Bradley Wiggins: 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.

Bradley Wiggins

British former professional road and track racing cyclist

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

I had quite a chequered childhood. I had a knife put to my throat once when I was a kid, which was very scary.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 September 2019 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 209 →

Aidan Gillen Irish actor

Last year, driving in California, I found myself on the wrong side of the road. I was 30 seconds away from hitting two cars coming the other way.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 May 2017 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 ↗

Nicola Walker British actress

Swimming off the north Cornish coast eight years ago. I remember thinking, “Why did they teach you how to inflate your pyjamas in life-saving classes at school, when they could have just told you what to do in a riptide?”

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 January 2017 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 ↗

More from Bradley Wiggins

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Question What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy? Time & hindsight

When my second child Bella was born in 2006. I missed my son Ben being born because I was racing, so seeing it for the first time was quite an experience.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 September 2019 source ↗