Malaysia’s former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad says he lost control of his limbs after suffering a bad fall earlier this year, likening it to having no legs.

Mr Mahathir, 100, said on a podcast shared on his Instagram page on Tuesday that he fell on 6 January and suffered a hip fracture and a head injury.

The former prime minister, who served from 1981 to 2002 and again from 2018 to 2020, opened up about the mishap that left him with significant injuries requiring urgent treatment.

“I just lost control of my legs before I fell,” he said, adding that he was treated for his injuries for over three months before being discharged in March.

“They tried to reduce the pain but it was difficult. Only after a few days did the pain begin to lessen, although it was still there,” the former leader said, explaining that the fracture occurred at the joint between the leg bone and the hip.

Speaking about his recovery, Mr Mahathir said while he had regained the ability to stand, he still found it difficult to control leg movements.

“My leg has healed and I can stand. But I still can’t control my legs. It feels like I don’t have legs,” he said.

His extended stay in hospital had caused major public concern in the country.

Mr Mahathir has been known for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. He has previously attributed his longevity to neither smoking nor overeating and exercising his brain.

Although he has a history of heart disease, requiring two bypass surgeries, Mr Mahathir has said staying mentally and physically active has kept him going.

“I’ve always been active. I can’t understand people wanting to rest. I mean, you take a holiday, you do something, you go on a holiday that’s doing something. But some people retire, and they want to rest. What is the meaning of rest? You do nothing?” he said last year.

“So long as I can function, I want to function. I want to behave almost as if I’m not getting old. I try to live the same life I lived when I was younger. I work, I come to the office, I attend functions and all that. And I think being active is what keeps me alive.”

After he turned 100 last year, Mr Mahathir said he was fortunate not to have been struck by a fatal disease.

“I didn't make an effort to live this long, but I look after my health," he said, describing his milestone birthday as just a “normal day”.

In his first term as prime minister, Mr Mahathir is credited with transforming Malaysia into a modern economy. Yet criticism of his style of leadership grew over time, with accusations that he used stifling political control to keep power and silence dissent.

He came out of retirement in 2018 to challenge his former party over a multibillion-dollar corruption scandal, forming an alliance with old foes to win a landmark election victory.