5 People Whose Scars Tell The Story Of How They Cheated Death

Many of us can remember a close call that made us scared in a way we couldn't describe but that also made us feel lucky to be alive. However, when a life-threatening experience passes, it can leave a lot behind.

When we describe the scars a traumatic experience has left on us, we're just as likely to talk about it from a mental perspective as we are from a physical one. Even if the event brought no harm to our bodies, it could make us afraid to do what we once loved and, depending on what it was, make it hard to trust people. In some cases, even the comfort we get from sleeping can be invaded by visions replaying the horrors all over again.

Yet sometimes those scars and the ones left on our skin are two sides of the same coin. It's this relationship between physical and emotional scars that photographer Emily Goddard sought to capture with her When Death Leaves His Markseries.

With this, she asked people who suffered near-death experiences to show the scars they received from their ordeals. She did this with the hope that she could tell their stories visually and do "justice to their raw beauty."

With that in mind, this is how she displayed the five people willing to bare their scars for her and the world.

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1. This man goes by Gezz and his large scar comes from a rare and difficult operation.

To treat testicular cancer, some surgeons will make an incision across the entire abdomen and remove the afflicted lymph nodes. It's rare in recent times because it's such a high-risk procedure, but sometimes it's necessary in advanced cases.

For Gezz, the operation was needed after the cancerspread to his stomach.

You'd think it would take a while before you could do much of anything after such a major operation.

However, Gezz reportedly appeared in these photographs just six weeks after it had happened and days after doctors gave him the all-clear.

2. This is Floss, who underwent a spinal fusion back in 2011.

It's unknown exactly why she needed the treatment, but it would have to be a serious reason indeed for the chronic pain that can sometimes happen after the operation to be worth it. 

3. Ben here got this scar after undergoing a frontal lobe lobectomy.

This became necessary in 2002 after a bad sinus infection developed into a serious brain infection.

Although the scars we've seen so far are from surgeries, sometimes a serious accident can have similarly dramatic results.

4. Mike's troubles began with a moped crash in 2009.

Goddard said her biggest challenge was finding people willing to bare their scars and making them feel comfortable enough to open up to her. After seven years of living with his wounds, Mike seems to have cultivated that level of comfort.

It's fairly easy to miss, but Mike's accident also seems to have affected his arm.

Goddard said this series has a lot to do with not being afraid or ashamed to be who we are and not letting what we look like define us. Mike's tattoos appearing around his scars rather than covering them up could show he had something similar in mind.

Details are sparse about Mike's crash, but one look at his stomach shows how life-threatening it must have been.

The indent we now see was only possible after he underwent surgery, which means it was likely just a hole before.

Of course, Mike's tattoos seem to tell a story of their own.

It's easy to lose hope after such a life-altering event, but he doesn't appear to have any interest in giving up.

We don't know exactly how Mike ended up coming to terms with his situation, but the person we'll meet next provided a lot of insight into his journey.

5. Jamie was a military pilot whose plane caught fire in 2007.

He didn't have a parachute handy, so he was forced to lower his plane close to the ground and jump out when he was 15 feet above the ground.

The incident left burns on 63% of his body, and doctors only gave him a 5% chance of survival.

Yet after spending six months in a drug-induced coma and undergoing 55 operations, he was able to pull through.

However, his battle wasn't over yet.

It took Jaime about three years to accept how he looked. He told Goddard that before then, he had suicidal thoughts.

As Goddard put it, "This would never be apparent to anyone meeting him now as he is such a spirited character."

And his accomplishments in the years since show just how spirited he is.

He's run marathons, cycled across the United States and even climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. He also took part in the world's first Invictus Games, which is an international competition between wounded, injured and sick military personnel. 

Please SHARE this and show others what an unconquerable spirit looks like.

h/t Daily Mail