Madonna Recovering After Riding Accident
Pop star Madonna was recovering on Wednesday after suffering several broken bones in a riding accident, but the injuries were not expected to delay the launch of her new album due out in November.
The singer cracked three ribs and broke her collar bone and a hand when she fell off her horse on Tuesday at her 1,200-acre English country estate, Ashcombe House.
She had been celebrating her 47th birthday with husband Guy Ritchie and two children Lourdes and Rocco.
“She is recovering at home,” spokeswoman Barbara Charone said.
Reporters at the estate said they were told by ground staff later on Wednesday that Madonna had left Ashcombe House by helicopter, but this could not be immediately confirmed.
The $16 million property is located near the village of Tollard Royal, around 100 miles southwest of London.
Madonna’s New York publicist said the American artist, famous around the world for hits including “Material Girl” and “Like a Virgin,” was riding a new horse at the time of the fall.
She was treated at a local hospital in Salisbury and later discharged.
The Mirror tabloid quoted one onlooker as saying: “She was clearly in agony and was in floods of tears.”
BUSY TIME
Madonna is due to release a new album “Confessions on a Dancefloor” in November. Charone said she did not expect Madonna’s injuries to affect the launch or promotion of the record.
“As far as I know, nothing’s been affected,” Charone said.
Madonna has sold more than 150 million albums worldwide, and was placed eighth in the last Forbes magazine celebrity power ranking published in June. She has also written several children’s books.
Ritchie, director of the hit London gangster movie “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” is expected to release his next movie “Revolver” in September.
Medical experts said it would take up to eight weeks for Madonna to recover from her injuries.
“These are incredibly common injuries for people who fall off horses,” said Professor Chris Moran of the Queen’s Medical Center in Nottingham.
“Rib fractures are very painful but usually heal very quickly. The pain goes in four to six weeks.”
He added that Madonna may need to undergo physiotherapy to get full movement back in her hand, and could have a wait of up to eight weeks for her collar bone to heal.
“But generally people who are fit and well-motivated will do well.”
Madonna has been an avid fan of English country life since marrying Ritchie, and the couple bought the picturesque 18th century mansion Ashcombe House in 2001.