Keef hurt getting out of his tree

by DENNIS RICE and JAMES TAPPER, Mail on Sunday

Last updated at 12:34 30 April 2006


Rolling Stone Keith Richards was given a brain scan in New Zealand after falling out of a palm tree while holidaying on an exclusive island in Fiji.

The millionaire guitarist - known as Keef to his fans - suffered a head injury and was taken to Auckland on a private jet following the accident at the luxury Club Resort on Wakaya.

He had been staying on the island with his wife Patti Hansen and their close friends, fellow Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood and his wife Jo.

Richards, 62, is understood to have hurt himself when he and Wood decided to climb the same coconut palm.

The reformed heroin addict and one-time hellraiser - who still smokes and drinks - was halfway up the 15ft tree when he slipped and fell, hitting his head.

According to reports last night, he was still being treated at Auckland's private Ascot Hospital, with Patti at his bedside.

Asked about his condition, hospital spokesman Steve Kirby said: "We do not discuss our patients."

A friend said yesterday that Keith was still waiting to be given the all-clear.

"I've been told it is probably just something mild but we can't yet rule out that it is not something more serious," he added.

"It all depends on the outcome of the tests."

The Stones' management remained tight-lipped about the circumstances which led to the accident, while insisting Keith had suffered only "mild concussion".

According to the band's publicist: "Earlier this week Rolling Stone Keith Richards suffered mild concussion while on holiday in Fiji.

"Following treatment locally and as a precautionary measure, he flew to a hospital accompanied by his wife Patti for observation."

Richards is understood to have tumbled from the tree on Wednesday but declined to go to hospital until their week-long holiday came to an end on Friday.

Fiji's £ 900- a- night Wakaya Club Resort is a favoured holiday destination for Pierce Brosnan, Bill Gates, Michelle Pfeiffer, Celine Dion and Nicole Kidman.

Keith and Ronnie had gone there with their wives to recuperate after the latest leg of the band's A Bigger Bang world tour ended in Wellington , New Zealand, a fortnight ago.

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