Eighties pop icon Paul Young has told of a horror holiday fall, which left him with multiple leg fractures and in intensive care needing three emergency blood transfusions. Less than 24 hours after landing on the Greek island, the 69-year-old was involved in a shock accident. In a new interview the singer revealed he slipped and plunged down a flight of outdoor hotel steps while walking to breakfast.
The horror fall resulted in his wife Lorna, 53, calling for help at their five-star hotel and he was rushed to Santorini General Hospital in Karterados. Following x-rays it was revealed Paul suffered a series of fractures to his left thigh bone. Speaking about the incident the Wherever I Lay My Hat singer revealed it had been raining and he slipped and fell over. He told the Daily Mirror, “My leg slipped out from underneath me. I fell and my leg cracked as soon as I hit the step. I fell down to three or four more steps, fracturing my leg again and again. It was a multi-fracture.
Paul Young was on holiday on the Greek island of Santorini (Image: Getty)
When I came to a stop, I looked down and my leg was in a slightly weird position, underneath my bottom. I thought ‘I don’t like that. My leg shouldn’t be like that’, so I tried to straighten it up and that’s when the pain started’’.
He explained he was given paracetamol and was “screaming out all the time” due to the intense pain.
Paul shared there were no surgeons at Santorini hospital and he was forced to lay on a gurney in the hospital corridor for nine hours trying to arrange a private flight to the Greek capital of Athens where he could get the urgent care he needed.
The following morning he was transported to Mediterranea hospital where he underwent surgery but he shockingly recalls feeling metal rod inserted into the centre of the femur, secured by surgical screws at the top and bottom.
He believes the anaesthetic wore off but admittedly struggled to speak during the ordeal.
The 80s pop star suffered a horror fall which resulted in huge blood loss (Image: Getty)
The performer shared he was left with a “messy” wound and spent the next two days in intensive care after badly haemorrhaging and needing three blood transfusions to replace the lost blood.
The incident occurred in September with Paul admitting it was a “frightening time” for him after losing so much blood.
He told the publication: “For the first few days, there was so much blood loss, they were changing the sheets every day.”
Paul spent two weeks in hospital and later spent two days at London’s private Cleveland Clinic where he was monitored and given help to use crutches and climb stairs before returning home to Dunstable, Bedfordshire, where he slowly built up strength and learned to walk again.
His health woes did not stop there when a bolt at the bottom of his leg rod snapped, causing the metal fixture to push downwards.
Paul went through another 10 hour operation to repair the broken fixture which left him in agonising pain, saying: “I’ve never had something like this happen to me before. It’s the worst injury I’ve ever had.”
Five months after the horror event Paul is finally “off his crutches” and is gearing up for his new tour.
The singer, who married his wife Lorna in 2021, said he’s fit and ready for his shows which kick off in June. Paul will later head to America to tour with Australian-American singer Rick Springfield.
Paul Young’s UK tour From No Parlez To Secret Of Association begins on April 1
