Richard Lugner is in hospital after falling

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Baulöwe and Society Star: Richard Lugner (archive image)

The Austrian contractor Richard Lugner is seriously injured in hospital after a fall. As the Austrian media unanimously report, the 87-year-old broke his thigh joint capsule in a fall in the bathroom and has to lie in bed for weeks.

"I have to lie still for a month and not even go to the toilet," Lugner told the Austrian news agency APA. "I'm not doing all that well." He was only allowed to receive visits from his daughter occasionally, more was not allowed.

Last Friday he slipped on the floor freshly mopped by his housekeeper on the way to the toilet, Lugner told several media outlets by phone from the sickbed. "At first I thought everything was okay and went to bed. Then it got worse and worse," he told the newspaper "Kurier". An ambulance then took him to the hospital. He should therefore initially not be operated on, the hernia should heal on its own with bed rest.

The ex-builder Richard "Mörtel" Lugner is also known beyond Austria as a society star. Every year there is a lot of fuss about who accompanies him as a female star guest to the Vienna Opera Ball. Goldie Hawn, Kim Kardashian, Pamela Anderson and Sophia Loren have been among his guests in the past few decades.

fek / lmd / dpa