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   EX-EastEnder Paul Nicholls was in hospital last night after plummeting from a jungle waterfall and spending three days trapped in a rock pool with a smashed leg. 
   
   The star, 38 — who played Joe Wicks in the BBC soap and also appeared in ITV’s Law & Order: UK — only survived thanks to a sharp-eyed Thai local. 
   
   Emergency services rescue Paul Nicholls after he was trapped for three days in a Thai jungle 
   
   When Paul was found he was semi-conscious and had hypothermia 
   
   The villager spotted a seemingly abandoned motorbike the actor had used to travel to the remote beauty spot on the island of Koh Samui. 
   
   Cops were alerted and a huge search launched after they discovered the Brit had hired the bike and gone missing. 
   
   Rescue teams spent hours hacking through undergrowth before finding him. 
   
   He was semi-conscious and had hypothermia after three days in agony at the foot of the Khun Si falls. 
   
   He was unable to climb out of the water because of a busted right leg. 
   
   The jungle there is infested with snakes, mosquitoes, spiders and leeches. 
   
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   Nicholls made his EastEnders debut in 1996 as character Joe Wicks 
   
   Not known refer to copyright holder Paul has most recently appeared in the Channel 4 TV show - Ackley Bridge 
   
   Hospital medics on the island last night described the actor as seriously ill after he contracted a bug during his hell. 
   
   Nicholls was able to tell The Sun: “I am lucky to be alive. 
   
   “I had a phone with me but I fell from such a height into the water it was unretrievable. 
   
   “It took such a long time to find me. It’s an understatement to say it wasn’t a great situation. It wasn’t that I was lost. 
   
   “The problem was I couldn’t move to get out of there. 
   
   “I’ve got a broken leg and I’m missing a kneecap. It needs complete reconstruction.” 
   
   ​Ex-EastEnder ​Paul Nicholls ​is rescued in Thailand after falling off a waterfall 
   
   Paul had been was unable to climb out of the water because of a busted right leg 
   
   Hospital medics on the island last night described the actor as seriously ill following him contracting a bug 
   
   It took the crew two hours to haul Paul up a steep path to the nearest village 
   
   Dramatic video of the star’s rescue, obtained exclusively by The Sun, shows him apparently delirious and crying out in pain. 
   
   Emergency teams are seen stretchering him to safety after applying a crude tourniquet to his leg. 
   
   It was unclear why he fell. Local sources fear he was trying to take a selfie. 
   
   He had hired the motorbike under his real name Gerrard Paul Greenhalgh and rode alone to the falls rarely visited by locals. 
   
   The emergency team had to apply a crude tourniquet to Paul's leg before they moved him 
   
   Luckily a villager spotted the motorbike the actor had used to travel to the remote beauty spot on the island of Koh Samui 
   
   The bike was spotted by someone from the nearby village of Mae Nam. It was on a track leading to the falls. 
   
   Last month American tourist Geoffrey Maui, 28, died after falling at the same revered site. 
   
   Locals said he had been punished for insulting spirits by urinating there. 
   
   Starving Nicholls had eaten nothing for three days when rescuers found him. 
   
   Just last month American tourist Geoffrey Maui died after falling at the same revered site 
   
   Paul was found at the foot of the Khun Si falls 
   
   He was hooked to a drip before being hauled up a steep path to the nearest village. It took two more hours for him to reach International Koh Samui Hospital. 
   
   Last night his nightmare was compounded by medics there having demanded £13,000 a night to treat him — forcing him to transfer to another hospital. 
   
   The actor had flown to Thailand a week ago. 
   
   A source close to him confirmed: “He was out there by himself because he was between filming. 
   
   “He needs surgery. But it’s going to cost £90,000 for him to have it in Thailand. 
   
   Paul was originally taken to the International Koh Samui Hospital 
   
   “The British Embassy want to fly him back here. They need to fly him to the mainland first to a proper hospital and then decide whether to bring him back to the UK or do the surgery there.” 
   
   Nicholls made his EastEnders debut in 1996. 
   
   His character Joe Wicks suffered from schizophrenia. 
   
   During his time on the soap the actor dated co-stars Martine McCutcheon and Danniella Westbrook. 
   
   He also had high-profile battles with booze and drugs. 
   
   He quit the soap in 1997 and went on to appear in films including Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. 
   
   PA:Press Association One of Paul’s biggest story lines in Eastenders was when he was diagnosed with schizophrenia 
   
   In 2015, after splitting from his model wife Chantal Brown, he was photographed smoking a crack pipe on a friend’s sofa. 
   
   Pals say he has since managed to get his life back on track. ||||| This article is over 1 year old 
   
   Ex-EastEnders and Bridget Jones actor found semi-conscious after fall at Khun Si left him stuck in a rock pool with a damaged leg 
   
   Actor Paul Nicholls rescued after three days trapped at foot of Thai waterfall 
   
   A British actor who worked on EastEnders and Channel 4 drama Ackley Bridge has been rescued three days after falling from the top of a jungle waterfall and smashing his leg on the Thai island of Koh Samui. 
   
   Paul Nicholls, 38, was found in agony at the base of Khun Si falls after a local spotted his abandoned rental motorbike, which police traced to his real name – Gerrard Paul Greenhalgh – prompting a search. 
   
   He was found partially submerged in a rock pool, semi-conscious and with hypothermia, unable to move to safety or find food. 
   
   “I am lucky to be alive,” Nicholls said, according to the Sun. “It took such a long time to find me. It’s an understatement to say it wasn’t a great situation … The problem was I couldn’t move to get out of there. 
   
   “I had a phone with me but I fell from such a height into the water it was unretrievable.” 
   
   
   
   Nicholls said his kneecap was destroyed in the fall and would need a complete reconstruction. 
   
   It took two hours for emergency services to get him to International Koh Samui hospital, the Sun reported, adding that Nicholls’ medical bills will run into tens of thousands of pounds. 
   
   Last month American tourist Geoffrey Maui, 28, died after falling at the same waterfall. 
   
   Nicholls debuted in EastEnders in 1996 as Joe Wicks. He quit the soap a year later and has since worked on City Central, Holby City, Secret Diary of a Call Girl and Law & Order. He also acted in the 2004 film, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.
target: – British actor Paul Nicholls spent a decidedly unglamorous three days at the bottom of a Thai waterfall before being rescued this week, the Guardian reports. Nicholls, former star of British soap opera EastEnders who went on to star in a Bridget Jones film among other things, fell from the top of the remote Khun Si falls on the island of Koh Samui, reports the Sun, which has photos and videos of his rescue. He ended up in a rock pool, unable to move because he'd hurt his leg. He was semi-conscious and had hypothermia when rescuers found him, having been alerted to the fact that he rented a motorbike and then went missing. He also contracted some sort of illness during his time in the jungle and was said to be sick in the hospital, but was able to tell the Sun he is "lucky to be alive." He says he broke his leg and will need a complete knee reconstruction.