Zack Polanski: 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.

Zack Polanski

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

Catching Covid. I don’t think any of us know what we’re messing with still to this day.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 December 2025 source ↗

Others on this question

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Mike Skinner English rapper

We used to have one of those gat guns that shot pellets. My friend pretty much had the thing at point-blank range to my temple. It popped out and completed its trajectory about a millimetre from my head.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 January 2009 source ↗

Julian Clary English actor, comedian, novelist and presenter

A gig in Chatham.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 June 2022 source ↗

Marcus Mumford

Rolling a quad bike.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 February 2026 source ↗

Andy Serkis English actor

I made a solo attempt at the Matterhorn in 1996 and came very close to falling. I waited until the dawn light came, so I could retrace my route, but I was hanging off my ice axes for 45 minutes.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 July 2017 source ↗