“I know it sounds crazy but I was almost killed while riding a lawnmower as a kid. I don’t even like saying ‘almost’ dying because I definitely should have died right there and then. I figured that I could save myself some time with the weedwhacker by driving the mower halfway under a wooden playset with swings. I was also the shortest kid in my whole school, like 4 foot 9 in 7th grade and I could barely reach the lawnmower brake pedal.
So I drove halfway under the playset with the platform for the slide is at about chest level while I was on the mower. It was around this time that I realized this was a bad idea but it was too late. The slide came at my chest and pushed me while the mower continued forward.
Slowly, I lost control of the mower moving forward and couldn’t see or reach the brake pedal or put the mower in reverse. My neck was completely pinned between the firm mower seat and the wooden playset platform as I scrambled to push the brake.
Normally, the mower shuts down automatically when there is no weight on the seat, but since there was so much pressure from my collarbone/neck being pressed against the mower seat, it continued pushing forward with force. This was it. I knew I was going to die as I felt my lungs lose air and my neck getting forcefully squeezed between a machine and a solid wooden structure.
But somehow, one of the low-hanging flimsy kiddie swings latched on to the front end of the mower and flipped it upwards, launching my almost lifeless body backward onto the ground as the blade chopped both swings to shreds and the mower powered down. My dad came outside only to see my purple body laying on the ground and the riding mower completely inverted and our swing set in shambles. Never had to mow the lawn ever again.”
