Jonathan Goodwin Reflects on ‘AGT: Extreme’ Accident, Shares Experience with Paralysis
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Daredevil Jonathan Goodwin recently appeared on the podcast Manatomy to discuss last year’s accident on the AGT: Extreme set, when left him paralyzed from the waist down. Goodwin reflected on what he remembers of the accident, as well as how he’s adjusted to life in a wheelchair.
Jonathan Goodwin Recalls ‘AGT: Extreme’ Accident
Goodwin told podcast hosts Danny Wallace and Phil Hilton that he couldn’t say too much about October 2021 the incident, due to a federal investigation into what he calls “a bit of a disaster.”
While rehearsing a stunt for the show, Goodwin was crushed between two cars and fell 30 feet to the ground. He suffered a number of injuries in addition to the spinal injury that caused his paralysis. The other injuries include broken bones, third degree burns, and a punctured lung.
“I knew that it was going wrong before the cars hit me,” Goodwin recalled of the incident. “There was no panic, there was no upswell of adrenaline or anything like that. My reaction to the knowledge that this was about to happen was, Oh, sh*t.’ That’s literally what went through my mind.”
Goodwin said he wasn’t in pain when he woke up on the ground after the accident. But, it was at this point that he was told that he was paralyzed. He said he hasn’t “had an emotional reaction” to it.
SEE ALSO: JONATHAN GOODWIN IS PARALYZED AFTER ‘AGT: EXTREME’ INJURY
Goodwin Shares His Experience with Paralysis
Goodwin said his experience getting accustomed to his paralysis was like becoming “an adult baby” and having to “learn everything again.” He shared that, because he’s a “control freak,” he doesn’t like other people pushing him in his wheelchair. Instead, he wants to do things on his own as much as possible.
He said he hasn’t experienced “a huge amount of negative response,” adding, “People try and overhelp, if anything. Which I get frustrated by, because I want to be independent.”
Goodwin described himself as a “very pragmatic person,” which has helped him. He said he believes people should “try and live in the present as much as you can,” explaining that “the future and the past only exist in your mind,” and “the only place where life actually happens is now.”
