One week after breaking back in bike fall .... Cowell takes first steps at home
MEDIA mogul Simon Cowell has left hospital just a week after breaking his back by falling off an electric bike.
He was said to be in “good spirits” and took his first steps at home at the weekend, stunning doctors.
He was able to hug son Eric, six, and partner Lauren Silverman after being kept quarantined during his stay in a Los Angeles hospital.
He even wants to be back on screen before the final of his hit show America’s Got Talent on September 23. The 60-year-old is “mobile” and starting rehab for his spine and “fused discs” following the accident outside his home in Malibu that left him one centimetre from being paralysed. He had a rod put in his back in a six-hour operation.
A business associate said: “Simon is very happy to have returned home and to have taken some steps there. He had been chomping at the bit to recover more at home with the views and sea air.
“And not only is he surrounded by his family, he can actually cuddle them given they were quarantined in the hospital. His recovery will take time, but he is determined to get his physiotherapy done and rehab quickly. He is is in good spirits.
“Usually people can need two weeks before returning home, so he is ahead of schedule.” He was even walking two days after surgery.
“He’s been able to walk quite a lot and quicker than the experts had expected him to do after this type of major surgery, which is a great sign for the healing coming along well.” Friends say Eric has now taken charge of helping his dad recover, making a list of movies to watch. Muppets Most Wanted was top of the batch.
Referring to America’s Got Talent, a business associate said: “He is working on his iPad. He loves that show and even if he is not there in person, he still always wants to be in the centre of everything. Lauren has been his rock throughout this time.”
Fellow judge on the show Howie Mandel said he expects Cowell to appear in the next four weeks of rounds or at the final.