I was caught by a wave while swimming at night with friends in Southampton. That shook me.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 November 2016 source ↗
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.
I was caught by a wave while swimming at night with friends in Southampton. That shook me.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 November 2016 source ↗
The London terror attack on 7/7 in 2005. I was in London the day before for the Olympic bid. When we won I thought, “I should stay over – it will be a great party tonight.” But I decided to go back to Manchester for training. Bombs went off on what would have been my route to the station.
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.
Rock climbing in Oslo. During abseiling, I hadn’t tied a knot at the end of the rope and almost slid out. I saw the end of the rope at the last second, so I stopped abseiling.
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.
My manager and friend Colin Lester, who has protected me through the good times and the bad.
Selling double glazing.
As someone who brought people together through music.
People seeing their own greatness, rather than buying into their fears.
A new song just finished.
Watching the 2015 movie Aloha.
Kim Wilde, Gary Numan, Liam Gallagher, Emeli Sandé, Ronnie Wood, Suzanne Vega
Search the directory for somebody in particular.