Johannesburg Oscar Pistorius, the Paralympic athlete jailed for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, was rushed to hospital on Saturday after injuring his wrists in his prison cell.
The 29-year-old double-amputee summoned warders to his cell in the hospital wing of his Pretoria prison with a distress call. He told them he had fallen out of bed.
Pistorius was checked by the prison's medical staff, then taken to a nearby hospital where he was treated under heavy guard then returned to prison on Saturday evening.
Two hospital security guards told South Africa's City Press newspaper Pistorius seemed in a serious condition when he arrived.
"He had bad cuts on his wrists and the doctors kept wrapping bandages around them," one reportedly said.
The paper also reported the claim by two prison warders with knowledge of the hospital wing where Pistorius has been billeted in a single cell, that "blades" had been found after the incident.
Manelisi Wolela, a spokesman for the prison service, said the athlete had "minor injuries on his wrists".
"Oscar Pistorius denied speculations of a suicide attempt," Mr Wolela said.
Carl Pistorius, the athlete's brother, said he and his brother's girlfriend Jenna Edkins had been to visit Pistorius on Sunday and speculation he had tried to harm himself was "completely untrue and sensational".
"Jenna and I have just seen Oscar and he is doing well given the circumstances. He was in good spirit," he said.
"He slipped in his cell and injured himself, nothing serious," he said.
Arnold Pistorius, the athlete's uncle in whose upmarket Pretoria villa the athlete was living on parole before he was jailed in July said he had "a couple of bruises, no plasters or bandages".
"He was joking how he slipped on the wet floor, while on his stumps, grabbed the small cabinet on wheels to balance, but it also slipped away and he fell," he said.
A prison source also suggested that the injury had been an accident, caused by the runner losing his balance on his stumps while under the influence of a sleeping pill.
"He got up in the night to use the toilet in his cell. He claims he slipped in some leaked water, lost his balance and fell against a drawer, cutting his lower forearm, and also hit his head," the source told MailOnline.
"His injuries were inspected by a nurse on the hospital wing and it was decided that he should go to hospital and be checked out.
"The worry was mainly for the impact to his head."
Singabakho Nxumalo, another prison service spokesman, said the hospital check included a scan for internal injuries as a "precaution", but would not confirm a head injury.
He said an internal investigator had been assigned to establish what happened. He confirmed that there had been no third party involvement.
"He is in a hospital wing of the prison in a single cell and is closely monitored," he said.
Pistorius' cell has been raided several times during his incarceration.
Three weeks ago, prison warders reportedly discovered unauthorised medication, said to be anti-depressant pills, and a pair of scissors.
Mr Nxumalo declined to identify the nature of the "contraband" found in the cell but confirmed that it had been confiscated.
Oscar Pistorius was jailed for six years in July for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp by firing four bullets through a locked lavatory door on St Valentine's Day 2013.
He was originally jailed for manslaughter and served one year before being released on parole, but his conviction was upgraded on appeal and he was returned to prison in July.
Two weeks ago, the state said it would appeal again, arguing that six years for taking a life deliberately was "shockingly lenient".
A psychologist told his sentencing hearing in June that the depression, anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder he had suffered from since the shooting.
His trial heard that he was a suicide risk but the risk was lessened by his close family ties and devout Christianity.
His injury came on the same day as the Olympics opening ceremony in Brazil, a tournament in which the Blade Runner would have competed in his former life.
A four-times Paralympic winner, he also won a court battle to become the first double-amputee athlete to compete with able-bodied runners at the Olympic games in London in 2012.
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