Nuala McGovern: How close have you come to dying?

The question

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.

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

I lived in New York during 9/11 and worked a couple of blocks away from the twin towers. I was looking when the first tower exploded and then when the second plane flew in and, before we had to evacuate, I did see people jump to their death.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 November 2025 source ↗

Others on this question

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Corinne Bailey Rae

When my first husband died, because it felt like my life was over, and it was challenging to keep in life at the time.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 September 2023 source ↗

Adrian Edmondson English actor, comedian, musician and writer

I hit a bit of lumpy tarmac driving my motorbike over the Pyrenees in the early 1980s. There was no safety barrier and I found myself riding along the edge of a precipice on half the width of the tyres for 100 yards.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 July 2018 source ↗

Julia Ormond English actress

A trip to a Macedonian refugee camp that I switched out of, to go at a later date. Those who took my place were killed in a horrific car accident.

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

Rory Kinnear English actor

I inadvertently rubbed the milky residue of a toxic cactus plant into my eye while filming Women In Love in the desert in Namibia, and my body went into anaphylactic shock as the producer sped me to a clinic 50 miles away.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 12 August 2017 source ↗