I was told I’d never walk again, Sneak (UK), April 3, 2003
typed and scanned by LiL PiPPi BLooM
Four years
ago, Orlando Bloom’s career looked over after he broke his back in a horrific
accident. Sneak tells the story of his
amazing recovery.
These days, Orlando Bloom is a world-famous actor,
with starring roles in blockbusters including The Lord Of The Rings and Black
Hawk Down. But a few years ago, the
26-year-old star thought he might never be able to walk, let alone act.
Although Orlando can’t put a foot
wrong career-wise, the gorge star isn’t quite such a smooth operator when it
comes to his own personal safety. He
loves to push himself to the limit both on and off the screen, but the
daredevil activities mean he’s broken his arm, nose, ribs, toe, wrist, both
legs and cracked his skull, not once but three times!
“This is a battered body all
right. You could say I’m
accident-prone,” he says. “But each
time it made me stronger and more determined to do things I want.”
Devastated
Orlando sounds
positive about it now – back in 1997, while he was still a drama
student, he had a particularly disastrous accident. He broke his back after slipping and tumbling backwards from a
third-floor window. Orlando was rushed
to hospital with serious spinal injuries and was devastated when doctors told
him he might be permanently paralysed.
Suddenly it looked as if his
promising acting career might have been cut short before it had even got off
the ground.
Recalling the near-fatal fall,
Orlando says. “I fell from a friend’s flat in Notting Hill in London. I was 20.
I was climbing out of a window and down a drainpipe, trying to get onto
my friends roof terrace. I fell down
three floors and I landed next to some rusty railings.
“It was just a miracle I missed them
and another that I wasn’t completely paralysed.
“The doctors told me I might never
walk again,” says Orlando. “For about
four days I was lying there seriously contemplating that as a reality.
“I was told I was going to be in a
wheelchair. I was in a hell of a lot of
pain so I was [slipping] in and out of consciousness and on strong drugs, like
morphine.”
Thankfully, further medical
examinations gave him some hope of recovery.
“I was in surgery for six hours,” remembers Orlando “All the bolts and
plates were inserted and I was able to leave hospital after 12 days. I was on crutches and had a neck brace which
I wore for the next year.”
Recovery
Orlando reckons he
made such a recovery because he has a “fighter nature” as well as plenty of
self-discipline. After taking some time
out from college, he was eventually able to return to his theatrical
studies. Even then, he couldn’t take on
roles which were too physically demanding.
In a weird twist of fate, years
later in 2002, in Black Hawk Down. He played the role of a soldier,
Private Blackburn, who breaks his back after falling from a helicopter.
Extreme sports
Considering his
favourite hobbies, it’s hardly surprising Orlando has had so many
accidents. Forget stamp collecting,
think bungee jumping, snowboarding, skydiving, surfing and riding motorbikes. This fella’s a serious extreme sports
fanatic!
“I love danger,” he enthuses. “If it’s hair-raising, you can count me
in! I’m always throwing myself out of
planes, I love snowboarding and I’ve always been into motorbikes. I’m just a bit of an adrenaline junkie. And New Zealand [where The Lord Of The
Rings was filmed] is the place where they invented bungee jumping – I love
that sh*t.”
Thrill-seeker
When Orlando was
filming The Lord Of The Rings, he didn’t feel the need to chill in his
trailor between scenes. He preferred to
head off for a sesh of bungee jumping instead.
“I definitely enjoy doing mad
stuff,” he says. “These bungee jumps
were the freakiest kind of experience.
To summon up the courage to jump out of a cable car with something tied
to your feet was pretty surreal.”
Lessons
Despite his love
of danger, almost losing the ability to walk has taught Orlando some important
lessons. “It was a life-changing
experience,” he says. “Perhaps I’d been
moving a bit too quickly through life.
It was a wake-up call to end all wake-up calls. It completely refocused me and had a
profound effect on my thinking. It
forces you to confront your deepest fears and the darkest areas of your mind.”
Thankful
Orlando is
grateful that he was able to pull through all the terrible injuries he
suffered. “I was really lucky to
survive the fall and lucky to be walking.
It’s funny how you accumulate gifts in life and think that’s mine in a
funny kind of way.” He says.
Although one side of him still
completely loves “doing mad stuff”, Orlando has a much more chilled way of
living now. “When I’m not working, I
just prefer to sit and do nothing. Go
to the beach. Go for a walk. Simple things have become a lot more
enjoyable,” he reveals.
“When I broke my back, it was such a
terrible time, but on the other hand I learned through that to value some
things more. Certain things do happen
for a reason. You just have to trust in
the fact that sometimes life has its own road mapped out for you.”
Pic 1. Orlando aged 18, just before he enrolled at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Pic 2. Out partying in 1998 with supermodel Sophie Dahl. What a lucky gal!
Pic 3. Last year, fashion giant Gap signed up Orlando to appear in its super-cool ads.
Pic 4. Playing Legolas in The Lord Of The Rings catapulted Orlando into Hollywood’s
A-list
Pic 5. Orlando stars with Heath Ledger in Ned Kelly,
out in September. He plays a 19th-century highwayman
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