Frank Gardner - Shooting in Riyadh

Every day on TV and radio news, we see and hear danger. Kidnapping. Gunshots. Explosions. How easy it sadly is to disregard the effort and risk involved in gaining that insight.

In recent years, many journalists have been killed or injured. In 2004, Frank Gardner, the BBC’s full-time Security Correspondent, was shot six times at close range while on assignment in Saudi Arabia. His cameraman colleague, Simon Cumbers, was killed outright. The injuries were serious. He was told later by his thankfully brilliant surgeon that fewer than 10% of patients survive this sort of injury.

Frank lived to tell the tale. He was awarded an OBE in 2005; and has written two books on his experiences.

On this audio, Frank tells his own news in the journalist matter-of-fact way. For him, this was simply a case of wrong place, wrong time.

The day before, his voice had been heard in 'From Our Own Correspondent'.