Bear Grylls’ near-death experiences from boa constrictor attack to falling 16,000 feet

Bear Grylls is simply a antheral we each know for eating earthy deadly snakes, drinking his ain urine, eating goat testicles, and mostly uncovering genuinely disgusting – yet oddly admirable – ways to past successful the wilderness.

Through his years entertaining audiences connected his assorted shows – astir precocious Celebrity Bear Hunt – the 50-year-old daredevil has encountered immoderate situations that made him grateful to beryllium alive.

Even earlier helium deed our TV screens, Bear was pushing himself to the limits of what humans are susceptible of – each the portion clocking up an almighty 21 adjacent decease experiences.

Chatting to Louis Theroux connected his interrogation series, Bear said: ‘There was a batch of information successful the aboriginal days, we had truthful galore constrictive escapes.

‘I was bitten by snakes, caught successful rapids, parachute failures, avalanches, you sanction it.’

Louis asked Bear astir his assertion successful his publication that he’s had 21 near-death experiences, to which the survivalist replied: ‘Yeah, and it was starting to hap each excessively regularly.

‘The show’s got to propulsion the boundaries, everything’s got to beryllium bigger and better, and I’ve got 3 young boys who were ace young astatine this signifier – I was like, ‘”why americium I doing this?”‘

Why indeed…

Bear astir died arsenic a kid

Before Bear was prodding venemous snakes with sticks and chopping their heads disconnected connected TV, helium wasn’t your regular 20-something, teenager, oregon child.

He had a penchant for information adjacent successful his aboriginal years.

‘One of my archetypal adjacent shaves was arsenic a kid,’ helium revealed connected his YouTube transmission teaser for Bear Uncut.

‘I tried to transverse the harbour astatine debased tide and it was ever this sinking mud,’ helium said.

‘Everyone ever said ne'er spell adjacent the harbour astatine afloat tide truthful I thought, “I wonderment if I tin get crossed it.”‘

About fractional mode crossed it, Bear knew it was ‘a atrocious idea’. He began to sink, and could spot radical gathering to ticker and telephone the exigency services.

‘Eventually I managed to get my feet out, wriggle similar a seal, and made it across.’

He got distant with his life, but was successful ‘so overmuch trouble’ with his mum, who made him bash chores for the exigency services who were called retired owed to his foolhardiness.

He was strangled by a boa constrictor portion successful a stream

In March 2021 Bear revealed that coming face-to-face with an eight-foot boa constrictor portion filming for his amusement Animals connected the Loose was his scariest infinitesimal yet.

A video snapshot of the incidental saw the monolithic snake choking him underwater.

He told The Sun: ‘We were successful this deep, dark, flooded ravine. We knew we had this big, possibly eight-foot, boa constrictor successful there. They’re incredibly unsafe and unpredictable.

‘Once they wrap, you can’t respire oregon move, and if it takes you down you’re successful large trouble. I had 2 information guys nearby, but they were connected borderline astir doing it.

‘They said, “If this happening gets you underwater you’ll beryllium successful trouble, fast”. I got in, couldn’t interaction the bottom, and abruptly I felt that happening drawback maine and commencement pulling maine down.

‘Then it got a grip astir my neck. It caught maine out. I hadn’t anticipated however fast, almighty and dense it would be. Every clip I surfaced I saw the guys giving maine the thumbs-down rescue signal, but I said no.’

As the snake gripped him tighter Bear recalled moving retired of breath, describing the brushwood arsenic ‘terrifying and precise intense’.

‘I’ve ne'er been truthful frightened successful my life,’ helium said, adding that it each happened precise accelerated and helium managed to interruption himself free.

Bear fell 16,000 feet successful a parachute mishap

Aged conscionable 21 successful 1996 – earlier anyone had ever heard his sanction – Bear was skydiving implicit Zambia during an SAS grooming workout erstwhile helium precise astir died.

His parachute failed to inflate and helium fell 16,000 feet and broke his backmost successful 3 antithetic places, narrowly avoiding being paralysed.

In 2021 Bear revealed helium was inactive successful symptom years aft the fall, arsenic helium wrote connected Instagram: ‘People sometimes inquire maine if my backmost ever hurts having breached it each those years agone successful a parachuting accident.

‘The reply is each day. And the attraction I get for it tin beryllium rather aggravated but beingness tin astatine times beryllium a conflict for everyone and astir radical person their worldly to transportation with them done the adventures.’

Bear spent the champion portion of the adjacent twelvemonth successful subject rehabilitation, learning however to determination again.

He astir died climbing Mount Everest

In classical Bear form, helium utilized the parachute mishap arsenic substance for his ambitious adventures, and plotted to ascent Mount Everest.

At 23 successful 1998, helium became the youngest Brit astatine the clip to summit. Bear has since credited Spencer Matthews’ oldest member Michael Matthews for beating him to the record. However, determination connected his instrumentality journey, Michael died.

Bear’s travel up the world’s highest upland was not without fatalities, arsenic helium mislaid 4 climbers successful the 3 months helium was up there.

In Bear Uncut, the TV prima admitted helium had ‘a clump of adjacent calls connected that mountain’ himself.

‘I precise astir mislaid my beingness down a heavy crevasse, I was astir taken by an avalanche that missed maine by 100ft,’ helium said, listing the galore dangers of specified a climb.

Bee stings and EpiPens

In 2008 the adventurer was filming an occurrence of Born Survivor successful Baja, Mexico erstwhile he discovered his terrible allergy to bees.

While cutting honeycomb from a nest helium was stung, and his look rapidly swelled up, leaving him astir incapable to see.

In 2023 Bear reminded fans of however his adjacent brushwood with a bee was 1 of his astir dangerous.

‘Throwback to a atrocious time successful the wild! Man Vs African Bees… Man lost. #manvswild #adventure #anaphylacticshock #nevergiveup,’ helium posted connected Instagram.

In 2019 Bear was besides stung portion filming Treasure Island. He was travelling to a distant land connected a vessel erstwhile it happened and went into anaphylactic shock. Thankfully helium was treated with an EpiPen.

‘The irony is, retired of each of the massive, lethal, aggressive, man-eating crocs, snakes, alligators I’ve dealt with implicit the years, the 1 that gets maine is simply a bee. It’s typical,’ helium joked.

Trying to transverse the Arctic Ocean successful an inflatable vessel

On his YouTube, Bear admitted that 1 of his astir lethal missions was erstwhile helium attempted to transverse the Arctic Ocean successful an unfastened inflatable vessel successful 2003.

3,000 miles into their journey, and Bear and his squad were caught successful immoderate ‘horrendous storms’ disconnected the Greenland coast.

‘We were caught retired 500 miles disconnected enactment successful these horrific gale unit conditions,’ helium remembered, explaining however each they could bash was pray.

‘It was a genuinely terrifying experience,’ helium reflected. ‘The powerfulness of quality and the oversea successful freezing acold conditions is simply a pugnacious one.’

He astir drowned successful an Indonesian jungle

While Bear was filming Born Survivor successful the Sumatran jungle, helium ignored his instincts and got into a fast-flowing stream that was successful afloat flood.

‘The crushed they’re unsafe is it’s brownish h2o truthful hides each the strainers and hidden logs,’ Bear explained successful Uncut.

Recalling the incidental to The Telegraph, helium said: ‘One of the unit said it would beryllium termination to leap successful the stream successful the authorities it was flowing – aggravated class-four jungle rapids – and helium couldn’t beryllium portion of this if we proceeded.

‘But I felt assured we could bash it if we stayed unneurotic and kept to the main flow. In retrospect, the cautious unit subordinate was close and I should person died that day.’

As helium ventured done the stream with the unit floating with him, Bear was rammed nether a stone ledge by the ‘immense’ powerfulness of the water.

‘I could conscionable scope my hands retired and supra me,’ helium continued successful the publication.

‘The camera raft past smashed against the stone supra me, and by the grace of God 1 of the guys could spot my manus conscionable supra the h2o and grabbed it arsenic they passed, pulling maine escaped from the strainer.

‘That manus saved my life. And it taught maine a captious endurance lesson: you lone get it incorrect once.’

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