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 Gemma Whelan said elsewhere, not written here
I was very ill with anorexia when I was a teenager. I went into hospital voluntarily, otherwise they were going to section me.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 January 2020 source ↗

Others on this question

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Tess Daly English television presenter
On a motorway three years ago. An HGV hadn’t seen me and pulled out. My father-in-law’s a truck driver and he said black cars are not very visible. I don’t drive them any more.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 December 2016 source ↗
Elaine Paige English singer and actress
One night in Cats, I missed my footing and nearly plunged more than 30ft. As if by magic, the stage manager’s hand appeared and winched me from certain death.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 September 2016 source ↗
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen English interior designer and television personality
I was nearly hit by an enormous gold-fibreglass cherub in a shopping centre. It fell five storeys and smashed into a thousand pieces about 4ft away from me.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 October 2022 source ↗
On the interstate. Anyone who has driven in the United States will know that you are always very close to death – it is like the wild west on the freeways.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 February 2025 source ↗

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