Orlando Blooms Opens Up About Near-Death Experience
The actor told the story in honor of World Mental Health Day.
Orlando Bloom is living a happy, practically-perfect life with fiancée Katy Perry and their daughter Daisy, while also raising his son Flynn with ex-wife Miranda Kerr.
But just like everyone else, he went through hardships in the past, including one near-death experience that really challenged him.
Bloom opened up about the experience in honor of World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10, telling his story in a video with UNICEF, for which he is an international goodwill ambassador.
"When I was 19, I fell three floors from a window and broke my back," the actor explained. "I was very fortunate to survive the fall because my spinal cord was still just intact. I was told for the first four days that I may never walk again."
Luckily, he was able to push through surgery, treatment, and therapy, and against all odds, walked out of the hospital 12 days after the accident on crutches.
Last year, Bloom shared a little about the accident when he uploaded a picture of himself in the back brace on Instagram.
In the video with UNICEF, the 45-year-old went on to explain that this was somewhat of a turning point for him, as he looked back at "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."
Touching on the impact the event had on his mental health, the Lord of the Rings actor said, "I would say the months after the fall were quite a dark time. As somebody who'd sort of always been very active in my life, it felt very restrictive all of a sudden and I was in a lot of pain."
The father of two then addressed mental health directly, and the importance of getting help: "Mental health is particularly challenging because it's unseen. There is always an opportunity for you to transform the pain, whether it be physical or mental, into the great good fortune of your life...It starts with one moment, one conversation, it starts with one question, 'What's on your mind?'"
Perry commented on the video in support, writing, "I love you sho."
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