Sometimes the best defense against disaster is a combination of preparedness and luck. A lot of these people were somewhat prepared for what could go wrong, but even more of them just got insanely lucky.

If you learn anything from this gallery, let it be that helmets, goggles, and many other forms of normal safety precautions really do work. Wear them, and maybe you can get lucky and narrowly avoid disaster.

This Is Jeremiah. Jeremiah Wore Safety Goggles While Angle Grinding. Jeremiah Still Has His Right Eye. Be Like Jeremiah

This Is Why Hockey Players Wear Masks

A Tram In The Netherlands Failed To Stop In Time And Broke Through The Emergency Barrier. It's Being Held Up By The Statue Of A Whale's Tail

This Was My Friend's Car After He Was Hit By A Semi. The Next Image Is The Only Injury He Sustained

Got A Paint Chip In My Eye Today. Contact Lense Saved Me

A Boulder Fell On My In-Laws' Car In Idyllwild, CA. How Lucky The People Weren't Hit

We Were Seconds Away From Losing Our Home To The California Fire. Thank You To All The Firefighters That Saved Our Community

This Is Why You Wear A Full Helmet. My Friend Was Hit By Someone Who Ran A Red Light. If He Had Wore A Skull Cap, He'd Have No Lower Jaw

I Got Hit By Shrapnel In Ukraine And My Helmet Saved Me From A Very Bad Headache

These Coins Stopped A Bullet And Saved My Great-Grandfather's Life During World War 1

Went To The Gas Station Last Night For 5 Minutes To Get Beer And Came Back To This. My Room Is The Window To The Right. I Feel Insanely Lucky Right Now. Might Go Gambling

A Pole Flew Through My Friend's Windshield While Driving Down I-80 Outside Of Berkeley, California Almost Impaling Him

We Were Sitting On The Chairs, Smoking A Cigarette, Talking, Laughing, Then A Car Fell On Us (Everybody's Ok)

The Coronavirus Saved Us. This Is Our AP Office This Morning After The Beirut Explosion

Truck Goes Over Bridge, Is Saved By Safety Chains Hooked Up To RV

Friend Was Driving Down The Road And A Tree Fell On The Bed Of His Truck, Missing Passengers In The Back Seat And Horses In The Trailer He Was Pulling

To Be Fair It Could Have Been Worse

Too Close For Comfort

Close Call, Nail Didn’t Even Graze Fingers

Customer Said All 4 Of Them Were Uninjured But We Can’t Say The Same About The Car

A Second Glance Saved Me From Living A Nightmare Tonight

Buddy's Car Nearly Slides Into Thy River, Stopped Just In Time

Well, That Was Close. Crate Dropped, And No Beer Spilled

This Man's Phone Was Pierced With An Arrow While He Was Taking A Picture Of Another Man Threatening To Shoot Him

Almost Died This Morning On The Highway. This Thing Bounced From The Left Lane Up In The Air And Impaled My Windshield

Good Karma: No Flat Tire And A New Good Lucky Charm In The Process

Tree Fell And This Is Now The Luckiest Guy In Town This Morning

Seriously, Proper Lab Attire Saved Me From Certain Blindness

Dropped My Keys At Work Today

This Close Call Cut A Sheet Of Metal In My Work Gloves