Lord of the Rings star Orlando Bloom has opened up about a terrifying experience in his life where a near-fatal accident left him being told he might never walk again:
Bloom posted the honest and open video about his terrible accident on his Instagram page as part of a collaboration with UNICEF for World Mental Health day.
Best known these days for his portrayal of elven archer Legolas in the Lord of the Rings movies, the actor revealed that before his days of fame and stardom he'd had a near-death experience in his teenage years.
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He said: "When I was 19 I fell three floors from a window and broke my back.
"I was very fortunate to survive the fall because my spinal cord was just intact. When I was in hospital I was told for the first four days that I may never walk again."
The actor's physical recovery was incredible, with Bloom revealing he 'actually walked out of hospital on crutches after 12 days' despite having a broken back.
While that was 'really remarkable and unheard of', the movie star explained that his long road to recovery involved his mental health as well as his physical body.
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Bloom spoke about how the recovery took a serious toll on his mental health as he took stock of his life and the way he lived it.
The actor continued: "That was really the beginning of what was a long and painful journey for me into recognizing and understanding some of the patterns that had been in my life that had led me to having numerous accidents, and the culmination was breaking my back, which was a near-death experience."
Describing the months he spent after the horrific fall as 'quite a dark time', he revealed that the 'restrictive' nature of his recovery posed problems for him as he'd always enjoyed an active lifestyle.
He said he was able to 'transform the pain' he'd suffered from when he nearly died and his long road to recovery into something else thanks to being able to focus on his mental health.
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Luckily for Bloom narrowly avoiding death or paralysis put him on course for his starring role in Lord of the Rings, and he still keeps up a very active lifestyle.
His video attracted heaps of love and support, including a message from fiancée Katy Perry who said 'I love you sho' in response to his heartfelt revelations.
Topics: Orlando Bloom, Mental Health, Celebrity, TV and Film
Joe Harker