Ben Fogle, the 50-year-old presenter, recently recounted a terrifying incident where a delivery van nearly struck him while he was walking his dog near his home in Fawley. This close call is just the latest in a series of life-threatening experiences he has faced during his global adventures.
Fogle first gained fame on the reality series Castaway in 2000, where he spent a year on the uninhabited Scottish island of Taransa. The group of 36 volunteers endured harsh weather and a flu outbreak. Fogle later described the experience as life-changing, saying it made him an environmentalist.
In 2009, Fogle contracted Leishmaniasis, a flesh-eating disease, after being bitten by a sand fly in Peru while filming for the BBC. The treatment involved a toxic medicine labelled with a skull and crossbones. He feared permanent facial disfigurement and lost weight, but completed the course, though the lesion reopened during a subsequent Arctic trek.
During his trek to the South Pole with James Cracknell, Fogle suffered frostbite, blisters, and hypothermia. He survived on just four hours of sleep a night and later admitted there were days he thought they would not finish the race.
In 2013, Fogle's drink was spiked at a pub in the Cotswolds, leading to a psychotic episode in which he tried to harm himself. He has also faced other dangers, including a flesh-eating bug and hypothermia, but continues to pursue adventurous expeditions around the world.
