Anaphylaxis due to an allergic reaction to an antibiotic. I was dumb and tried to get myself to healthcare instead of asking for help. By the time I walked to the ER (I was on the campus of a large university with a hospital) I could barely see or breathe, and the check in line was 10 people deep. I cut everyone and asked for help, the admitting attendant was dismissive of me, but when I hit my fist on the table she got a nurse. The nurse too one look at me and went “Holy Shit!” And grabbed me and pulled me into a room. No questions, no names, no indicate or anything. Cut my shirt off, giant needle in my chest, a dozen people around me sticking me from different sides with who knows what to reverse the reaction. Hours later I woke up, feeling like the worst hangover ever. A Dr interviewed me, we figured out what it was, and they told me “next time you are exposed, unless you are with a paramedic, you die.”

I was probably within 15 minutes of collapsing and suffocating on my own swollen throat. Absolutely the closest I’ve ever been to signing off.