"One hour later, at home, I found out that a bus at the station I just left was rigged with a bomb, and it exploded as we left the station."

Turns out he had the cord wrapped around his head and his middle so tightly that his heart rate was forcibly slowed. I almost lost him. I genuinely thought I had. When I was waking up from the anesthesia and hearing a baby crying, I was like 'WHAT INCONSIDERATE ASSHOLE BROUGHT THEIR BABY IN HERE WHEN I LOST MINE?' Turns out it was mine. He's 14 now."

"One of my friends ended up giving CPR to a guy who didn't make it. My house became a haven for other friends of friends who were in the back part of the crush (they were OK but also gave mouth-to-mouth to people who didn't make it). It was horrible, but I remember thinking, 'Oh my God, what if my buddy and I hadn't put our feet down and said no to going up that alleyway?'"

"Last year in June, Serial Cousin finally laid hands on my grandma (who he lived with) and scared her. My parents were going to go with my grandma to her house to kick him out. I begged my dad not to go and to just call the police. I said, verbatim, 'He's going to have a gun and shoot all three of you.' They didn't listen to me. He shot all three of them. My dad died. My mom and grandma lived. I'm still furious with my dad for leaving me without him, because he refused to listen."

Note: Responses have been edited for length/clarity.