Shakin' Stevens: How close have you come to dying?

The question

How close have you come to dying?

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.

Shakin' Stevens

Welsh rock and roll singer and songwriter

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

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.

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

Others on this question

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Russell Mael

Watching Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 May 2025 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 ↗

Noah Harari Israeli historian and philosopher

I was almost run over by a bus when I was 13. And in 1991, in the Gulf war, an Iraqi missile hit close to my house.

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

Sheryl Crow American singer-songwriter

I was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago, but so early that I knew it wasn’t a death sentence. Until we get a cure for cancer, early detection is our best hope.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 April 2017 source ↗