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On a camping holiday in Scotland when I was nine: I was in an inflatable dinghy that drifted out to sea. A lifeboat had to come.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 January 2017 source ↗
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.
Others on this question
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Simone Biles
United States artistic gymnast
In dreams, but that’s about it.
Kathy Lette
Australian-British author
Hitchhiking across Australia as a teenager, relying on the kindness of passing serial killers.
Tracey Ullman
British and American actress
On a plane with Meryl Streep in 1984: the engines blew and we had to make an emergency landing.
Julian Sands
British actor
In the early 90s, in the Andes, caught in an atrocious storm above 20,000ft with three others. We were all in a very bad way. Some guys close to us perished; we were lucky.
More from Emeli Sandé
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I was a perfume girl at a department store in Aberdeen. I was so bad at it, I didn’t make it to the end of the day.
Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder: it would leave everyone feeling good.
I would instil confidence in my younger self.
Freedom: it’s euphoric.
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