Bobby Gillespie: How close have you come to death?

How close have you come to death?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

A recurring Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded Bobby Gillespie said elsewhere, not written here

In 2016, I fell off stage in Switzerland and broke my back in four places.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 May 2021 source ↗

Others on this question

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Dan Stevens English actor

Probably on a Los Angeles freeway.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 November 2017 source ↗

Ray Mears British woodsman and TV presenter

In a helicopter crash in Wyoming in 2005. My cameraman broke his back and both legs; the pilot broke his back. The helicopter didn’t catch fire, so I’m still here today.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 September 2016 source ↗

Lesley Sharp British actress

I got run over when I was three. I ran across a road in Manchester and was hit by a car. I only had concussion, but I could have died.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 May 2021 source ↗

Paul Heaton British musician

Again, too many times to mention, but probably being swung from the balcony at the top of the Columbia hotel in London by the bodyguard of a Saudi Arabian princess was fairly close.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 May 2020 source ↗