A stunt rider who suffered changing injuries in an accident while filming the Resident Evil: The Final Chapter blockbuster movie has won a legal case against its producers.
Olivia Jackson sustained a series of injuries – including her arm being amputated - when the motorcycle she was riding in place of the lead star Milla Jovovich [pictured] was involved in a high-speed collision with a crane-mounted camera vehicle driving the opposition direction, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The accident has left her with life-changing injuries, including a twisted spine, paralysis of the top left quarter of her body including her neck, a dislocated shoulder, a severed thumb, punctured lungs and broken ribs. She awoke from her coma to find her arm had been amputated above the elbow, as well as facial scarring.
“I miss my old face. I miss my old body. I miss my old life,” Olivia Jackson said. “At least I now finally have a court judgment that proves this stunt was badly planned and that it was not my fault,” said Jackson. The South African court judged that the stunt was “negligently planned and executed” by the production company, and ousted the defendants’ allegation that Jackson’s skill was a factor in the accident.
Though no details were given as to the specific outcome of the ruling in her favour, her accident wasn’t the only tragic incident to befall the set. Ricardo Cornelius died when a US Army-issue Hummer fell from its platform, while another crew member was injured by a plastic boulder that left him on crutches for six weeks.
The producers’ defence team argued the accident involving Jackson was more to do with her skill levels rather than failings on set.
“This judgment is an important recognition that stunt performers are not themselves inherently responsible, nor willing but disposable volunteers when something goes wrong. Like all workers they are owed a duty of care by those responsible for the safest possible performance of the stunt,” stated Jackson’s lawyers.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, released in 2016, was the sixth and concluding instalment of the franchise and was hugely successful, grossing $312 million worldwide against a budget of $40 million.
