Cynthia Nixon: How close have you come to death?

How close have you come to death?

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 Cynthia Nixon said elsewhere, not written here

When I was 13, I was on a bicycle and got hit by a taxi in New York.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 April 2017 source ↗

Others on this question

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Mariella Frostrup

I’ve had a few hairy scrapes as a scuba diver.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 November 2023 source ↗

Jonnie Peacock British athlete

When I was five and the doctors walked in and said to my mum: “I am not sure if you will be taking him home.”

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 January 2018 source ↗

Pauline Black

I fell asleep in a room that had an oil heater and it filled with carbon monoxide and, if it hadn’t been for my husband, Terry, I would have died.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 12 April 2025 source ↗

Bryn Terfel Welsh bass-baritone singer

In 2006, I went fishing for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico. On the way back, one of the engines caught fire and then we had one engine for 70 miles. Slowly but surely, we got to Baton Rouge in the darkness but then got very close to a very large passing ship – they didn’t see us and we didn’t see them.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 November 2024 source ↗