Real Life Plot Twists that Made People Change the Whole Course of Their Lives

Plot twists are commonly used in literature, film and television as a way to “shake things up” and keep the public hooked.

Big reveals, changes, or jaw-dropping twists usually happen somewhere in the middle or towards the end of the story and they’re often used to prevent audiences from predicting how the story is going to end.

But you can find the biggest plot twists in the real world, too. Just ask these Reddit users who shared stories of huge plot twists that completely derailed their lives.

High School Bandit

Reddit user FaveFoodIsLesbeans knew a guy in high school that had his whole life set up for what was going to be an amazing ride towards a great future. But one minor mistake sent him spiraling towards a mediocre existence.

“A guy I knew in high school got a full ride to a very prestigious, expensive private university for basketball. The summer before his freshman year at university, he was caught breaking into a car. That car happened to belong to the dean of the university he was going to be attending.

The scholarship was pulled, he was expelled from the school and now he works full time at Harris Teeter.”

Not the Father

Most people grow up assuming that the man that raised them is in fact their father, but Reddit user GO-Kart discovered that his mother had lied to him for years about the man who pretended to be his old man.

“Up until I was 9, I thought my step-dad was my real dad. Parents got a divorce and I was pretty torn up. I wanted to live with my step-dad, but I couldn’t, and my mom wouldn’t tell me why.

One day, I was going through my moms stuff (I was a nosey little bastard) and found a newspaper article for my father’s obituary. He died in a car crash when he was 24, and I was barely 18 months old when it happened.

I still to this day don’t know why she lied to me about it, and I don’t even know if I should ask.”

The Big C

Reddit user Junk-in-my-trunk was told that the lumps in her breast were nothing more than benign cysts. But a year shy of her 30th birthday, she discovered that there was nothing benign about the lumps.

“At 29 years old I was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer which had already spread to my lungs and some ribs. Certainly changed the course of my life! Funny thing is I went to the doctor to have my lungs checked because I was having trouble breathing on my long runs.

For 6 years prior to that the lumps in my breast had been passed off as cysts and dense breast tissue.

“Nothing to worry about, you’re so young!””

Childhood Friends

Reddit user crazyrockerchick had made a cool new friend at school, but she had no idea that her newfound friendship was going to reunite her mom with someone from her past.

“This is kind of mine, and kind of my mom’s: When I was a kid, I moved to a different state, and eventually made friends with a girl at my new school. We eventually ended up having a sleepover at my place one night. In the morning, her mom came over to pick her up and get to know my mom and me.

When our moms got to talking, they discovered that not only were they from the same state (that nobody involved had lived in for at least 10 years), but that they had played together as kids at the same church.”