not sure how near death it was ,,but just after we got married we locked ourselves out of our seconf floor flat . Attempting to walk along a plank to our bedroom window ,,slipped off backwards ,,,had time to realise I would break my back turned to land hands first .. Worked well except for hitting the side of the marble steps . result ..two broken wrists ,,compoung fractures of fingers ,,,broken jaw and nose ,,depressed fracture of cheekbone ... don't like heights anymore