An escapologist known for his daring acts on Britain's Got Talent has been left paralysed after a gruesome accident during rehearsals for America's Got Talent: Extreme, his fiancee has revealed.
Jonathan Goodwin is in a wheelchair, paralysed after severing his spinal cord, losing a kidney and shattering both his legs in October on set, Sherlock actress Amanda Abbington told the Jay Rayner podcast Out To Lunch.
“[He] nearly died, twice, on the operating table and on the stunt he did," Abbington told Rayner. "He's lucky to be alive."
Footage of the accident shows Goodwin suspended in air in a strait jacket, with cars hung either side of him.
The 42-year-old was crushed between the two cars which exploded into a ball of fire.
"They were supposed to release the cars just as he gets out of the strait jacket and falls onto an airbag," Abbington said.
Abbington said he was lucky to survive the accident.
“He did me a FaceTime message before he went into surgery and said there’s a 50-50 change I won’t make this," she said.
Goodwin was released from hospital four months later, in a wheelchair.
Abbington said he has retired from escapology now, but had been positive throughout the experience.
"He’s incredible. You would never believe for one moment that he’s been through that," she said.
