept his mom on the phone longer than expected. It could have saved her life. "Late to the game here but in 1996 my mom had just moved to Atlanta, while I stayed in rural Ohio with my grandparents so my mom could find a job and get herself established before I moved down with her. One night I got this extreme anxiety after I went to bed and felt a really strong urge to call my mom and talk to her. I rang and caught her right as she was about to head to Centennial Olympic Park to hang out with some new friends and experience her first 'big city activity' since moving to Atlanta."
They continued, "Turns out I kept her on the phone just long enough for her to decide it was now too late to go out and ended up missing the bombing at the park. Who knows what would have happened if she had gone or if I had called five minutes later after she left."
Their Mother Predicted What Would Happen
Reddit user thedraindeimo remembers their mother having an inkling that something bad was about to happen when he was younger. "When I was 7, my family was visiting family in another state. My father decided that he was taking my uncle out for a drive in his new Ford Bronco, a ride which I wanted to join more than anything else. I jumped in the back seat and we were just about leave their driveway, when my mother opened the door and yanked me out. She told me she didn't feel right with me going and that something was telling her that she needed to take me away from the situation. I cried and threw a tantrum. She took me inside and distracted me some other way."
They continued, "About 2 hours later we get a knock at the door from the local sheriff ( they lived in a ranch far away from civilization) telling us that there had been an accident, both of them were alive, but my uncle who was driving had been launched from the Bronco and had hit his head on a boulder."
Almost Crushed By A Tree
Reddit user ASpaceBurger had a wild experience while camping. "I was going on a camping trip with a bunch of my friends a few days before HS graduation. We went there for a few days, 2 cars brought a total of 8 people, and me, as well as three friends showed up before everyone else. I started to look where I should put my tent, and there was only 1 spot that was flat, so I claimed it."
They continued, "I started to get the rods set up, when I decided against putting it there, and put it a little to the right on a slight incline. My friends thought I was stupid. On the second night, a tree fell and landed directly where my tent would have been. It destroyed my friend's tent who put it next to mine. Nobody was hurt, but my friend who's tent got destroyed, was out because he had to pee."
Almost Crushed By A Race Car
Reddit user LCV17 has an insane story that made the local news. He recalls: "This wasn't a NASCAR or Formula 1 race, a dirt track one. I'm sitting at one of the two turns on the track, watching this very good race, when all of a sudden, I get this gut feeling that I should move over a couple feet. I was sitting in the seat closest to the fence, BTW. I did move over to the left maybe 5 feet."
He continued, "A few laps later, a car starts to have smoke come out of the back. The driver tries to go on, but when he got to the turn I was sitting at, he turns too sharp and the racecar starts to flip over and over, and then the car shatters the fence and lands on the exact spot I sitting before. The driver only had bruised ribs, but as a couple people help the driver out of the car, everyone else in that section look at me in confusion. And by the foreshadowing earlier, the car did catch on fire, but the flames were extinguished before anything bad could happen. They did mention me in that newspaper article. It never made national or even state news, but the local news. They talked about how I was almost crushed by the racecar and did ask me why I moved over. I told them that I got this gut feeling I should move over."
He Never Could Have Known That Was About To Happen
There's no way that Reddit user LOL_MASTER26 could have known what was about to happen, but their gut told them to get out of harm's way. He explained: "So, I live in England and I go shopping every week on a Monday to Morrisons. One week I went and I was at the café (There was a café at this Morrisons). I walked to a table and sat down when suddenly I got the urge to move to another table. I walked all the way to the other side of the café, far away from the other table."
He continued: "I sat down and suddenly the roof collapsed where I first sat, just there though. No one was hurt, thankfully, but I could've been."
