You could never forget to ride a bicycle even after a very long time of not getting on one, but no one would hold it against Simon Cowell if he made an effort to. The music mogul broke his back in three places in August 2020 in an e-bike crash, making him think he’d never walk again.
Simon Cowell has spoken about his e-bike accident, including how it happened and what he’d learned from it – stuff like how there’s a difference between a street-legal electric bicycle and a powerful trail electric motorcycle that uses a legal loophole to call itself an e-bike. He’s also used his example to warn against the latter category of products and has spoken about the difficult recovery he had to face.
The accident occurred on a Swind EB-01 e-bike, which Cowell had shipped from London to his Miami home and then, without reading the owner’s manual, proceeded to take out for a test drive. He accidentally hit the throttle and popped a wheelie, ending up on his back. After several hours in surgery, the doctors inserted a metal rod to hold the three vertebrae he’d broken in the fall.
Speaking to The Sun to promote his upcoming TV talent competitions, Cowell says his son Eric was filming him when he fell off the bike, an experience that left both of them traumatized. For the next three months, Cowell had to live with the guilt of letting Eric see his accident and the fear that he might never walk again, he says.
Now, almost two years (and another e-bike injury) later, Cowell has overcome his health struggles, which included severe depression. “I’m still wearing a back brace which I have to wear when I go out on my bike, and there are pretty big screws in my back, and that’s for life,” he says. “But I’m here, I’m alive. And I’m grateful.” Silver linings.
He still rides and will continue to do so for as long as his body allows. Cowell’s e-bike collection now includes 15 of them, ranging in price from $6,500 to $26,000. No one would expect less of a multi-millionaire worth at least $600 million.
The accident occurred on a Swind EB-01 e-bike, which Cowell had shipped from London to his Miami home and then, without reading the owner’s manual, proceeded to take out for a test drive. He accidentally hit the throttle and popped a wheelie, ending up on his back. After several hours in surgery, the doctors inserted a metal rod to hold the three vertebrae he’d broken in the fall.
Speaking to The Sun to promote his upcoming TV talent competitions, Cowell says his son Eric was filming him when he fell off the bike, an experience that left both of them traumatized. For the next three months, Cowell had to live with the guilt of letting Eric see his accident and the fear that he might never walk again, he says.
Now, almost two years (and another e-bike injury) later, Cowell has overcome his health struggles, which included severe depression. “I’m still wearing a back brace which I have to wear when I go out on my bike, and there are pretty big screws in my back, and that’s for life,” he says. “But I’m here, I’m alive. And I’m grateful.” Silver linings.
He still rides and will continue to do so for as long as his body allows. Cowell’s e-bike collection now includes 15 of them, ranging in price from $6,500 to $26,000. No one would expect less of a multi-millionaire worth at least $600 million.