Carlos Acosta: 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 Carlos Acosta said elsewhere, not written here

In 1989, in Cuba, about to board a plane for Milan, where I was going to school for a year. The visa didn’t arrive in time, so I couldn’t board. The plane crashed and people died.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 September 2018 source ↗

Others on this question

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David Arquette American actor, producer, & former professional wrestler

I got stabbed in the neck with a light tube during a wrestling “death match” two years ago. It was scary. I thought I was dying: your life does flash before your eyes.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 January 2021 source ↗

Cynthia Nixon American actress and politician

When I was 13, I was on a bicycle and got hit by a taxi in New York.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 April 2017 source ↗

Paul O'Grady British comedian, actor and television presenter

I had a bad heart attack 20 years ago: I think I slid off the mortal coil for about 30 seconds.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 November 2021 source ↗

Roger Ebert Film critic

One of these days I will encounter what Henry James called on his deathbed “the distinguished thing.” I will not be conscious of the moment of passing. In this life I have already been declared dead. It wasn’t so bad. After the first ruptured artery, the doctors thought I was finished. My wife, Chaz, said she sensed that I was still alive and was communicating to her that I wasn’t finished yet. She said our hearts were beating in unison, although my heartbeat couldn’t be discovered. She told the doctors I was alive, they did what doctors do, and here I am, alive.

Recorded Salon, excerpted from Life Itself: A Memoir, 15 September 2011 source ↗