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

View all 209 →

Paul O'Grady British comedian, actor and television presenter

I had a bad heart attack 20 years ago: I think I slid off the mortal coil for about 30 seconds.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 November 2021 source ↗

Maggie O'Farrell Irish-British novelist

How long have you got? I have written a memoir and the subtitle is Seventeen Brushes with Death.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 March 2023 source ↗

Bertie Carvel British actor

I held my mother’s hand as she passed away.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 October 2021 source ↗

Meghann Fahy

A blood clot in my artery when I was 23.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 April 2026 source ↗

More from Shakin' Stevens

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Question When were you most embarrassed? Failure & regret

I was in the musical Elvis, and after a costume change I went below stage to be raised up on a platform. As I was raised up, I blanked and couldn’t remember the first line of the song King Creole. I mumbled the first few lines and hoped nobody would notice.

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