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Comedian Jimmy Carr revealed that he had a "close to death" experience as a child when he was diagnosed with meningitis. Carr revealed that he was diagnosed with the infection as a toddler and almost died due to the strain on his body.
Jimmy Carr spoke to host Kathy Burke on the April 16 segment of the podcast Where There’s A Will, There’s A Wake about his illness. He mentioned that he was three when he was diagnosed with meningitis and his first memory of the disease was "a lumbar puncture in Limerick in the General hospital." He said:
"You’ve got to be cruel to be kind … I think that is the first thing I ever said that my mother thought was funny. I had meningitis when I was a child. So my first memory is a lumbar puncture in Limerick in the General hospital. I was three, I think, and … I was always told it was very close to death."
As per WHO, meningitis is "the inflammation of the tissues surrounding the brain and spinal cord." People of all ages may be affected by it, and infections are typically the reason. However, the danger of catching the disease is higher in young children, newborns, and toddlers.
Jimmy Carr reveals that he "nearly didn't make it" as he was diagnosed with meningitis
Speaking on Kathy Burke's podcast, Jimmy Carr revealed that suffering from the infection made him appreciate "that thing of life." He was told that he "nearly didn't make it" and the doctor told him it is going to be "very painful", revealed the comedian.
"The doctor sort of went, 'It’s going to be very painful.' And somehow I’d heard the phrase, and I went, “You’ve got to be cruel to be kind,” in a little child’s voice. And I kind of appreciated that thing of life, because I was always told, “Oh, you nearly didn’t make it"."
As a part of the podcast format, Jimmy Carr also revealed how he would actually like to die when the day arrives. He said that if he could choose how he would die, he would want to be "ravaged by sharks" in South Africa.
"I want my kids and the people that love me to (be able to tell a story like), 'Oh, Jimmy died… funny story. He flew to South Africa and he went on one of those great shark cage experiences and he forgoed the cage. He said, no cage for me, thanks. I’ll just jump in there with a fish'. And I was ravaged by sharks. That would be a way to go."
The comedian also described how he once had a close encounter with a reef shark, while speaking on Burke's podcast.
Jimmy Carr spoke about the time when he was swimming with a friend in Key West, when he had an encounter with a reef shark. The comedian said on the podcast that one of the reef sharks "flipped around" towards him.
Carr described that they had been "swimming" with the "small sharks all day" but they were mistaken about their "enormous" size. The comedian recalled:
"We’d been swimming with these small sharks all day and we slightly misjudged the size of this thing. It was enormous and it flipped around and came at us. ‘And I remember just thinking of the old joke, ‘I don’t have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you’. Just to swim faster than my mate Henry onto the fire coral."
Later, Jimmy Carr went back on their boat where the "guys" said they were "just reef sharks. He believed it was a "great story" for everyone so he would want to be "torn apart by sharks."
"And then we got back on the boat and the guys went, “These are just reef sharks”. I went, “Yeah, with the black tip on the fin,” and they went “Oh, mate. Whoa! But I think (being) torn apart by sharks and wanting it and going “I’ll do that.” That’s a great story for everyone."
Catch Carr’s new stand-up special, Natural Born Killer on Netflix as it premiers on April 16.
