Man rescued after being trapped for three days in Samui jungle is British TV star

A man who was trapped in the jungle on Koh Samui for three days has been identified as British TV personality Paul Nicholls.

The ex-Eastenders star had been trekking near Khun Si Falls when he fell and became trapped between rocks.

He was left stranded for three days before being rescued.

Speaking to the The Sun, Paul said: “I am lucky to be alive.

“I had a phone with me but I fell from such a height into the water it was irretrievable.

“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.”

The Sun reports how Nicholls had hired a motorbike under his real name of Gerrard Paul Greenhalgh and went off exploring the jungle when the accident happened.

After being rescued Paul was sent to hospital on Koh Samui, but his problems didn’t end there.

A source close to Paul says he now faces huge medical bills following the accident, with a local hospital demanding 13,000 GBP, approximately 570,000 THB per night, forcing him to be transferred to another hospital.

The source said: “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.”

“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.”

Paul shot to fame in the 1990’s after starring as Joe Wicks in the popular British soap Eastenders.

He also appeared in a Bridget Jones movie and has starred in Law and Order: UK and Holby City.

Paul has previously spoken publicly about his battles with alcohol and drugs.

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