It had earlier been reported that Cowell came very close to being paralysed in the fall which happened in the courtyard of his home in the presence of his son Eric, six, and stepson Adam, 14.
It’s believed his girlfriend and mother of his son Eric, Lauren Silverman, 43, had been able to visit him in the hospital.
A friend of the family told MailOnline that Cowell was in ‘shock and massive amounts of pain’ after the accident.
‘Lauren went with him to the hospital and has been allowed in briefly to see him. He’s doing OK in the circumstances,’ the insider said.
A source told The Mirror: ‘Simon fell flat on his back and the doctors say the impact missed his spinal cord by about a centimetre and it could have been a lot, lot more serious.’
Discussing the TV star’s recovery, another source told The Sun Simon had suffered ‘three breaks in his back’ and it could take ‘several weeks’ before it is known if Simon will have any long-lasting effects from the fall.
They said: ‘It’ll be several weeks for the bruising and swelling to go down and then we’ll know how serious the lasting effects could be.
‘He’s lucky to be even in the state he is in with a metal rod in his back and multiple breaks… He could have been looking at a life in a wheelchair.’
Sources told MailOnline he did not lose consciousness after the fall and was able to chat from his hospital bed – even asking for his iPad before surgery in order to keep up with messages and emails.
