Orlando Bloom is “grateful” to be alive after “narrowly escaping death” following 1998 spine injury.
Orlando Bloom's Instagram (c) post
The ‘Carnival Row’ star “crushed” his spine in a nasty injury in 1998 when he fell down three floors of a building, and has shared a picture from a few months after the incident as he recalled the dangerous time.
He wrote on Instagram: “That’s me in my back brace circa 1998 about 3months after I fell 3floors and crushed my spine, narrowly escaping death and paralysis … grateful everyday for my limbs that allow me to push my limits and live life on my edge (safer now)”
Orlando, 44, previously spoke about the incident in 2005, when he shared he was climbing up to a roof terrace when the drainpipe he was holding onto collapsed.
He explained: "Until then, I didn't have a healthy appreciation for life and death — that we're not invincible. And for four days, I faced the idea of living in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. I went to some dark places in my mind. I realised, I'm either going to walk again or I'm not.
"The doctor said he wasn't sure how severe the spinal cord damage was. I remember him telling me that, and staring at the ceiling, thinking, I never stared at ceilings before! And I wonder if I'm going to be looking at ceilings for the rest of my life."
And although the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star spent just a few weeks in hospital, the accident changed his outlook on life.
He added: "When I came out of the hospital, I started partying straight away — with the back brace on. It took me a couple of months to realise this was my life, and I didn't want to mess it up.
"But that accident has informed everything in my life. Until you're close to losing it, you don't realise. I used to ride motorbikes and drive cars like everything was a racetrack; it was ridiculous. It wasn't because I thought it was cool; it was just because I loved living on the edge. But I've chilled."
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