Death & what remains

How close have you come to death?

56 answers answered between 2003 and 2026 one of 25 in The Q&A

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.

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On the record

Public figures who have answered a question like this elsewhere. Quoted from the source shown, not written for FLAPSS.

Read by field Everyone Science and medicine 1 Arts and letters 47 Politics and public life 5 Business and finance 1 Technology 1 Sport 1

Read by age Any age In their thirties 9 In their forties 7 In their fifties 10 In their sixties 19 Seventy and beyond 10

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Nina Riggs Poet and essayist

None of this was supposed to happen. At 38, I wasn’t supposed to lie on my back in the E.R. on a late December morning and be told by a teary radiation oncology resident that the pain I’d been having for two months — that I’d been assured was from having a weak core after months of chemo — was actually from a tumor that had devoured my L2 vertebra. John wasn’t supposed to have to hold me up on the toilet. Put my pants on for me. Do Christmas Eve for the children without me. I’m not supposed to be thinking about where he will sit and hold my hand as I take my last breath.

Recorded The New York Times, Modern Love, 23 September 2016 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 ↗

Munroe Bergdorf

Before transitioning, I had a severe eating disorder. The doctor said, “Your body’s shutting down and if you don’t improve your mental and physical wellbeing, you’ll die.” Shortly after that, I started transitioning medically and my eating disorder resolved.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 5 July 2025 source ↗

Alex Lawther