A leading British comedian has put up a surprise show for a victim of the Mumbai terrorist attacks whose serious injuries prevented him from attending a pre-booked performance.
British tourist Will Pike broke three of his vertebrae, both his arms and pelvis when he his makeshift rope from bedsheets gave way during an attempt to escape the attack at Taj Mahal hotel.
Confined to a south London hospital, he had to give up his tickets for a performance of the popular comedian Eddie Izzard, prompting his father to write to Izzard if he would send a note to cheer up Pike.
Izzard, according to the Times newspaper on Thursday, did much more. The cross-dressing comedian surprised Pike in his specialist hospital room and performed his entire 90-minute, sell-out show.
Caught in the November terrorist attack, Will Pike and his girlfriend Delly Doyle initially hid in the bathroom of their third floor room in Taj. Doyle told reporters later, “Will was saying, 'This is it, this is it'. We were hugging and saying, 'I love you'.”
Pike then made a rope out of bedsheets, curtain and towels, and climbed down first to test it, but it gave way just 10 feet into the 60 feet descent. Doyle was rescued by a fire engine soon after his fall.
The Times quoted Pike as saying, “Clearly I never did my Boy Scout knot badge because my knots were rubbish.”
{{/usCountry}}The Times quoted Pike as saying, “Clearly I never did my Boy Scout knot badge because my knots were rubbish.”
{{/usCountry}}His father Nigel Pike said Izzard's surprise performance was a “great thing to do.”