You are wrong. JP II did get shot in 1981 by the Turkish KGB thug, Ali Agca (or something like that) so he nearly died, but felt much better the following year:-).
Actually, I don't make up any of these jokes or posts, I freely admit to stealing them from around the web. I could change it to almost died I supposed, but then the conspiracists wouldn't have anything to get excited about. ;)