Posted on: Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Roy Horn to share 'miracle' of survival
By Adam Goldman
Associated Press
Roy Horn has never spoken publicly about the incident in which a 380-pound white tiger named Montecore nearly mauled him to death.
So when NBC airs the special "Siegfried & Roy: The Miracle" tonight, viewers will hear Horn for the first time and see his battle to regain his motor skills after the tiger attack — and subsequent stroke — left him in a wheelchair.
In his own words, Raff said, Horn will attempt to answer what happened that terrifying night during a live performance at The Mirage hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip. He'll be interviewed by Maria Shriver in one of her first TV assignments since becoming California's first lady.
NBC The special probably won't include the closely guarded footage of the Oct. 3 accident that was taped by Feld Entertainment, the company that produced the wildly popular Siegfried & Roy show. Feld fears the tape would "would quickly end up in the hands of media who would then sensationalize this horrible tragedy."
Raff said he pieced together the events leading up to the mauling and the dramatic days that came after it.
The special includes interviews with some of the audience members and show staff who witnessed the attack, as well as the paramedics who treated Horn in those first crucial minutes.
The show was filmed over several months, mostly in Las Vegas, where Horn and Shriver, a longtime friend of Horn's, visit a caged Montecore.
Shriver said Horn is doing remarkably better, but it's not clear if he'll ever perform again. There's no talk of reviving the Siegfried & Roy show, which featured Horn and his partner, Siegfried Fischbacher. Both, however, are involved in NBC's new animated show "Father of the Pride."
"That's been the remarkable part of this thing," said Jason Raff, the show's executive producer and director. "He really let us in to see the good days and bad days. I believe they gave us an unprecedented look."
'Siegfried & Roy: The Miracle'
But viewers shouldn't expect the definitive account. As Shriver noted, "No one is 100 percent sure what happened that night."
Roy Horn, left, was near death after a white tiger mauled him during an Oct. 3 show with his partner, Siegfried Fischbacher.
