Sunday, October 05, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

TIGER ATTACK: Roy's injuries 'severe'

Magician remains in critical condition after suffering stroke, undergoing second surgery

MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman stands outside University Medical Center on Saturday as he updates the media on the condition of Roy Horn, the legendary Strip performer badly mauled by a tiger during a Friday night performance at The Mirage. Photo by Ralph Fountain. Roy Horn Performer suffered severe blood loss in attack In this 1999 file photo, Siegfried Fischbacher, left, and Roy Horn perform with a tiger at The Mirage. AP PHOTO

The official status of superstar magician Roy Horn never changed from "critical but stable" Saturday, one day after he was badly mauled by a white tiger during a performance at The Mirage.

But among his circle of friends and colleagues, the cautious optimism that first emerged late Friday night took a downward turn over the course of the day.

Horn's initial surgery at University Medical Center Trauma Center ended about 11:30 p.m. Friday. A hospital source said Horn had to be resuscitated during that surgery.

Horn, who turned 59 Friday, was moved to another part of the hospital about 12:40 a.m. Saturday.

A hospital source said Horn subsequently suffered a stroke and was returned to surgery about 9:30 a.m. to relieve severe pressure on his brain.

MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman declined to discuss specifics of Horn's condition or treatment. "Updates on an hour-by-hour basis are not going to lead to clarity," he said.

Feldman said Horn, who with his partner Siegfried Fischbacher has performed in Las Vegas for more than three decades, remained in critical but stable condition Saturday.

Feldman acknowledged the injuries were "extremely severe" and involved a lot of blood loss. He said it could be two or three days before doctors know the full impact of the injuries.

"When these things happen, you need to spend some time with the patient to know what the long-term implications will be," Feldman said.

Late Saturday night, Feldman said there was some encouraging news that had begun in the afternoon and continued into the evening. "Roy has been able to have some limited communication," he said.

He cautioned that the performer's condition was subject to change. "We take this hour by hour."

Fischbacher released a written statement Saturday.

"For more than four decades, I have had the great privilege of standing at the side of this remarkable man, and I will continue to do so during this very challenging time.

"We are grateful and overwhelmed with the tremendous support we have received from around the world, and ask for your continued prayers and reflection," he said.

The attack occurred about 45 minutes into the magicians' 7:30 p.m. show before 1,503 people.

Montecore, a 7-year-old white tiger, refused a command to lie down and then clamped his jaws on Horn's right arm.

The native of Germany repeatedly struck the animal in the head with a microphone. The male tiger then lunged at Horn, clamped its jaws around his neck and pulled him out of the audience's view.

"There were a couple of gasps, and people thought it was part of the act, and then it was real quiet," said audience member Paul D'Antonio, who sat about 15 feet from the stage.

About five minutes after the attack, a visibly shaken Fischbacher returned to the stage and told audience members the remainder of the show was canceled.

Emergency crews were dispatched to The Mirage at 8:21 p.m. Paramedics with Southwest Ambulance were on the scene of the attack by 8:25 p.m.

Clark County Fire Department spokesman Bob Leinbach said paramedics found Horn suffering from severe blood loss and labored breathing.

By the time the ambulance arrived at the hospital, paramedics had stopped the massive bleeding and Horn was rushed into surgery.

Friends began flocking to the hospital while Horn underwent surgery. The initial procedure ended about 11:30 p.m. Friday.

Friends and associates were stunned by the injury to the charming, happy-go-lucky performer who seemed to have an uncanny communication with animals.

"Roy is fearless," said Bernie Yuman, the longtime personal manager of Siegfried & Roy. Regardless, "he's always cognizant of the fact that anything can occur."

Lynette Chappell, the duo's longtime leading lady, was among those waiting for news at the Trauma Center on Friday night.

Chappell said she had completed her role in the opening segment of the show and was about to get on a treadmill in her dressing room when she heard the commotion in the backstage hallways.

She said the tiger attack was "not malicious, just an accident."

Just before midnight Friday, she and others welcomed news that Horn was out of surgery and breathing on his own.

"I'll take any positive news I can get," Chappell said.

Fellow magician Lance Burton also was on hand at the hospital.

Burton said he had received eight cell phone messages within minutes of finishing his own show at the Monte Carlo, including one from a magician in Singapore.

Burton noted that Siegfried & Roy opened their landmark revue "Beyond Belief" at the Frontier in November 1981, just six months before he came to town.

"They're the guys who opened the door to magic," he said.

Phil Misiura, the show's general manager, said he found no fault with the first-aid measures taken backstage before paramedics arrived.

The backstage area is equipped with first-aid kits and certain crew members were trained in emergency procedures, but had never rehearsed specific drills for animal attacks, Misiura said.

More than 250 people who work on the show, including cast and stagehands, met with show producers in the showroom Saturday evening.

The affected employees, many of whom have been with the show since it opened Feb. 1, 1990, were told the show will be closed indefinitely.

"We wanted to be as honest as we could," Feldman said. "They may very well need to consider other options in their careers."

MGM Mirage Chairman Terry Lanni released a statement saying Siegfried & Roy are "so much more than the stars of The Mirage, they are the very heart of our resort."

Those who work with tigers and other animals say the plush toys in the gift shop and the gleaming smiles onstage can make people forget an important fact.

"The big cats are always a wild animal, even with all the gentle training and habit-forming techniques," said Dirk Arthur, one of several illusionists who works with exotic cats in a niche of show business that Horn pioneered.

Arthur performs downtown at the Plaza with eight tigers and leopards of his own.

"I often equate it to being a race-car driver," he says. "You know it's dangerous, but you try to make it as safe as you can through layers of safety and rituals of checks and double checks."

Horn is known for being strict with trainers and intolerant of "anything rough or negative," Arthur says.

The attack came during a portion of the show when Roy parades the tiger across the stage on a leash. Though the animals can weigh 500 pounds, Arthur says a skilled trainer needs no more than the leash to restrain them.

"Roy is an expert at using sideways leverage on the front feet," he says.

Arthur echoes Horn's career-long philosophy when he says, "You blame yourself. Never the cat."

Montecore is featured prominently in Siegfried & Roy's photo calendar and the television commercial for the Secret Garden of Siegfried & Roy.

He previously was known as one of the most cooperative animals and "a favorite of most of the handlers," said a source close to the operation.

The tiger is being housed in its usual quarters.

About 50 lions and tigers are housed behind the Secret Garden of Siegfried & Roy public attraction at The Mirage.

That well-scrubbed facility features indoor-outdoor runs, shower stalls for animal grooming and a "maternity ward" to further Horn's cradle-to-grave philosophy of animal handling.

If a person is there at the birth, Horn once explained, both mother and cub accept that person as a surrogate father.

Horn's zenlike empathy with animals is a cultivated theme of the show, which features film footage of him cavorting with tigers in pools at the "Jungle Palace" Siegfried & Roy once shared north of Vegas Drive near Decatur Boulevard.

Fischbacher now lives in Spanish Trail, while Horn divides his time between the Jungle Palace and "Little Bavaria," a larger spread near the Santa Fe.