"Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius is in good spirits as he recovers from surgery after his boating accident, Milpark Hospital said yesterday.

"Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius is in good spirits as he recovers from surgery after his boating accident, Milpark Hospital said yesterday.

"He is doing well," said the hospital's spokesperson Amelda Swartz.

Pistorius was rushed to hospital after a boating accident on the Vaal River on Saturday and had to have surgery on a cheek bone. He will probably remain in the trauma care unit to recover from the maxillofacial procedure, until at least tomorrow.

Then he will be transferred to a general ward and, if all goes well, will go home on Friday.

"I chatted to him this morning and obviously he is very sore and very bruised, but he is chatty and grateful," said Swartz.

Phone calls for the athlete and requests to visit him were coming in thick and fast, with the hospital limiting his visitors to four close friends or family so that he can rest, and to abide by infection control rules.

Even rugby hero Bryan Habana had to leave a note when he went to visit him. Pistorius was born without his fibulas and had to have both legs amputated below the knee when he was 11-months-old.

He astounded the world with speeds he could reach as a sprinter with the help of carbon-fibre prosthetics, running close to the times of top able-bodied athletes.

But at the same time, the International Association of Athletics Federations raised concerns over a possible unfair advantage from the "blades".

Pistorius has won gold medals at the 2008 Paralympics in the 100m, 200m and 400m sprints (class T44). He also holds the world record in all three events. - Sapa