Monty Don: 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 Monty Don said elsewhere, not written here

Despite a stroke, cancer as a child and various dramas with chainsaws and tractors, the closest was probably when I choked on a lamb chop 25 years ago. Sarah performed the Heimlich manoeuvre and the lamb shot out.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 5 May 2018 source ↗

Others on this question

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Juliet Stevenson

Many times on British roads, because I drive very fast. In another life, I would have liked doing Formula One.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 May 2026 source ↗

David Guetta French DJ

Fifteen years ago, a bacteria went to my heart. For three days they didn’t know if I was going to live or not.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 December 2017 source ↗

Lance Black American screenwriter, director, producer and activist

On a flight between Beijing and London with Team GB divers. There was a fire on the plane. We landed on a long-abandoned strip in Siberia. Two days later, the same flight attendants told us we had beaten the odds by surviving.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 June 2019 source ↗

Andi Oliver British cook, television and radio broadcaster, singer

I broke both my legs in a hit-and run accident when I was 26.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 December 2021 source ↗