Actor Paul Nicholls, best known for his roles as Joe Wicks in BBC's EastEnders, as DS Sam Casey in ITV's Law & Order: UK, and Steve Bell in new series Ackley Bridge, has been rescued from the bottom of a waterfall in Thailand, having been trapped there for three days.
Nicholls had motorcycled to the site in Koh Samui before falling, breaking both legs and shattering a knee. He was unable to use his phone after it broke.
A local villager alerted police when they found his rental bike. Volunteer rescuers, police, and medics went to search for the actor and found him several hours after setting off.
Nicholls was semi-conscious and with hypothermia when found. He has been hospitalised and will be flown back to the UK next week.
The actor told The Sun: “I am lucky to be alive.
“I had a phone with me but I fell from such a height into the water it was unretrievable.
“It took such a long time to find me. It’s an understatement to say it wasn’t a great situation. It wasn’t that I was lost.
“The problem was I couldn’t move to get out of there.
“I’ve got a broken leg and I’m missing a kneecap. It needs complete reconstruction.”
A source close to Nicholls confirmed that he was out there alone because he was between filming.
You can see footage of the rescue via BBC.
