# What is the worst injury/illness you have had? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 8, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-injury-illness-you-have-had/759405 "2016-07-08T16:19:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hbk4894](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e68b1a/32.png) [@Hbk4894](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hbk4894)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-injury-illness-you-have-had/759405/1 "2016-07-08T16:19:59Z")
Just chicken pox for me and a few scrathes ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-injury-illness-you-have-had/759405/2 "2016-07-08T16:26:23Z")
Degloving of back of thigh/avulsed hamstring/broken femur. I win. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Troutdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4af34b/32.png) [@Troutdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troutdude)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-injury-illness-you-have-had/759405/3 "2016-07-08T16:36:40Z")
Heart attack. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-injury-illness-you-have-had/759405/4 "2016-07-08T16:38:42Z")
2nd-degree burn on leg. Dislocated wrist. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-injury-illness-you-have-had/759405/5 "2016-07-08T16:39:31Z")
**running coach** ā€¦ thatā€™s definitely worse than mineā€¦ how did you manage to get injured so heinously? Mine was a ruptured patellar tendon and subsequent repair / PT. Managed to stumble off my back deck and land just right on one foot, so that it popped the tendon off the bottom of my kneecap, rendering me unable to actually straighten my leg out using my thigh muscles. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-injury-illness-you-have-had/759405/6 "2016-07-08T16:46:06Z")
Heart attack, 51 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-injury-illness-you-have-had/759405/7 "2016-07-08T16:52:33Z")
> [@bump](#): > > **running coach** ā€¦ thatā€™s definitely worse than mineā€¦ how did you manage to get injured so heinously? Riding my bicycle. Got clipped by the wheel fender of a passing horse trailer. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-injury-illness-you-have-had/759405/8 "2016-07-08T16:58:25Z")
Worst injury had to be the knife slash across my chest when I was about nine years old. Fifteen stitches on my scrawny little self. Illness: guess Iā€™ve been very lucky so far. The worst was a case of mononucleosis when I was in college, which meant being confined to bed for a week. I have Type II diabetes at this stage of my life, but itā€™s under control. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-injury-illness-you-have-had/759405/9 "2016-07-08T17:00:19Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Heart attack, 51 years ago. :eek: Just now old are you? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-injury-illness-you-have-had/759405/10 "2016-07-08T17:23:10Z")
Misdiagnosed ruptured appendix. Finally, botched surgery followed by two weeks in hospital, then prolonged recovery at home. I do not recommend Long Island College Hospital. They almost killed me. > [@Hbk4894](#): > > Just chicken pox for me and a few scrathes Exactly what is a ā€œscratheā€? ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-injury-illness-you-have-had/759405/11 "2016-07-08T17:37:34Z")
Illness would have to be mono. I felt like I was going to die. Injury would be torn ankle ligaments. Not super painful, just very annoying and slow to heal ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-injury-illness-you-have-had/759405/12 "2016-07-08T17:45:59Z")
Itā€™s a tossup. Nine kidney stones, or legal blindness. Never had a trauma injury worthy of note. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-injury-illness-you-have-had/759405/13 "2016-07-08T17:47:46Z")
Gall bladder removed as an emergency surgery 20 years ago. Heart attack then angioplasty 2 years ago. Iā€™m done. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-injury-illness-you-have-had/759405/14 "2016-07-08T17:57:02Z")
Childbirth. 27 hours of labor, followed by three hours of pushing, a forceps attempt, with two different styles of forceps, and then the doctor says we have to go to a c-section, and while we were signing papers, the babyā€™s heartbeat dropped, so I suddenly had to be rushed into an emergency c-section, and given general anesthesia. They did try to restart my epidural, but I felt the knife go in, so the mask came down on my face, and I donā€™t remember anything else. Either that or the attenuated case of pertussis I had at age three. It only lasted a couple of days, and the serious cough only a day-- I was vaccinated, but either I caught an attenuated strain before the vaccination was in effect, or I caught a very virulent strain after I was vaccinated. Or somehow I got sick from the vaccine (third is the least likely scenario). It was not the nightmare illness of full-blown pertussis, but it was miserable, and itā€™s the reason that just being vaccinated yourself isnā€™t enough, because vaccinated people in an unvaccinated herd can catch things like that frequently. I will never forget that relentless cough, and it was the mildest of cases. Last month, my son had freaking Scarlet Fever. He got strep, and for some reason, had no sore throat or fever. His first symptom was the rash. We need a strep vaccine. Yes, I know we wonā€™t get one, since you can get strep multiple times, but I can still wish. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-injury-illness-you-have-had/759405/15 "2016-07-08T17:58:54Z")
Iā€™ve led a boring life, the worst I can recall was pneumonia when I was 19. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-injury-illness-you-have-had/759405/16 "2016-07-08T18:08:52Z")
No terrible injuries. Illnesses? Most serious I guess was CHF. Spent a week in the hospital. The worst an illness ever made me feel was measles, at 15 years old. Iā€™ve never felt sicker in my life. I contend that anyone who intentionally lets a child get measles should be jailed for child abuse. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-injury-illness-you-have-had/759405/17 "2016-07-08T18:14:20Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Misdiagnosed ruptured appendix. Finally, botched surgery followed by two weeks in hospital, then prolonged recovery at home. > > I do not recommend Long Island College Hospital. They almost killed me. Guess I should have also mentioned open heart surgery in 2012. Got a new aortic valve, plus triple bypass. The recovery was actually less than my appendectomy. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-injury-illness-you-have-had/759405/18 "2016-07-08T18:18:09Z")
Really not much. I had a kidney stone last year, but it was a passing illness. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-injury-illness-you-have-had/759405/19 "2016-07-08T18:21:23Z")
Probably Scarlet Fever as a child. The combination of extremely high fever and young age means I donā€™t remember it at all. Good thing I guess. My parents told me I was screaming while being held down in an ice bath to get my fever down. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-injury-illness-you-have-had/759405/20 "2016-07-08T18:22:51Z")
Mononucleosis when I was in college, and a gall bladder-ectomy when I was about 35 or so. I _thought_ I was having a heart attack one night, but it was some codeine I had taken earlier after skin cancer surgery. It gave me godawful pain in the pancreas area for hours, easily the worst pain I have ever experienced. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-injury-illness-you-have-had/759405.md?page=2)