Devastating motorcycle crash hospitalizes Milla Jovovich’s stunt double

BY LARRY CARROLL

In the last decade-and-a-half, Milla Jovovich has made five Resident Evil films, wielding impressive weapon skills, jumping off flying motorcycles and kicking the butts of numerous zombies. But as she’d be the first to tell you, she wouldn’t have been able to convince you she’d done any of it without the help of her stuntwomen.

Now the actress is getting emotional on Facebook as Olivia Jackson, her stunt double on the currently-filming next Resident Evil film, nearly died in an action scene gone horribly wrong.

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“I sit down to write this post with a heavy heart, because a terrible accident rocked our set on Saturday the 5th of September,” the 39-year-old actress says on her official Facebook page. “My incredibly talented stunt double, Olivia Jackson, collided with a camera crane while performing a motorcycle stunt and it put her in the hospital with severe, multiple injuries.”

The accident happened on the set of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, which is currently in production and directed by Jovovich’s husband, Paul W.S. Anderson. “The cast and crew of ‘Resident Evil: The Final Chapter’ have been totally devastated and are waiting with bated breath for news on her recovery,” explains the actress. “We now understand she is stable and being carefully monitored by very experienced South African doctors.”

According to the Daily Mail, Jackson—who also did stunts in the recent Mad Max: Fury Road and the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens—suffered major head injuries and was in an induced coma for a time. Jackson is reported to have been wearing no protective gear or helmet, and when the camera’s metal arm malfunctioned and didn’t lift, she drove into it.

“I wasn’t personally there to witness it, but from the reports I got, it was awful,” Jovovich says in her Sept. 14 post. “None of us have experienced anything like this in our careers making action films and hope we never do again, but the production reacted very quickly to ensure she received the best care and also in reaching out to her family and making sure they were informed and looked after during this overwhelmingly difficult time. Thank God, they have been by her side through out this harrowing week.”

“It’s a miracle that she survived. I didn’t know her very well, as we were all just getting going with the film, but the few times we rehearsed together, I really looked up to her because she danced through the choreography, beautiful and graceful,” Jovovich explains, alongside an image she posts of the stuntwoman posing with a tough-looking closed fist. “I would really appreciate it if you would take a moment out of your busy days ahead and pray for Olivia’s full recovery too. She needs all the help she can get right now.”

Photo via Gage Skidmore/Flickr (CC BY SA 2.0)