NEWSI 'Could Have Smashed My Spine To Pieces': Simon Cowell Relives Debilitating Bike Accident, Calling The Horrifying Incident 'Surreal'
After vowing to get back to work after his horrific bike accident that sidelined him for months, Simon Cowell is reflecting on the aftermath of his injuries and his son’s reaction to the scary ordeal — as he preps for his big return to America's Got Talent.
“It could have been a lot worse,” the American Idol alum told Extra on Wednesday. “When I saw the X-ray, I really nearly could have smashed my spine to pieces. So, I literally wouldn’t have been able to walk. I knew I’d broken my back the minute I landed. It was really, really kind of sudden and it hurt.”
Cowell explained that he knew he wasn’t "supposed to move'' after his accident, but instinctively he wanted to do the complete opposite. “I was thinking, ‘I’ve got to get back into the house because I can’t lie there’ and made myself kind of get carried into my bedroom, which is right there at the beginning of the house,” he recalled. “And I’m lying there and I’m kind of passing out… It was surreal.”
The feisty Brit went on to detail how he was “embarrassed” to come home “looking about 100 because I couldn’t walk, and I have these metal rods in my back and these screws,” he added. “I said [to my girlfriend Lauren Silverman], ‘Lauren, I just don’t know how to explain it to [our son Eric].’ She obviously said something to him because he came in… and I was lying in bed and he said, ‘Daddy, you’re like Ironman,’ and I thought that was the sweetest thing and it meant a lot.”
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Cowell revealed the hardest part of his journey to recovery was the feeling of “helplessness,” adding, “I’ve never been in this situation in my life where you literally can’t move. The pain was off the charts, but you’ve got to stay positive. I made a promise to myself I’d be fitter than I was before I had the accident. Sure enough, that’s what happened.”
As OK! previously reported, Cowell had to undergo a six-hour surgery after he broke his back in an electric bike accident in August of last year. In October, a source exclusively dished to OK! that Cowell was "over the worst" of his injury and "was walking around looking energetic and perfectly happy." However, a previous source spilled that the injury was actually much worse than initially reported.
OK! has learned that Cowell is considering taking legal action against the manufactures of the electric bike and has been pressing Swindon Powertrain to look into any issues with the bike, due to safety concerns for other customers. Cowell could take home $13.5 million for medical expenses and loss of earnings, but a whistleblower from the manufacturer claimed that the bike was an "accident waiting to happen" due to Cowell being untrained and that "it should never have been sold to Simon without him being taught how to use it."
