'Walking Dead' Stuntman Suffers Serious Injuries in On-Set Accident, Production Temporarily Shut Down

By
AMC

A Walking Dead stuntman has been transported to an Atlanta hospital after a serious on-set accident.

The AMC zombie series has temporarily halted production after John Bernecker was hurt in what the network is calling a "tragic accident."

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"We are saddened to report that John Bernecker, a talented stuntman for The Walking Dead and numerous other television shows and films, suffered serious injuries from a tragic accident on set," AMC tells ET in a statement. "He was immediately transported to an Atlanta hospital and we have temporarily shut down production. We are keeping John and his family in our thoughts and prayers."

Bernecker reportedly suffered head injuries after falling over 20 feet onto a concrete floor, Variety reports, adding that the stuntman had to be airlifted to a nearby hospital.

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Variety also reports that SAG-AFTRA is investigating the incident.

“We have been informed of a serious injury to a SAG-AFTRA member on the set of The Walking Dead and are investigating the situation,” a union spokesperson said. “As always, the safety and security of our members and others on set is of crucial concern to us, and we are focused on this in our investigation. Our thoughts and prayers are with the performer and his family."

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Following the horrific accident, Bernecker's girlfriend took to Facebook on Wednesday night, writing, "John deserves to be seen by every neurosurgeon and doctor there is until one of them sees the life we all know he has in him and bring him back to us... THIS ISNT FAIR."

Berckener has had a prolific stunt career, doing work for many films, including 22 Jump Street, The Fate of the Furious, This Is The End, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, Get Out, Logan, and the upcoming Marvel movie, Black Panther. Additionally, Berckener's IMDb page lists the actor as performing stunt work on an upcoming Dwayne Johnson film, Rampage, which is currently filming.

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