What does it feel like to find yourself in the grip of a 15-foot Great White shark? To be struck not once but twice by lightning? Here are 40 incredible true-life stories of people who lived through the most harrowing experiences you could imagine. In some cases, they stared death right in the face; in others, they wished they could die but somehow found the strength to go on. A remarkable group of survivors explain, in their own words, what it’s like to get shot in the head, brainwashed by a cult, buried by an avalanche, attacked by a crocodile, and much more. What they have to say will surprise and enlighten, and certainly satisfy our curiosity about what it means to go to the very edge…and come back.