Mercy dash for hurt rock star
30 April 2006
By DONNA CHISHOLM, TIM HUME and MARY JANE BOLAND
Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards is having top-secret treatment in an Auckland private hospital after suffering head injuries in a fall from a coconut tree in Fiji on Thursday.
The 62-year-old rock star, who was at a luxury resort on the exclusive Wakaya Island, was airlifted from Suva and taken to Auckland's private MercyAscot Hospital.
Richards was holidaying with his wife, former model Patti Hansen, after performing two New Zealand shows with the Rolling Stones, in Auckland on April 16 and Wellington on April 18.
Despite reports from the United Kingdom that he was critically injured in the fall, the Sunday Star-Times understands Richards is conscious and mobile and has not had surgery.
He could be well enough to leave hospital early this week.
MercyAscot Hospital staff refused to confirm whether Richards was a patient.
But the Sunday Star-Times has learned Richards was assessed by Auckland neurosurgeon Andrew Law and orthopaedic specialist Alastair Hadlow.
The decision to evacuate Richards came after he had a serious headache following the fall and then was involved in a jetski accident.
He has been kept in hospital as a precaution but is understood to have had brain scans.
He has also hired his own security guards.
A visitor to the hospital said Richards was last night sitting up in bed - wearing a colourful striped beanie - with his wife by his side.
Richards was first treated at a Suva hospital before being evacuated to New Zealand. He arrived shortly before midnight on Thursday.
Dr Uzzal Kanti Dhar, of Suva Private Hospital, said Richards was admitted there earlier that day.
"I understand he climbed a coconut tree and fell from the tree and got injured," he said.
Wakaya Club assistant manager Salesi Finau said he was unable to confirm or deny Richards had been involved in an accident, but said he was a guest at the resort last week.
"All I can say is both Keith and his wife, Patti, were here for about a week. They were here and they had a really good holiday."
The couple had been scheduled to leave the island yesterday, he said.
Staff at the news website Fijilive. com said they understood Richards was rushed to Suva aboard one of the light aircraft flights which serviced Wakaya, a 12-minute flight from Nausori airport, near Suva.
An airport source had reported seeing Richards disembark from the aircraft at Nausori.
Fijian air traffic control said a Medivac flight took place from Suva to Auckland on Thursday.
Fiji is a particular holiday favourite with the Stones, who wrote a song called "Fiji Gin" in the late 1970s.
Accommodation rates at the Wakaya Club range from $2000 to $7600 a night for a minimum of five nights.
The resort, owned by Canadian David Gilmour and his New Zealand-born wife Jill, has reportedly hosted Pierce Brosnan, Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, Bill Gates, Jim Carrey, Celine Dion and Rupert Murdoch.
– Additional reporting Jennifer Dann
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3653039a10,00.html
