Gary Numan: 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 Gary Numan said elsewhere, not written here

I was an air display pilot for 15 years, and watched most of my friends die in crashes. When the children came along, I got out of it.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 July 2017 source ↗

Others on this question

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Maggie O'Farrell Irish-British novelist

How long have you got? I have written a memoir and the subtitle is Seventeen Brushes with Death.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 March 2023 source ↗

Julian Sands British actor

In the early 90s, in the Andes, caught in an atrocious storm above 20,000ft with three others. We were all in a very bad way. Some guys close to us perished; we were lucky.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 9 May 2020 source ↗

Helen George English actress

When I was young, I was pretty reckless – my 20s were quite hedonistic. I don’t know whether I’ve been close to death, but I may have been without realising.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 January 2023 source ↗

Andi Oliver British cook, television and radio broadcaster, singer