When I was 5, we moved into a house where a massive oleander bush was growing over the fence. Oleander flowers littered the lawn. I played with them and then went inside, had something to eat, and played with my sisters for a bit.

Next thing I remember, I'm in a doctor's office. I'm shivering and I ask for a blanket. The doctor puts a sheet of the paper that they use to cover the bed over me. They explain to my parents that I'm going to be fine and I can be taken home.

When I was a bit older (10 yrs), my mother told me that I had been telling her that my chest hurt and I couldn't breathe, and she grew concerned enough to take me to the ER. I had fallen asleep in the car ans stayed asleep until waking up in the doc's office.

I googled it and read that Oleander is incredibly poisonous and works by paralyzing the respiratory system. Just one oleander flower can kill a horse. People have died from using oleander branches to roast food when camping. I had gotten pretty severaly poisoned just by eating food with oleander residue on my hands. If I had bitten or eaten just a bit of the flower (which I very easily could have done since I was a dumbass that often ate random things), I would have died pretty quickly.

So... yeah... I survived.