In 2005, I was in South-East Asia for vacation. I left the islands one day before the tsunami struck.
2 students who were brothers at my school weren't so lucky. They were killed along with their parents. The only survivor from their family was their little sister.
in 2009, I was at Redondo Beach in LA, when I accidentally swam out too far from the shoreline. Almost drowned, had it not been for my adrenaline rush.