'Resident Evil' stuntwoman sues for £2.2 million after horror crash on film set

Olivia Jackson, the stuntwoman who sustained horrific injuries when an action sequence on the movie Resident Evil: The Final Chapter went wrong, is suing for £2.2 million.

The 35-year-old, South African-born performer was in a coma for 17 days, had to have her left arm amputated and suffered other catastrophic injuries while performing a motorbike stunt on the film’s set in South Africa in 2015.

Jackson, who is married to British stuntman David Grant and lives in the UK, was set to be filming a fight sequence, but when the scene was cancelled, she was instead required to stand in for lead actress Milla Jovovich in a high-speed motorcycle stunt.

However the sequence went wrong, and she collided head on with mobile camera equipment mounted on an SUV, which was supposed to have cleared a path for her as she rode at speed towards it.

As well as losing her arm, she suffered severe facial injuries, punctured lungs, brain swelling, a severed thumb, numerous broken bones, a permanently dislocated shoulder and a twisted spine.

She is now suing for £2.2 million after filing court papers in Pretoria.

Jackson says that she is now unemployable, and should be compensated for the £20,000 a month she used to make working in the movie industry.

Among those she’s suing are Davis/Impact Films, the film’s stunt coordinator, the camera tracking company, and the Cape Town-based Pyranha Stunts.

Prior to her accident, Jackson had appeared in a host of blockbuster movies, including Mad Max: Fury Road, Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Jackson, who is also a martial arts expert, has documented her injuries and her rehabilitation extensively on her Instagram page, including learning to horse ride again this year.

In an interview with The Sunday Mirror last year, she said: “Sometimes when I catch a sight of my stump in the mirror I feel a wave of sadness.

“But I make sure it passes quickly by thinking of something happier. There’s no point in feeling down about life – it won’t make my arm grow back.

“I used to miss my old face but now I style my hair to fall forwards to hide the big scar down its left side. Surgeons did an amazing job piecing fragments of my facial bones together and I think I look all right now.

“I just have to get on with a new life and making plans to make it as exciting as my old one.”

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