It was on Roy Horn's 59th birthday, on October 3, 2003, that the magician was mauled by a tiger on-stage during that night's performance of their long-running show at The Mirage.
It was just after Mantecore Fischbacher Horn, a seven-year-old white tiger in the show, had been introduced by the Horn, that the animal first bit him on the arm and then dragged him off-stage by the neck. To this day, Roy maintains that he was having a mini-stroke and that the tiger saved his life. Audience members, however, sat in shock as they watched events unfold. Amy Sherman, who was sitting in the front row with her mother, about 10 yards away from the stage, described how, "The tiger kind of turned its head and bit him on the arm," Sherman said. "Roy started taking a microphone and started whopping the tiger on the head." Trainers attempted to subdue the Tiger, as it dragged Roy behind the curtain. "We just heard all this commotion behind the curtain and you could hear Roy scream. Everyone at our table was kind of looking at each other, like 'Oh my God,'" she said.
The magicians refused to have Mantecore euthanized and the tiger lived on to the age of 17, dying earlier this year after an illness. Roy, meanwhile, had suffered major blood loss and went "code blue" three times on the night of the attack, necessitating the removal of a quarter of his skull. The tiger crushed the illusionist's windpipe and damaged an artery carrying oxygen to the brain, leaving him partially paralyzed, but definitely alive, contrary to some rumors that circulated. As he later stated in a rare interview with the local Las Vegas Weekly, "The news about my death has been greatly exaggerated. I feel I am a very good-looking corpse."
More than a decade on, and a great deal of tough, relentless rehabilitation later (he complained to TV host Pat O'Brien how, "They are slave drivers over there. You'd think they are the KGB from Russia."), Roy's recovery has been pretty miraculous. He returned to his native Germany to undergo a form of stem cell therapy, which apparently had positive results. Today, he remains partially paralyzed but is able to walk, swim, work out, and go shopping, although we understand that he remains reliant on Siegfried to do many things for him. The duo still make occasional public appearances (notably for the annual keg-tapping event at Las Vegas' Hofbrauhaus and for downtown's Great Santa Run). By 2009 he was even able to join both Siegfried and Mantecore on stage for on one final appearance as a benefit for the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute (recorded for broadcast on ABC television's "20/20" program).
Today, he spends most of his time relaxing at the 100-acre animal kingdom that he and Siegfried created a quarter-century ago. "I'm very grateful, every day, for every breath I'm taking," he confided to writer LV Sun entertainment columnist John Katsilometes. "That is my message to anyone who has had a stroke or a heart attack. Keep moving. Make progress. Pull yourself together, because you can do it." As fellow magician and friend Penn Jillette commented at the time of the accident, "[Roy is a] very, very strong guy. I mean his strength is breathtaking."
