Today’s Photo Friday is entitled: Unlucky!

Follow the links below for other entries (I will add links as entries come in!):

Tall Chick Tales

Idea Jump!

CordieB: 

(CodieB didn’t enter this week but each and everyone of us should read why. She is the voice of us all)

Blahblahblog – Lou is away for a while but this is a post in absentia.

Friday the 13th! So I just had to pick UNLUCKY as our Photo Friday title although I am not superstitious myself. Having said that I don’t walk under ladders, I cross my fingers for luck, and frequently say, “touch wood” – LOL! Anyway, today I wanted to tell you about a really unlucky (and tragic) event that P and I observed happening. Although I am glad to say the recipient of the bad luck did survive – although his life has never been the same since.

We were in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2003 when we witnessed the incredibly UNLUCKY incident. We had decided to go and see an amazing illusionist team performing at the MGM Mirage Hotel; Mr. Roy Horn and his longtime partner, Siegfried Fischbacher - performing as Siegfried & Roy with their exotic white tigers, they were one of Las Vegas’s top three attractions at the time.

I don’t usually go in for any entertainment which uses animals – I don’t visit zoos, I don’t go to the circus either, because I don’t like to think that animals are being used for human entertainment. My feelings are that they should be allowed to lead the life they were meant to have – and even if protected and in captivity they should be provided with conditions that reflect their need for space and dignity. However, because Siegfried and Roy efforts with white tigers have brought the species back from the brink of total extinction and they are properly cared for, I made an exception to my usual rule. The renowned illusionists had created an open-air home for white tigers, enabling the public to share the conservation work in preserving the endangered species. The multi-million dollar environment is the first permanent showcase for the exotic animals since they were spotted 200 years ago at the foot of the Himalayas.

By 2003 Siegfried and Roy had previously taken part with the tigers in 30,000 performances over many years. Their act was considered family entertainment and had always gone smoothly without a hitch – until that fateful unlucky night when a 7 year old white tiger named Montecore lunged at Horn’s neck and dragged him off stage like a rag doll. The audience clapped, thinking it was an illusion , that it was all part of the act. Only it wasn’t.

The tiger was on a short leash; he dragged Horn to the ground and they struggled before the tiger finally dragged him behind a curtain by his neck. There was a huge commotion behind the curtain and you could hear Roy’s screams. After about a minute Siegfried appeared on stage, white faced and clearly shaken, and said, ‘I’m sorry but the show is over.” Only then did the audience realise that it was not part of the act, it was for real.

Apparently, had it not been for the swift action of a backstage crew member spraying the tiger with a fire extinguisher, Horn would not have survived. His actions forced the tiger to loose it’s grip. Horn suffered severe blood loss, followed by a stroke which left him partially paralysed. His life hung in the balance for many weeks before his survival was assured.

At later interviews, after he had recovered, Horn said that the tiger had tried to move him out of danger after he had fainted onstage. “It was an accident,” Horn said. “Montecore understood the signals and wanted to save me.”  Only, unluckily for Horn the tiger’s teeth bit into his carotid artery resulting in the illusionist being clinically dead for a minute after the attack. Now that’s what I call UNLUCKY.

I was not allowed to die just yet, because my wings for being an angel were not quite ready – Roy Horn

~

“UNLUCKY”

The latest news on Siegfried and Roy ( 13th June 2008 )

And the good old days before the attack!

 Next week’s Photo Friday (20th June) title is: Midsummer Night’s Dream!  (photographic manipulation, use of photographic gadgets and digital trickery is all par for the course!)

See below: Please leave the title of your choice in the comments asap and I’ll insert them in so all can see!

27th June: Tina’s Choice: Sunrise/ Sunset

4th July: CuriousC’s choice: Traditions

11th July: CordieB’s choice

18th July: Julie’s choice