i donate blood. frequently. up until this day, i had never fainted. a few years back i had just donated and had to go pick up a car load of moving boxes for a friend. i got to this stranger's driveway to get the boxes (free, craigslist), opened the hatch, said hello to the mom and adult son helping me load the boxes and suddenly, i just knew i was going to die right then in their driveway. i remember thinking this and kinda laughing. i'm going to die in some random stranger's driveway in the middle of this lame suburb. i felt so free and happy. i said to them "i just donated blood and i think i'm going to faint now." i woke up 30 minutes later about 40 feet away from the car, on their grass, with cookies and juice and i had no idea how i got there or what happened. it was kinda fun.
in the mid 1970s i tried to CTB in 9th grade. my 1st and last attempt (1976). drugs/booze. i called a bestie on my "teen phone number" to say bye and they called my mom's phone # upstairs. mom called 911. i have a vivid recollection of being in an operating room surrounded by glass windows, passed out completely and above my body...seeing my own body laying on the hospital bed/guerney and seeing my parents in the windows looking into the room. i remember watching myself trying to pull out a nasal cannula and other tubes. i remember being really peaceful and not afraid and wondering how my dad even got there so quickly (parents divorced). surreal.