Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Broken back... to work for Si
Cowell aiming for TV next month
SIMON Cowell is already working after breaking his back and aims to follow his doctor’s orders so he can return to TV next month.
The X Factor judge is known in the business as a workaholic and was sending emails from his hospital bed on an ipad just hours after he had emergency surgery.
The 60-year-old fell off a new electric bicycle at home in Malibu and broke his back in three places.
A source close to Cowell said he is resigned to missing America’s Got Talent shows this week but hopes to recover for future programmes in the US and UK.
They added: “Nothing is definite as yet but we very much hope Simon will be well enough to attend both the AGT final on September 23 and the Britain’s Got Talent final in the UK in October.
“The accident has thrown the planning up in the air but provided Simon listens to doctors and gets some rest, we hope to see him back on screen soon.
“He has been working on his ipad in hospital but knows he has to take it easy for a while.”
In a review of the Swind EB-01 Cowell crashed, Wallpaper magazine called it “the fastest electric bike on earth” saying it “has an official top speed of 60mph but with a bit of tinkering, could go as fast as 80”.
The Mirror told yesterday how Cowell missed breaking his spinal cord – and possible paralysis – “by a centimetre”. He has had a metal rod inserted in his back. A grateful Cowell praised health staff in the US hospital, saying: “Thank you to the nurses and doctors. Some of the nicest people I have ever met.”