Hi everyone!

This is a little experience of mine from last week where I almost die and a little reminder of how important is to keep the hope and positiveness even at these extreme moments where you don't really know if you are going to survive. I'm gonna share with you my little story about how keeping a smile on the face and telling jokes when my heart almost stoped actually saved my life and made the day of many others.

Disclaimer: This is my personal experience about how I dealt with such an extreme situation. My plan is not to offend anybody.

I was meeting with a friend I recently made and explaining her how to get into the freelance life and promote her self better. We were chilling out and having a lot of fun when SUDDENLY a wild waitress came and asked us what we wanted to eat. I saw the menu of salads and my friend proposed me to share a shrimp (oh god now I hate this word) salad. "ohh... I've never tried this before, I would love to try it! What's the worst that can happen?... in the worst scenario I would only not like it, I wouldn't die, right? RIGHT?".

Wrong.

I started eating the salad and had amazing fun with my friend until time for goodbye came and I met with another friend of mine that was on the surroundings. We went for an ice cream at that GORGEOUS super sunny-hot day in Poland (something that you don t use to see actually). Then we went for a walk with our super flavored cold dessert and stopped by a 16 years-old girl that was playing the violin as a PRO (I know this because I play violin since my 11 years old).

Oh... man, I decided to come closer and give her some money and congratulations, even tho she didn't speak too much english.

We walked away.

"Hey, can you see my face? I think I'm having an allergic reaction." I said to my friend after I started feeling my throat funny and dry and my skin like pinch (I don't even know how to describe it). She said that it was really bad and told me that she can call the ambulance if needed. "Naaah... it will pass away!" With a smile in my face.

It did not.

Let's put things on perspective

This is how I usually look...

...still not a Brad Pitt.

And this is how my face started looking like...

...It didn't take me too long to realize what was going on: I was becoming a LIZARDMAN!

...jokes aside. I couldn't swallow, I couldn't breath, I stopped seeing and I couldn't walk anymore. I was drop in the street with my face completely unrecognizable. Fighting for breathing. My friend was crying and calling the ambulance. The point of my fingers started to look like balloons and I could feel that they were about to explode. I stopped feeling anything in my body. I started feeling weightless and everything was getting whiter to my eyes

But I didn't care, I just wanted my friend to stop crying and worrying so much. So I made my first joke...

...even tho' I couldn't really speak and I was just whispering.

The ambulance came just on time (After the whole party they told me that if they could come only 2 minutes later it would be too late). The paramedics asked me to get into the ambulance, I did my best, but slipped because I couldn't really see. They catch me and put me onto the stretcher. One of them measured my pulse and say "kurwa", which in polish means "fck"*. They parked the vehicle and rapidly put some stuff into my veins. They were constantly asking me if I was awake and to stay with them (which I answered "yeah, I don't have many places to go at the moment). I was feeling so good all this time: without any pain, without any negative feeling. I just wanted to go to sleep. The light over me was getting so bright and warm. I felt like I was flying since I got into the ambulance.

...All nice until they took that big yellow bottle and said that it was adrenaline. The asked me and I agreed (not that I could do much more!) so they put it onto my left leg, damn it hurt so much!

Just to be clear... it's not like in the movies.

Even if it hurt, it didn't really make me pump up with a boost of energy. Well, that's what I thought: after arriving to the hospital they told me that my heart rate was so slow that it was about to stop. So logically they put adrenaline to pump it up and help with the allergic reaction. It worked!

At the left: Joke #323 // At the right: Joke #324

The doctors and nurses were so surprised about my smiles and sense of humor after such experience! When I arrived to the room with four stretchers, three of them taken and the one that was for me was recently released. The funny thing was that the guy before me was mexican (Viva México cabrones!!). And as soon as I arrived started trying to talk with them (even if none of them spoke a word of english D:).

And after few words and hand signals, of course. I started drawing them!

But this grumpy grandpa fellow really got my attention!

And of course, some fantasy sketches for an upcoming project of mine ;)

In conclusion...

...if you are in a close-to-death experience and you know that you can not do anything to help it, just try to enjoy the moment. Don't get me wrong: I am not saying you should laugh and have fun as I did. What I mean is that you should try to not give up, because your mood will help your body in such or another way. Stressing it up won't help at all.

Keep positive.

Even if the nurse missed the veins in your arms like seven times and after a week you still have a galaxy in your skin and a blood clot ball. Even if you couldn't draw a lot because you have your arm with an intravenous supply of potassium and stuff (yep, saddest story ever). Just keep positive. And maybe you will make the day of someone else! Like a poor grandpa trying just to live one more day.

Today

Back to the still-not-Brad-Pitt with the gorgeous @snowwhite

Few days after (four to be precise) and I was back to my normal status (kind of). The recovery was just amazing and so fast! I was in a beautiful polish wedding (the first of may hopefully!) dancing and drinking (water of course... ehem...). Making new friends, being a little bit clumsy, not more than usually. But there I was! Enjoying being alive and back to my path. Healthy and standing.

One last thought. Thank you to all the heroes than that day moved forward and allowed me to live a little bit more (a lot hopefully). If you find yourself in that situation, remember to thank them because no one does =)

Dabbing like there's no tomorrow

Keep safe, keep cool =)