Back in October, I was on the set of RESIDENT EVIL: THE FINAL CHAPTER, the latest (and last?) installment of Sony’s Resident Evil movie franchise… and now I’m feeling fortunate that I walked away unscathed. At the time, it was already common knowledge that stuntwoman Olivia Jackson (pictured above, right) had been seriously wounded on the set during an action sequence in which she was riding a motorcycle. Everyone I spoke to about the incident called it a freak accident and, naturally, seemed incredibly dismayed about it.
Just yesterday, the news broke that Jackson will have to lose one of her arms. The stuntwoman announced on her Gofundme page, “My left arm is paralyzed and is going to have to be amputated.” That is indeed tragic, but it’s truly a miracle the woman survived. Right after the accident, Jackson was in a coma and the outlook was not at all rosy. It’s excellent news she pulled through.
Turns out the set was even more dangerous than previously thought. IOL reports a crew member was fatally hurt on the set last month. Ricardo Cornelius died on December 3rd when one of the film’s props, a US army issue Hummer, fell on top of him. The site claims Ricardo and other crew members had to manually rotate a small platform upon which the vehicle stood, but the platform tilted and the huge vehicle fell on him.
He lived for only a few hours and died with his family by his side.
Accidents happen all the time on movie sets; once in a while they’re of a very serious nature. But two so brutal on the same set? Thank goodness this thing is wrapped.
The film comes out January 17, 2017.