10 celebrities who had near-death experiences and lived to tell the tale

Some people are just born lucky. While some of us might occasionally stumble upon luck in our daily lives, others — celebrities, that is — are fortunate and talented enough that they’re not only wealthy and loved by millions but even their unfortunate encounters with fate seem to end in the best possible ways.

Some people truly seem to have a little guardian angel ensuring that their brush with fate isn’t their last. Over the years, several famous stars have had their own encounters with misfortune and some of them came incredibly close to dying — and yet, they’re still here to tell the tale. With that being said, let’s take a look at some celebrities who have had close calls to death but managed to luck out at the very last moment.

Petra Nemcova

When we think of the 2004 tsunami that devastated the East coast of Asia, very few famous names come to mind, but Petra Nemcova is one of them. When the supermodel was working in Thailand for a shoot. She was caught on the beach by the powerful and deadly waves, alongside her boyfriend, but she managed to hold on to a palm tree for eight hours and survive. Sadly, her boyfriend was not so lucky, and he passed away that day.

Keith Richards

Unsurprisingly, the celebrity who truly flirts with the notion of death is none other than Rock-legend Keith Richards. Aside from surviving and overcoming a heroin addiction, Richards also survived a near-fatal fall from a coconut tree in 2006. Incredibly, that same week, he also crashed a jet ski, nearly facing death twice in just a few days. Richards has also spoken about having near-death experiences after falling asleep at the wheel and crashing his cars on more than one occasion.

Travis Barker

In 2008, the Blink-182 drummer found himself in one of the most traumatizing events imaginable when he boarded a Learjet 60 that crashed just after takeoff. Shortly after the jet departed, the group heard a loud bang, and the aircraft overran the end of the runway, bursting into flames. The pilot and co-pilot died from smoke inhalation, while passengers Still Jr. and Baker died on impact. Barker and Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein survived with critical injuries from severe burns.

Ed Harris

Ed Harris’s story is one of many tales of on-set near-death experiences. It happened in 1989 while filming James Cameron’s The Abyss. According to IMDb, Harris nearly drowned during the underwater scenes when he had to hold his breath. When he signaled for oxygen, neither the safety diver nor a crew member were able to reach him, causing him to inhale water into his lungs. Thankfully, a cameraman managed to give Harris the regulator just in time.

Benedict Cumberbatch

Truth be told, Cumberbatch’s story isn’t particularly popular, but it is still absolutely harrowing nonetheless. During a trip to South Africa in 2004, the British actor and a few friends were held at gunpoint, forced to beg for ransom, and stuffed into the trunk of a car. According to Cumberbatch, he was screaming and kicking the entire time, and they were eventually left tied up with their shoelaces on the side of the road. We’re certainly glad he lived to tell the tale.

Jeremy Renner

Cumberbatch is not the only Marvel actor who has had an unfortunate brush with fate. In 2023, the Avengers actor Jeremy Renner had a near-fatal accident while using his snowcat to pull out a truck. As the snowcat started to roll toward his nephew, Renner, proving to be a real-life superhero, tried to jump on it to stop it but unfortunately missed. He ended up with 38 mangled bones and 14 broken ribs. Despite the severe injuries, he persevered and survived.

Seth MacFarlane

The brilliant mind behind American Dad and Family Guy is also one of the celebrities who, by a stroke of luck, managed to avoid death. Seth MacFarlane is among the few people who can recount the moment they were supposed to be on the flight that struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Fortunately, MacFarlane had a hangover, and his travel agent gave him the wrong departing time, causing him to miss the flight altogether.

Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford has survived not one, but two aircraft crashes, believe it or not. The first happened in 1999 when Ford, who was training to become a pilot, was forced to land the rotorcraft in a riverbed. He and the instructor survived, though the helicopter was severely damaged. The second crash came a year later, again with Ford at the controls. The aircraft was blown off the runway due to high winds, causing Ford to lose control and crash. Remarkably, Ford was once again uninjured.

David Spade

Unlike many of the entries on this list, David Spade’s brush with death wasn’t accidental or the result of a bad holiday. Spade was, in fact, the victim of a murder attempt by his own assistant. It happened in 2000 when his assistant, David Warren “Skippy” Malloy, broke into Spade’s apartment early in the morning and used a stun gun on the actor. Thankfully, Spade managed to escape and lock himself in the bathroom with a shotgun until the police arrived and arrested Malloy.

Emilia Clarke

During the filming of Game of Thrones, Emilia Clarke suffered not one, but two aneurysms. The first occurred in 2011, leading to Clarke experiencing aphasia and difficulty speaking. The second aneurysm followed soon after, and during a preventative surgery, her brain hemorrhaged once again. Clarke not only survived both aneurysms but also recovered swiftly, defying the odds of survival and recovery rates for these incidents.