14 DAY TRIAL // One month ago, actress Milla Jovovich took to social media to ask for prayers for her stunt double on the upcoming “Resident Evil: The Final Chapter,” who had been injured 2 weeks prior in an on-set accident in South Africa. At the time, the stuntwoman, Olivia Jackson, was in a medically-induced coma.
She is now awake and in recovery, though she still has a long way until she’s able to say she’s fully ok, based on the detailed account of the injuries she sustained.
The “Resident Evil” accident
Jackson, whose previous film was this year’s critically acclaimed “Mad Max: Fury Road,” from director George Miller, where she doubled for Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiosa, was doing a bike chase scene when she was hurt.
Principal photography on the film hadn’t started yet, so Milla was not on set, but she found out about the tragedy shortly afterwards.
Jackson wasn’t wearing any kind of protective gear because it would have been visible on camera, but according to reports, the scene wasn’t a very dangerous one, as she only had to drive in a straight line. The accident was caused by a camera equipment malfunction, when the crane holding one camera didn’t move to the side as it was supposed to.
The stuntwoman drove straight into it at full speed, suffering injuries to her arm and face.
Olivia Jackson is awake, back on social media
She was rushed to the hospital immediately and put in a coma by doctors, to allow her time to get more stable. Shooting was suspended temporarily, and resumed when it became clear they would have to shoot around her.
From Jackson’s account on Facebook, she was in a pretty bad shape - and she’s looking at a long and painful recovery.
“2 weeks in a coma, brain bleed, brain swelling, severed main artery in the neck, crushed & degloved face, several broken ribs, paralyzed arm, shattered scapula, broken clavicle, broken humerus, broken radius & ulna, with an open wound and a 7.5 piece of bone missing, amputated thumb, torn fingers, 5 nerves torn out of the spinal cord… not my funnest day on set.”
Meanwhile, production on “Resident Evil: The Final Chapter” continues for a 2017 release date. Milla returns as Alice in what is believed to be the final installment in the franchise based on the popular video game.
Other familiar faces to fans of the franchise include Ali Larter and Wentworth Miller, with appearances by Iain Glen, Ruby Rose and William Levy.
My phenomenal stunt double, Olivia Jackson, had a horrible accident on set last week. We are all sending our prayers to her. Please take a moment to send her your support and read the full story on my FB page (in bio). A photo posted by Milla Jovovich (@millajovovich) on Sep 15, 2015 at 7:45pm PDT