Orlando Bloom Thankful for Back Breaking Scare 5/19/07

British actor Orlando Bloom is glad he broke his back in 1999 - because the accident made him realize how lucky he was to be alive.

The Pirates Of The Caribbean star, 30, recalls how terrified he was when doctors warned he may be paralyzed from the waist down, after falling from a roof when he was 22.

But Bloom is thankful for the scare, because now he has learnt to appreciate all the good things in life.

He says, "I broke my back and they said I'd never walk again. The damage was very near my spinal cord but they managed to put me back together and, 12 days later, I walked out of the hospital on crutches.

"It was a scary episode but it was also a blessing in disguise because at the time everything was going really well and I wasn't really appreciating it."