A paparazzo who was beaten and left with a broken arm after taking pictures of Hollywood stars Margot Robbie and Cara Delevingne in Argentina has claimed it is a ‘miracle’ he survived the attack.
Pedro Alberto Orquera was attacked by British film producer Josey MacNamara and key man Jac Hopkins, who took care of the paparazzo when they saw him snapping pictures of their star friends dining at a celebrity restaurant in Buenos Aires in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The pair reportedly chased Orquera down outside the restaurant and slammed him to the concrete before trying to smash the paparazzo’s camera.
Orquera, who suffered multiple cuts and broke his arm in the attack, told the Argentine magazine TN that he was able to protect his equipment and the prized shots he had taken, but at a considerable cost.
“I suffered a brutal aggression… My life was saved by a miracle, I don’t know what would have happened if I fell headfirst to the ground, at the speed that those people were chasing after me,” said the photojournalist .
‘They never took my material from me… when I fell to the ground [the camera] was smashed but I was able to save the material.’
MacNamara and Hopkins were arrested by police and taken in for questioning after the act of aggression, while Robbie and Delevingne fled the scene.
Orquera, meanwhile, was placed in a neck brace and taken to the nearby Argerich Hospital in the Argentine capital, where he remains after initial treatment and awaits surgery on his broken arm.
He told TN that his arm was seriously injured and it is unknown if he will regain full use of the limb.
“I have a cast on my right arm, my arm is very compromised and I don’t know if I’m going to lose it,” he claimed.
Cara Delevingne (left) and Margot Robbie (right) pictured together at the Samsung Experience at San Diego Comic-Con in 2016
Josey MacNamara and Margot Robbie photographed at the Oscars in Los Angeles last April
Photographer Pedro Alberto Orquera suffered a broken arm during the incident and is now awaiting surgery
Margot Robbie is pictured in Argentina on Friday 30 September – two days before the attack on Orquera
The A-list actresses had gotten into a car outside Argentine celebrity chef Francis Mallmann’s restaurant around 3am on Sunday morning when the incident with Orquera took place.
The photojournalist’s presence angered MacNamara and Hopkins, who chased after him and eventually caught up with the fleeing paparazzo, knocking him off balance and sending him crashing to the ground.
The impact of the fall shattered his right arm and he sustained a number of lacerations.
“I started running away from them because they were hitting me,” Orquera told The Sun. ‘As I was running away from them they kicked me so hard that my camera blew up and I fell to the floor and hurt my arm.’
Witnesses are believed to have called emergency services when the row broke out after it became clear that Orquera had sustained a nasty injury.
Police meanwhile took the British filmmakers in for questioning, after which they appeared in court on orders from the prosecution for causing ‘serious harm’.
A police report seen by The sun shows that MacNamara and Hopkins told the officers that Orquera was ‘responsible for her own injuries’ because the two actresses had not consented to being pictured.
Robbie and Delevingne, meanwhile, chose to leave the filmmakers behind, flying to the south of Argentina just hours after the attack took place.
Orquera plans to file a lawsuit against his attackers, alleging that the injuries he suffered as a result of their aggression will prevent him from being able to work.
‘The most unfortunate thing [about the attack] is that it leaves me immobile, unable to work or move,’ Orquera said.
“I won’t be able to do any work anymore and I don’t know if I’ll get my arm back the way it should be.”
MailOnline has approached Robbie and Delevingne for comment on the alleged incident.
Orquera was attacked after he was seen taking pictures of Robbie and Delevingne as they left the Patagonia Sur restaurant (pictured) early on Sunday morning
The actresses are believed to have finished a meal at the Patagonia Sur restaurant (pictured) in Buenos Aires before the attack
Margot Robbie was seen on the verge of tears as she left a West Hollywood home in September just hours after meeting Cara Delevingne in Los Angeles. It comes amid rumors that Delevingne is experiencing health problems after a series of absences from major events and erratic behavior
The stars reportedly became close in 2016 while working on the DC comics-inspired Suicide Squad movie, with Robbie, 32, gaining considerable notoriety for her portrayal of the furious Harley Quinn, while Delevingne played a character called Enchantress.
The couple had traveled to Argentina after attending Paris Fashion Week events early last week, and Robbie was spotted in Argentina on Friday, stopping to take photos with some fans.
The attack on Orquera during the stars’ stay in Argentina comes less than a month after Robbie was pictured leaving her close friend’s West Hollywood home, apparently in tears, amid rumors that British supermodel Delevingne was struggling with health problems.
Delevingne, 30, failed to appear at the launch of her fashion collection honoring the late designer Karl Lagerfeld, which was held at the chic restaurant Saga in New York City’s financial district in early September.
Delevingne was also not present at the Emmy Awards on September 13, where her co-stars in the series Only Murders in the Building were nominated for a number of awards.
This was told by a source close to the Delevingne family The sun that the star was struggling and had been ‘burning the candle at both ends’ of late.