David Jason: 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 David Jason said elsewhere, not written here

Diving in the Virgin Islands. I lost sight of the boat and had to swim to a tiny, deserted island. After a great deal of time, the rescue boat saw me waving for my life on the rocks.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 May 2021 source ↗

Others on this question

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Adam Peaty British swimmer; Olympic champion 2016 and 2021

I was on a cliff in Dartmoor, doing a Royal Marine abseil. I fell upside down and thought, “I’m going to die here.”

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 January 2022 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 ↗

Hamza Yassin

Being about nine metres away from a polar bear. In northern Canada, a young polar bear was very intrigued by our food. I was flying the drone at the time and the polar bear looked up and started paying attention, so then we flew the drone further away and he followed it while we got into our vehicles.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 September 2023 source ↗

Gemma Chan British Chinese actress

In 2012 I stared into the eyes of someone who had just stabbed a man in the neck on the street. I was trying to help the victim; for a very long three or four seconds, I thought he was going to come for me next.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 August 2018 source ↗