Roy Horn says tiger was trying to help him

Roy Horn of Las Vegas-based magic act Siegfried and Roy, who was mauled and dragged from the stage by his white tiger during a show last October, said in an interview to be aired on Thursday that the animal was actually trying to help him. Speaking to German broadcaster RTL, German-born Roy Horn said the tiger, called Montecore, was trying to stop him from falling over onstage after he suffered a dizzy spell. "It was an accident. Montecore understood the signals and wanted to save me," the illusionist and animal trainer said, adding, "It was unfortunate that his teeth hit my carotid artery." Horn, who has performed with his partner, Siegfried Fischbacher, glitzy shows for over 40 years that have included animals such as white tigers, insisted Montecore not be destroyed and has already visited the animal since his release from hospital just before Christmas. Horn, who was clinically dead for about a minute, told RTL about the experience: "I saw flashing bright lights and my mother. My beloved animals were lying at her feet." He had a simple explanation for his brush with death on his 59th birthday: "I was not allowed to die just yet, because my wings for being an angel were not quite ready."