‘Siegfried & Roy’ Co-Star Says Show Will Go On
BERLIN (Reuters) – The co-star of the Las Vegas duo “Siegfried & Roy” said in an interview Wednesday their show would go on despite his partner’s severe mauling by a tiger.
Siegfried Fischbacher, whose partner Roy Horn was mauled on Friday, told Germany’s Bild newspaper Horn had given him a V-for-victory sign when he visited him, although doctors say it is unclear if the performer will make a full recovery.
The German-born duo’s popular “Siegfried & Roy” act would continue, Fischbacher told Bild.
“I’m sure he’s going to make a complete recovery,” said the 64-year-old illusionist. “He’s over the worst. When I went to visit Roy he gave me the victory sign.”
Fischbacher said that he and Roy, who was born in the northern German town of Nordenham, were not quitters and that they would come back fighting.
“What happened does not mean it’s ended,” Fischbacher told Bild. “Our show will go on. We’ve always been fighters. The history of ‘Siegfried & Roy’ is nowhere near its conclusion.”
Horn’s doctor, neurosurgeon Derek Duke, said in a statement in Las Vegas that it was still too early to say whether the performer would fully recovery from the attack.
“Mr. Horn’s injury was extremely severe, and it is all but miraculous that he is alive at this time,” Duke said, crediting Horn’s “extraordinary will and strong physical attributes.”
“While we are very pleased with his progress, Mr. Horn is in critical condition and it will be quite some time before the extent of his recovery is known,” he said. “Every day that passes increases his chance for survival and recovery.”
Fischbacher told Bild that America’s best surgeons were treating Roy, 59, who had been in a critical condition after being bitten on the neck and dragged offstage Friday by a seven-year-old, 600-pound white tiger called Montecore.
Members of the show, which had run around 5,700 times previously without serious mishap, had said that the show would be closed down after the incident, probably for good.
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