Joanne Froggatt: 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 Joanne Froggatt said elsewhere, not written here

I was in a car crash when I was 16, and I have a little scar on my face from smashing the passenger window with my head. If the car had rolled, I would have been dead.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 February 2019 source ↗

Others on this question

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Joan Jett American singer, songwriter and guitarist

Right after 9/11, Kenny and I went to perform for the troops in Pakistan and Uzbekistan. As we were flying in, an electronic voice went off: “Warning: missile launch! Warning: missile launch!” The Taliban had fired a rocket at us. I was waiting to see the back of the plane blow up, but it didn’t and we landed.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 November 2020 source ↗

Adam Clayton

When I was drinking, there were many times when I was out for the night and didn’t come back for a week.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 December 2024 source ↗

Mark Steel

When I had cancer. I was having a shave and thought: “Are you meant to have a big hard lump on one side of your neck?”

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 February 2025 source ↗

Shakin' Stevens Welsh rock and roll singer and songwriter

I had a cardiac arrest in 2010. I also had a close call in the early days in Cardiff when I was in a band called the Denims. We were in a van driving along a narrow mountain road. Somebody wanted to go to the toilet, so we stopped, and afterwards the driver took a wrong turn and we went careering down the mountain. Everyone was screaming, it was like a nightmare. At the bottom was the railway line, but the van stopped just in time. We were very lucky.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 February 2023 source ↗