23 Finding Dead Bodies Stories Experiences
"We called 911, and they instructed me to pull him out and do chest compressions on him until the ambulance arrived. When we pulled him out and carried his dead weight, it became clear that he really was dead. But I decided to do the chest compressions anyway. Part of me thought that we might actually be saving him. I felt his ribs crack and break under my hands. I must’ve broken a few ribs, unfortunately. It was an awful feeling. I did the compressions for maybe three minutes, and by the time the paramedics took over, I was completely exhausted.Later on, the police came to get a statement and let us know that the man was likely dead for seven or eight hours by the time we found him. Which means he was in that same position, with his vehicle idling, propped up in my neighbor's driveway, when we left that afternoon for the river. He had a massive heart attack and most likely died instantly. He was a father of two, and he lived just around the corner.After the incident, I felt almost nothing. I felt bad for the family, but I expected to feel traumatized by the experience, but I wasn’t. I felt kind of empty and that I should be feeling more about it. Trauma shows up in funny ways because soon after that incident, whenever I saw somebody sleeping anywhere that wasn’t a bed, I would get this panic that they were dead. It’s been 15 years, and I still occasionally get that panic response to seeing people sleeping."—u/CZILLROY
