Somebody asked about the worst things people have ever stepped on and the answers will have you curling your toes in sympathy

Unless you’re an Imelda Marcos type of person, you probably don’t pay all that much attention to your shoes. But you should, because they daily save you from a litany of painful and/or disgusting experiences.

They’ve been discussing the awful things we can put our feet in or on on the AskUK subreddit after user International_Will62 posted this:

‘What’s the worst thing that you have stepped on?’

And they had one to get everyone started.

‘So I’ve just had an absolute nightmare. Went out to greet my other half back from work, barefoot, and it turns out a decent-sized spider had decided to crawl into my shoe without permission. Only realised after I felt something pop under my toe… now my toe can’t shake the sensation of spider and I’m mildly traumatised.

‘Anyway, what’s the worst thing you guys have stepped on?’

Which prompted lots of people to recount their own traumatic foot-based experiences…

1.

‘I stepped on a slug in bare feet. I felt it swell and burst between my toes. I was very close to sawing my own foot off rather than dealing with it.’
–thecuriousiguana

2.

‘I see your slug and I raise you aa oozing dead frog.’
–pm_me_boobs_pictures

3.

‘I stood on a dead rat and dog shit on the same day – which was today.’
–nashile

4.

‘I stepped on a nail once. Do not recommend.’
–The_Quackening

5.

‘An upturned plug. Had to pull it out as the earth pin had actually punctured the skin. Painful, would not recommend.’
–TheOneWithoutGorm

6.

‘Half a mouse, barefoot, at 6am on the stairs. My cat thought she’d leave me a present… it was about 6 years ago, and I still feel sick thinking about it.’
–Callis_tow

7.

‘Half a kerb. Foot bent a way it shouldn’t, and it bloody hurt. Fortunately no break (I assume), but I was awarded with a couple of weeks of hobbling and pain.’
–D1789

8.

‘Bare foot. Dark room. Wooden floor. Cold cat sick. Had a poorly cat that left a long trail I slipped in.’
–nightfire_83

9.

‘Wood screw, in bare feet. Not a fun experience, compounded by the fact that I not only had to remove the screw, but also tend to my wife who’d fainted during the whole event.’
–Harrry-Otter

10.

‘A blackthorn spike went through the bottom of my shoe and through my foot between my toes. The thorn snapped off the branch and I couldn’t get my foot out of my boot so I had to hobble home and pull the thorn out with a pair of pliers.’
–and101

11.

‘When my wife and I were moving house 15 years ago, we were getting rid of things that wouldn’t be needed. One item was a wicker waste paper bin. I thought it would be easy to crush so lifted my right foot and bought it down on to the bin only to be met with excruciating pain.

To keep the shape of the bin and to keep it together, there was a fairly sizeable wooden skewer down one side. My foot decided to make contact with it and it went through the sole of my trainer, up through the bottom of my foot and out the top. Luckily, it didn’t break any of the small bones and I only had to have a tetanus jab, but it was fairly painful for about a week and I couldn’t put any weight on my foot for any length of time.’
–LordOfTheIron

12.

‘A staple went into my foot after my sister opened up a stapler outside the front door for fun I guess. I screamed at an octave I did not know I could go up to.’
–Downtown-Ad9409