Apr 30, 2006, 0:50 GMT
Wellington - Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards is recovering at an Auckland hospital after reportedly falling out of a palm tree at a private island resort in Fiji, news reports said Sunday.
A spokeswoman for the band confirmed that Richards, 62, was in hospital and told Radio New Zealand he had suffered a mild concussion in an accident in Fiji, but would not say how he was injured.
The Sunday Star-Times said it understood Richards was conscious and mobile and had not had surgery in the Mercy-Ascot Hospital where he was taken after a 3-1/2 hour emergency flight from Fiji on Thursday.
The newspaper said he was examined by a neurosurgeon and orthopaedic specialist and was understood to have had brain scans in what it described as 'top secret treatment.'
He had been kept in hospital as a precaution and could be well enough to leave early in the week, the paper said.
It quoted a visitor to the hospital as saying Richards was sitting up in bed Saturday night wearing a colourful striped beanie (hat) with his wife, former fashion model Patti Hansen, at his side.
Richards was said to have hired his own security guards and the hospital has refused to confirm that he is a patient.
The Star Times quoted Dr Uzzal Kanti Dhar, of a private hospital in the Fiji capital Suva, as saying Richards was admitted there on Thursday after being flown from the Wakaya Club resort.
'I understand he climbed a coconut tree and fell from the tree and got injured,' he said.
The paper said the decision to evacuate Richards came after he developed a serious headache following the fall and was involved in a jet-ski accident.
After being examined at the Suva Private Hospital, he was flown to Auckland for further treatment.
Richards was holidaying in Fiji after the Rolling Stones' tour of Australia and New Zealand.
The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia reported that fellow Stones member Ron Wood was climbing the tree with Richards when he slipped and hit his head.
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