It only takes one foolish act to tarnish a good reputation built over decades of hard work. In the same way, it only takes one horrible, ill-advised decision to ruin one’s life forever. 

Today, we’re covering the latter. We’ve picked out a handful of stories about people making a single wrong move that altered the course of their existence in the worst ways imaginable. Some, unfortunately, took a fatal turn. Ultimately, all of these could have been avoided. 

These accounts are from different corners of the internet. Scroll through, but a few are distressing reads, so proceed cautiously. If you have similar stories, feel free to share them in the comments below.

#1

A 19yo guy in Sydney ate a slug for a dare. Got Rat Lungworm disease. Went into a coma for 18 months, woke up a vegetable confined to wheelchair needing 24 hour care. Died about 10 years later. From eating a single slug…..

Image credits: Worried_Blacksmith27

#2

Guy on our school band was crazy gifted. Like, full ride music scholarship, guys in the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra basically recruiting him/hiring him/whatever they do out of highschool.

Got drunk, got stupid, punched a brick wall, and broke most of the bones in his hand. He managed to keep the scholarship because he could also sing, but AFAIK never played an instrument on that level again.

Image credits: Sorcatarius

#3

A friend of my parents was a good family man who loved his family. One day he was playing with his toddler and was playfully tossing her on the bed. She would get back up giggling and he would toss her again. In one of the tosses he threw her a bit too far and she hit a bed post. She lived but became bed bound unable to even talk. Not quite vegtable but close. He went to jail on child abuse. Lost his wife, his job and his little girl would bever be the same. The guilt was so much he ended it as soon as he could.

Image credits: IIVIIORTAL_K

#4

In college, my ex’s friend was pulled over for speeding. He had d***s and alcohol in his system and when the cop reached in his truck to grab the keys, he panicked and took off, thinking the cop would let go. The cop did not let go, and was dragged for quite a ways before eventually falling to the ground and hitting his head, resulting in his death. My ex’s friend was charged with capital murder and sentenced to 20 years in a Mississippi state prison. 21 years old and ruined his entire life in 1 night.

Image credits: eroofio

#5

Old coworker went to Vegas, felt really good about his odds due to the liquor and ended up betting his entire life savings on roulette and lost. He ended up losing his house, his wife, kids, and from what I’ve seen he lives in a tiny apartment and works a min wage job.

Image credits: Dire-Dog

#6

I have an acquaintance that was always overconfident, approaching arrogance.
I could tolerate him as he was charismatic and not far into arrogant territory.

One day he thought he could keep something he found at work. Cameras everywhere. The owner knew where it was and was able to track the item to him.

Fired when the investigation showed him carrying it out. 30+ years with the company.

Sadly it wasn’t the first time his ego got him in trouble.

Image credits: Rabid_Dingo

#7

Near me there was a serious traffic collision. Several cars and 2 trucks. 3 people died when one truck ploughed into stationary traffic at around 50mph. The crash and resulting fire was so horrific 2 people were only identified by their dead dog on the carriageway (it was microchipped).

It was on the BBC news and have been documentaries about it.

The truck driver was on his phone. He was charged and is now in prison.

Image credits: Tabby_Tibs

#8

I’m 49 years old, that context is relevant. When I was in college, a friend of mine started a company with a professor. This company was basically the first social network, I won’t list its name here. This was in the early 90s. He offered me a job as employee number 4 or 5. I didn’t know what the hell the internet was, let alone understand the concept of a social network. I knew he wasn’t going to pay me much. I turned him down.

Three years later, that company was sold for $190mm. They still only had a few employees. Every employee had equity and every employee made millions by age 25, including several other friends. I was a junior employee at an insurance company when I heard. Gah.

Several of those people have gone on to very successful careers in technology and private equity. They were all basically set for life because of a quick decision they made at age 21. I’ve had an excellent career so far, I haven’t “destroyed my life”… but I think about this frequently

Image credits: hiro111

#9

Pushed his girlfriend down a flight of stairs in front of almost everyone he knew seconds after she announced to everyone that she was pregnant with his kid.

I ain’t sure if she miscarried or if she just decided not to have that psychos kid, but he spent a few years in prison over it and he ain’t welcome anywhere no more.

She walks with a cane at 30.

Image credits: HillInTheDistance

#10

I had a classmate who tried to OD to end his life. He survived. He was in a coma for like a year, then when he woke up he couldn’t talk or even remember who he was. He’s getting better slowly but he’s now mentally disabled. Just so brutal. He’s only 22. I know the brain is an amazing thing, so hopefully he’ll get to some sort of normal eventually, but he’s never going to be the same.

Image credits: now_you_own_me

#11

Tl;dr: fake pregnancy scam involving basically everyone she knew.

My brother broke up with his girlfriend when they were both 21. On the surface it looked like an amicable breakup- he even volunteered to move back in with our parents temporarily so she could keep the flat they were renting. About a month later, she sent him two pics, of an ultrasound and a positive pregnancy test, and told him she didn’t want him to have anything to do with their baby but if he’d give her a few thousand now to help her through the pregnancy and to get ready for the baby’s arrival, she’d release him from any future obligation to pay child support. She really laid it on thick that it was going to be a very hard pregnancy since he’d left her and she now had to pay for the flat alone, and even hinted he’d known she was pregnant when he broke up with her.

When he ignored the message, she then sent it on to *everyone* – her family, our family including parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, his employer, his colleagues, some old college teachers they were still in contact with, and their friends (they met in school so almost all of their friends were mutual). She even posted it on her Facebook for good measure.

He *then* replied – to her, and to everyone he knew of that she’d sent the message to, and also on her Facebook page – with two screenshots, showing that the pictures she’d sent him were literally the first that came up with you googled “ultrasound” and “positive pregnancy test”. She didn’t lose her job over that, but did a few months later, and most of their friends cut ties with her.

She set out to extort a few thousand off him and instead outed herself as crazy to basically everyone she knew.

Image credits: MerylSquirrel

#12

Guy I want to high school with was diagnosed with testicular cancer when we were about 25. For months, maybe years, I would see update posts about the progress he was making with treatment. Then one day he posted on Facebook that he was cancer free. The next day he was dead. He’d gone out that night and got absolutely wasted, fell down a flight of concrete steps outside his flat in the early hours of the morning and by the time he was found in the morning he was gone.

Image credits: vicki5150

#13

The daughter of a friend of my mom. This was quite a few years ago, but “coma drinking” was for whatever insane reason really popular with the youth here. And yes, it is exactly what the name implies, you drink until you black out. She actually did go into a coma and from what I understand, suffered minor brain damage.

Image credits: Cleverbird

#14

Friend of mine from a wealthy Middle Eastern country/family didn’t quite ruin his life but f****d it up for a while. Was in Canada on a student visa but was working after graduating and had applied for permanent residency. Got rejected, so he took out every credit card he could find and ran them all up because he was leaving the country forever that week. Tells his parents he is coming home and why – mom makes a few phone calls and turns out the kid had screwed up some paperwork, and it was no problem to get it fixed up and approved. That was 15 years ago and he still lives here, but his credit card debt was more than his annual salary and his parents (correctly) told him he was an idiot and to pay it himself. He also lost out on a job opportunity the next year because his credit was such a disaster.

Image credits: mrdannyg21

#15

Some kid in our senior year of high school pulled the fire alarm every day. He was getting away with it for a while. The school had town officials and the chief of the fire department and police come in and talk about the dangers. The town would send trucks and be without them if there was another emergency. None of that worked. When they offered a reward the kid’s friend’s ratted him out. His family had to pay for all those calls, he was expelled from school and didn’t graduate.

Image credits: JediMasterPopCulture

#16

My dad once saw a patient who was a seemingly normal, well-adjusted family man in his early 40s with no major health issues and in good physical shape. He was in town for a business trip and had suddenly gone blind. Come to find out, while out with his colleagues, he had tried coke for the first time in his life. It was cut with a something that created a blockage in his optic nerve and now he’s blind forever. This caused him to lose his job. He had a wife and kids and was the sole bread winner.

Image credits: eroofio

#17

Had a friend who was a compulsive spender. Buy a $9000 sports motorcycle. Spend $1200 getting it customized. Trade it in 9 months later for $3000 towards another new one. Guy could probably have a house and be ahead on mortgage with all of the money he’s spent on stuff he was stupid about.

Well, one day, he must’ve put his credit card number into a “Hot Singles In Your Area” scam. Woke up and his bank account had been cleaned out. Needed to move back into his parents’ house and declare bankruptcy.

Also borrowed $1000 from me that I never saw a cent of before he ghosted me. Sad thing about the situation is, even though I did want the money back, I had no intention of disowning his friendship.

Image credits: anon

#18

Friend was having a beer in a tavern. Some guys came in and started messing with my friend. He moved seats twice and then got up to leave when one of the guys threw a punch. My friend threw ONE punch back and the guy he hit landed in the ICU and wasnt expected to live. Friend was sitting in jail waiting just waiting for the guy he punched to either die or recover.

Turns out the guy he punched recovered. Friend took a reduced charge of aggravated assault…a felony. One punch.

Image credits: Noelle305

#19

I did. Some drugs are fun with little to no consequence, while other, harder drugs completely take over and then theres drugs that fall everywhere in between…. I was a straight A student, Junior in Highschool, was going to prom with my first serious girlfriend in just a few weeks. Everything was going great, except…. I couldnt get any pot at all in the neighborhood I just moved to. After a few days without my normal tree smoke, I finally took the recomendation from a “friend” I just made in the new neighborhood, and purchased what narcotic they were selling. Just to try… figure it might hold me over till i get some green. My FIRST thought right after taking that first hit from the pipe was “How much $ could I sell ALL of my stuff for?” I kid you not, one hit, I WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED It took a little more than 12 yrs to kick my accidental crack habit. No job, No HS Diploma, no family, no friends, no possessions at all and 12 yrs just gone. And looking back… I really had no choice but to be a crackhead. There was no way I could stop, impossible…. No one wants to be a crackhead… it is the devils drug and I feel so bad for anyone who has ever crossed its path, because I promise… they can not make the choice to stop, no matter how bad they want to.

#20

A co-worker of mine who had a very successful management-level job at a big corporation paralyzed themselves from the waist down after trying to climb up a rain pipe on a drunken dare.

They couldn’t work for almost a year, returned in a very junior position, and were basically making minimum wage. Their life savings disappeared in a couple of months despite them being amazing at saving and last I saw them they were made redundant when COVID hit. no idea what their situation is now.

Image credits: Cold_Hour

#21

He didn’t properly secure a ladder on a building site. He then fell off said ladder and fractured three vertebrae. Lucky enough not to be paralysed, but he spent nearly 2 months in hospital and then three months in a body cast from his armpits to his arsehole. His missus took this opportunity to leave him for a yuppie scumbag, taking his kids with her. He’s been battling with depression and chronic pain for over a decade since then.

Image credits: seefith

#22

My brother got into the car with his friend, whom he knew had drank too much. He quite literally ruined/ended his life. I’m not looking for attention or condolences, but just remember that it’s not just being the drunk driver that you have to think about.

Image credits: AlwaysNipping

#23

One of my mom’s clients fell for a scam and lost $100,000.

Image credits: Orange_Motors

#24

I once worked as a personal assistant for a person who broke his neck due to diving into snow that was a little too hard.

#25

My father…

Years ago he started a trucking company with his best friend at the time. The HQ of the company was in a neighbor state, a six hours drive or about 40 minute flight. And for some reason, my dad just wouldn’t visit his company. Even with my mother pressing him to actually take care of his business, he would alway say he trusted his friend and since he only did the accounting for the company he only needed the reports his friend would send him. Long story short, his “best friend” scammed him out a million bucks, driving both their company and my family to complete bankruptcy and fucked off to live in some tropical paradise

Image credits: [deleted]

#26

I ran into a former middle school football teamate at Wal-Mart a couple years ago and he gave me an update on his life.

In 7th grade he was considered an up and coming prospect locally. He was defensive end, big guy, nice guy overall, didn’t do drugs, stayed out of trouble, decent grades.

In the 90s, for some strange reason “pantsing” was a big thing. I don’t know why, but it was hilarious to run behind someone and pull their pants down. It happened a lot in hazing, I myself was pantsed a couple times. It was stupid. But it was really a trending thing.

Anyways one day while we were running our football cross country run on a long path that circled the school out to the wooded area, we ran by a couple girls from the track team sharing the path.

A different player dares the lineman to pants one of the girls. The moron does. He reacted so quickly I couldn’t even tell him not to. It was seconds. Well this girl was the daughter of a lawyer. As he ran away laughing she was screaming at the top of her lungs that she was touched. I remember the police showing up and handcuffing him and I thought to myself, wow why are the police here. It didn’t occur to me at that age what was happening at all I thought it was a prank that she just didn’t like. He was arrested for sexual assault, convicted, and spent the rest of his teenage years in juvy.

When I bumped into him at Wal Mart he was picking up shopping carts. I had forgot all about him and that whole situation. He started to tell me that after juvy he was marked for life, a registered sex offender, he couldn’t get into college, he couldn’t find work. He lived in public housing and Wal Mart was his first job but he had to lie on his application. He begged me not to mention his past to anyone there because he was about to commit suicide before he landed this job.

He said that every day he goes to sleep and remembers that prank and every night he considers putting a gun to his head for it. That shit hit me so deep. Thousands of pants were pulled down that school year and this dude picked the absolute worst person to target for a cheap laugh.

After he was arrested I remember all the pantsing stopped instantly. And the kids moved on to hitting people in the chest and yelling “open chest’.

#27

Guy I knew in uni was inebriated and decided to try and clear a very tall spiked wrought iron fence. He impaled his balls and did not get to keep them.

#28

Guys got drunk in HS, drove off the highway, didn’t make the turn at 90 mph, five dead.

#29

Kid down the street had his best friend over, and his friend, being a 12-13 year old boy was being a total d**k head. Kid picks up a shot gun his brother left lying around in the dining room and aimed at friend. Friend taunted him. Kid pulled the trigger and filled his friend’s head full of buck shot.

Two families instantly devastated. Kid went to jail. I occasionally see the friend when I go out for a walk. He’s a grown up now, but is intellectually maybe 4-5 years old, and will be taken care of by family for the rest of his life.

[Found an article on it.](https://www.kgw.com/article/news/police-id-oregon-city-boy-shot-in-head/283-73534858)

Yes the friend lived — though with a lot of brain damage.

#30

Worked in Seattle Airport and a coworker decided to take his own life by stealing an airplane, fly it in loops around the Pacific northwest air space while being chased by the airforce untill finally going nose down…

Image credits: —-xxxzzzzzzzzz

#31

He had just turned 19. Summer after senior year. Dad owns a very lucrative lumber sales and construction company. He got a brand new truck for graduation, and was going to start his job after summer ended with his dad. Train to be a foreman, and basically be set for life on a path to retire extremely comfortably by the age of 55.

He decided to take a bunch of pills and ran a red light. T-boned a car killing the driver instantly and crippling the passenger for life. He got off with vehicular manslaughter because his dad forked out big money to get the charges lessened. He served 13 years and got out last year. He just walks around the town now because he can’t get work, own a license or vehicle.

#32

Middle management type man where I used to work, came into the office every other day. He was known to be a stand up guy, good family man, even a good boss (as good as it gets when it comes to management at least).

He got caught having sex with the new hire. Lost his job, his marriage, and his kids stopped talking to him. That was two years ago, last news I got he’s living in a studio apparemment with a mattress on the floor, and already spent half his savings on alcohol.

#33

Had a friend from high school who decided to “opt out” by jumping off the roof at his mom’s house.. he landed in such a way that he survived, but is now paralyzed from the chest down – as in: can’t even breathe for himself and fully reliant on home health aids and his mom, whom he despised and named as the reason he wanted out of life (it’s fair that she was a full blown heroine addict at this point and was a s**t show herself)..

#34

Guy I knew, married and with two kids. He’d been adopted as a baby and reconnected with his bio family, including his 10yo sister who he was excited to get to know.

She came to visit him planning to spend a few weeks with his family. Her first day there, he tried to molest her. She got away from him, ran to the bathroom and called 911.

He lost his job, most of his friends, and (we thought at the time) his wife. She took him back when he got out of prison, though.

#35

Me! I didn’t believe my mom she said she’d kick me out at 18, so I never bothered to get a part time job to save money. My 18th birthday came around, and I said “nope” to her when she asked if I’d gotten a job or had living arrangements figured out. The next day, I came home from a friend’s place to a laundry basket of clothing at the door. She drove me to a homeless shelter and never let me come back home.

#36

Really great friend in high school huffed glue in her bed room one night and died. It was really weird bc no one knew she was doing inhalants, and she didn’t fit the glue huffing stereotype: she was extremely social and well liked; extremely smart, athletic, she was the head chair in band in her section, and really into jazz band; but at night, she’d huff f*****g glue.

#37

“Jim”, a kid I went to high school with, gave a bunch of other kids a ride home in his pickup truck. The other kids rode in the bed as he drove each of them home.

You can already see where this is going, I think.

Anyway, Jim tried to make a light but he came up way short. Traffic on the opposite side already had a green light. Jim’s truck hit a car in the middle of the intersection sending the kids riding in the back flying through the air.

Two of the kids died from their injuries while one of the other ones got helicoptered to the ICU.

Making matters worse, the car he hit was driven by “Erin”, a girl we went to high school with. All she did was proceed through the intersection when the light turned green. Like, literally nobody blamed her at all. But she was only 16 and had just started driving. But she never signed up to be involved in a crash where people *f*****g died*. The incident sent her over the edge. She had a nervous breakdown and I never saw her again.

Life wasn’t easy for Jim after that. The other students in school were merciless to him. He obviously felt horrible about what happened. But self-flagellation was apparently not enough for the other students. Eventually, Jim had to leave the school because his safety was legit in danger.

Jim’s situation might’ve been exacerbated by some VERY forgiving parents [of the deceased teens]. One of them said words to the effect of “He’s already suffering and he’ll suffer even more in the future. I can’t bring myself to add to his pain.” I don’t think the other kids took kindly to the parents just letting it go. But I can’t prove that.

I have no idea what Erin or Jim are up to these days. But I hope they’re both better.

tl;dr- There’s no such thing as driving “too safe”. The life you save could be a teenager who can’t cope with the trauma.

EDIT- For clarity.

#38

Old friend of mine relapsed and ODed on fentanyl 3 days ago. Opioids have ruined my area. I’ve lost 4 or 5 out of 70 classmates I graduated with 10 years ago, all gone from over dosing.

#39

Gambling. All their savings, the house, a motorbike. She walked out – eventually – got her life back. Him? Who knows.

#40

She decided she didn’t want to be a wife and mom anymore after having 4 kids (all under age of 14). Left her family and moved in with a guy on parole for assaulting a young teen. Kids want nothing to do with her. Rest of family and community have had it.

#41

My uncle basically ruined his life by banging a coworker. He was a security guard and got caught banging a nurse at work. He lost his job and got blacklisted or something because no one else would hire him. Now he’s eating tramadol everyday in a basic apartment with a dump vehicle. Its sad because he’s a good guy actually.

#42

Had a choir teacher at my middle school who was accused of inappropriate behavior with a student. Before charges were even made, he took his life that evening after he left school. I remember them playing the dispatch call of himself telling the police where they’ll find his body.

#43

We’ll ask my sister she got arrested for embezzlement and computer fraud in the same day then 12 days later got arrested for domestic violence in another county. She did a really good job of ruining her life because she confessed immediately to the embezzlement. She’s not very bright, I swear. The crimes were bad enough but confessing gives no leverage to plea bargain. Invoke your 5th amendment right to remain silent, request a lawyer, don’t just confess. Then to be out on bail and commit yet another crime I just can’t with her.

#44

One of my childhood bullies joined the military immediately after graduation. Soon after that, he got drunk and dove into shallow waters. He broke his back and is now permanently paralyzed, as well as completely unable to do his dream job. He was always a miserable piece of s**t who always picked on people he deemed less than him, including disabled people. Karma is a raging b***h.

#45

Dude I met was 18. Had been drinking. Driving down a rural road. Lost control of his car, flipped it. Killed his passenger, who was his best friend.

He was charged with a felony DUI and manslaughter. He was really messed up by this and knowing that he killed his friend haunted him. He was also an avid hunter and had to give that up because he was banned from owning firearms as a felon.

He was in his 30’s when I met him and he was pretty messed up.

#46

I was supporting my ex and our baby. We had borrowed a car from my parents, because we were down to one car. There spare pickup died and they needed their car back (they both worked). My ex said “no.” I packed almost all my and my daughter’s stuff into the car I was returning and moved in with my parents with the baby. I stopped supporting him and his life went downhill super fast.

#47

Got married to an idiot.

#48

Actually I have one of these, but it’s a terrible story. It was someone that I knew but not well. He and his wife had a small kid. The wife was driving the kid to care, forgot the kid was in the car and went to work. The kid died in the heat of the car. It was on the news, they showed aerial photos of where car was and stuff.

Posting this from an alt as I don’t want people joining the dots on who that is.

#49

A friend’s daughter was riding her motorcycle on a backroad she’d lived on for most of her life. She blew through a stop sign going about 90 and t-boned a Jeep. The impact shattered nearly every bone in her body. Last I heard she was wheelchair bound and the doctors still weren’t sure if keeping her leg was better than amputation. She’s in PT, and probably will be for the rest of her life. Apparently they’re optimistic, but she’ll never be the same. Plus she had three small kids with a deadbeat, stoner ex.

#50

I won’t say ruined but friend in high school who always got better grades than me went to college, joined the kind of frat where there’s never not dried beer on the floor, flunked out of school, briefly married and divorced someone he just met and is now just kind of crazy and alone.

#51

Some teenagers got drunk and ran over a gas station employee when he tried to stop them from stealing gas. They dragged him a few km’s. The blood stained the roads for weeks. They were all tried as adults and got the maximum sentence of 25 years. I think they were charged for second degree homicide.

#52

He cheated over his girlfriend of 7 years. People found out 2 months after their engagement. His family is slowly disowning him.

#53

Alcohol and a motorcycle.

Image credits: BobbyWills1968