The Shoulder
The Shoulder
64
Car accidentsclever-wren-830

My vision went totally black but I was still talking — anyone else experience this after a crash?

So I was in a pretty serious rear-end collision about three weeks ago. Ended up with a broken collarbone and some cracked ribs. The whole situation was terrifying but what's been stuck in my head isn't even the pain — it's this weird thing that happened while I was waiting for the ambulance.

A bystander was trying to keep me calm and at some point I glanced down at my shoulder area and everything just... went black. Like someone hit a switch on my vision. But here's the thing — I was still completely there. I could hear everything around me, I was answering questions, I even remember making a dumb joke to the paramedic. I just couldn't see anything for what felt like maybe 30–45 seconds.

It wasn't like fainting — I've actually fainted before (got woozy at a blood draw once and went full lights-out). This was completely different. No tunnel vision leading up to it, no feeling of going down, no grogginess after. Just a hard cut to black and then back again.

I looked it up and everything I found was about vasovagal syncope or regular fainting and none of it matched what I went through. I asked my ER doctor and she gave me kind of a vague answer about stress responses.

Has anyone else experienced something like this after an accident? I'm genuinely curious what was going on in my brain. Not panicking about it, just fascinated honestly — the body does some wild stuff under extreme stress.

11replies

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11 replies

  • 9
    cool-raven-316

    Yes!! This happened to me after a side-impact crash a couple years ago. I was pinned in briefly and when I looked at my leg I had this exact same total vision blackout but I kept talking to the first responders the whole time. When I described it to my neurologist later she called it something like a 'non-syncopal visual disruption' caused by an acute stress response — basically your nervous system slamming the brakes on certain sensory input without actually shutting you down. It's not that common to hear about but you're definitely not alone.

  • 19
    patient-tern-291

    What you're describing sounds like it could be a vasovagal response that was kind of... incomplete? Your autonomic nervous system started the sequence — blood pressure dipping, visual cortex getting less perfusion — but your body managed to catch itself before you actually lost consciousness. The adrenaline from the trauma was probably fighting against it in real time. It's actually more common than people think after traumatic injuries, it just doesn't get talked about much because most people assume they either fainted or they didn't. The in-between zone is real. Definitely worth mentioning to any follow-up doctor you see though, especially if you're having any lingering vision stuff.

    • 5
      careful-dreamer935

      This is exactly what I needed to read today. Thank you.

    • 0
      weathered-late-shift481

      Exactly my experience. Persistence paid off in the end.

  • 11
    cool-swift-860

    That sounds so scary honestly, even if you're cool about it now. I'd want to know you told every doctor you've seen about this, not just the ER one. Like make sure it's documented somewhere in your medical records.

  • 6
    mellow-crow-444

    Push for a follow-up with a neurologist if you haven't already. ER docs are amazing in the moment but they're triaging, not deep-diving into unusual neurological events. Get it on record and get a real answer. Cracked ribs and a broken collarbone plus a weird neuro episode — that's worth a thorough workup, full stop.

    • 6
      calm-rider268

      This is exactly what I needed to read today. Thank you.

  • 12
    tidy-raven-132

    Honestly kind of amazing that your brain protected you like that? Like it tried to spare you from the worst of what you were seeing while still keeping you functional enough to communicate. The human stress response is genuinely wild. Hope your recovery is going smoothly — broken collarbone is no joke.

    • 5
      steady-rider380

      This is really helpful — thank you for posting it.

  • 15
    calm-vole-017

    Did you hit your head at all during the collision? Even a minor bump? I'd want to rule out a concussion-related visual disturbance before chalking it up to a pure stress response. Those two things can look really similar from the inside but have pretty different implications for treatment and recovery.

  • 17
    spry-otter-412

    Not legal advice, but — make sure every single symptom, including this vision episode, is documented by a medical professional before your case is resolved with any insurance company. Unusual neurological events that seem minor right now can sometimes connect to bigger issues down the road, and if it's not in your records it basically didn't happen as far as a claim is concerned.