Stuntman John Bernecker, who was seriously injured in a fall on the set of The Walking Dead on Wednesday, has been pronounced dead at Atlanta Medical Center.
Coweta County Coroner Richard Hawk verified Bernecker’s death to Deadline, stating that he passed away on Wednesday evening at 6:30 PM ET as a result of blunt force trauma. A hospital source previously told Deadline that Bernecker was ventilated while his family made preparations.
The family of Bernecker has decided to donate their loved one’s organs to the transplantation community through LifeLink of Georgia, a non-profit organization that specializes in organ and tissue recovery.
R.I.P. John Bernecker -amazing #stunt man & all around great guy. So glad we had the privilege of working together. I’ll treasure that time. pic.twitter.com/AiukBXCydv
— Laura Cayouette (@KnowSmallParts) July 13, 2017
Both the federal workplace watchdog OSHA and the stunt artists’ union, SAG-AFTRA, have opened probes into the incident.
This appears to be the first death directly tied to a stunt in the United States in over 17 years. Earlier today, AMC announced that, in the wake of the catastrophe, filming on Season 8 of the zombie apocalypse series has been temporarily suspended.
Bernecker reportedly lost his balance while rehearsing a fight scene with an actor and plummeted 30 feet to the concrete below. He was taken off life support today after doctors at the hospital declared him brain dead.
Bernecker has performed more than 90 stunts since 2009, and his resume includes such current films as Black Panther, Logan, Get Out, The Fate of the Furious, and The Hunger Games:
Mockingjay – Part 2. The web series Behind the Stunts also dedicated an episode to him in 2014. View a highlight reel of Bernecker’s stunt work from 2016 down below.
According to veteran stuntman and SAG-AFTRA stunt and safety committee member Conrad Palmisano, the dangers of stunt work are decreasing. He told Deadline, “Generally, it is safer now than it was 20 years ago, and I foresee it being safer 20 years from now than it is today.”
But it’s still a risky occupation. Stunts are inherently risky, but we make every effort to craft them in a safe way. However, accidents can still occur and danger remains.
Nothing ever happens for just one reason. The stars have to be in the wrong place at the wrong time for something dreadful to occur. The goal of the stunt community’s investigation is to find solutions to the problem, not to assign blame.
Despite the decline in the number of fatal stunts performed in the United States, falls still pose a significant risk. In 2000, while filming the UPN reality show I Dare You in Arizona, Brady Michaels was killed when he fell from a stalled train and hit his skull on a rock.
Death from a head injury occurred in 1996 when Paul Dallas fell on the set of L.A. Heat. He had fallen from a platform at the power plant, hitting his head on a metal fence and then landing on an airbag designed to cushion his fall.
Three years prior, on the set of the film Steel, stuntman A.J. Bakunas died trying to break a world record by parachute leaping from the 22nd story of a downtown Lexington, Kentucky construction site. His fall was not cushioned since the canvas and plastic airbag he had been using to do so ruptured upon impact.
After setting the record with a jump of 230 feet the year before on Hooper, he tragically lost his life while trying to top Dar Robinson’s 296-foot high-fall. Starring Burt Reynolds, Hooper was directed by stunt guru Hal Needham and followed an aged Hollywood stuntman as he competed with a newcomer (Jan-Michael Vincent).
