Simon Cowell admits he ‘didn’t read the manual’ to electric bike before breaking his back in horror accident
SIMON Cowell has admitted he "didn't read the manual" before breaking his back during a terrifying bike fall that almost left him paralysed.
Simon, 60, needed six hours of surgery and missed injuring his spinal cord by a centimetre in the electric bike accident.
The music boss broke his silence on Twitter last night and confessed he hadn't been fully versed on how to use the powerful bike.
He tweeted: " Some good advice…
"If you buy an electric trail bike, read the manual before you ride it for the first time.
"I have broken part of my back. Thank you to everyone for your kind messages."
He added in another message: "And a massive thank you to all the nurses and doctors. Some of the nicest people I have ever met. Stay safe everyone."
Simon fell and broke his back while trying out the new bike — after accidentally pulling a wheelie.
The telly mogul fell backwards and smashed down onto a concrete floor at his Los Angeles home in the accident witnessed by his son Eric, six, and his partner Lauren Silverman’s teenage lad Adam.
A source said: “He was testing out his new bike with Eric and Adam and the power of it surprised him a bit.
“He fell back directly onto his back and immediately knew he was in trouble. He was in a bad way.”
Simon needed almost six hours of surgery to insert a metal rod in his spine after breaking three vertebrae.
He now faces a long stay in hospital — scuppering his plans to star in tomorrow night’s live launch of the new America’s Got Talent series.
Doctors told the TV mogul he was “very lucky” not to have suffered paralysing injuries.
Simon is thought to have missed damaging his spinal cord — part of the body’s central nervous system — by a centimetre.
The source said: “It was a really, really bad fall — but he’s very lucky to have escaped with the injuries he has.
“Had he damaged the spinal cord he could have been looking at life in a wheelchair, but thanks to the doctors he is hopeful of making a full recovery.”
Hollywood’s Christopher Reeve spent the final decade of his life in a wheelchair after damaging his spinal cord in a fall from a horse.