Stuntwoman sues for £2.2m after movie horror crash

Olivia Jackson, from South Africa, has performed stunts in the films Safe House and Dredd, and was the stunt double for Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in Mad Max: Fury Road.

In September 2015, the 35-year-old nearly lost her life while performing a motorcycle stunt on the set of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter in Johannesburg, South Africa.

A fight scene she was due to appear in was cancelled and she was instead told to stand in for actress Milla Jovovich in the high-speed bike stunt.

But the action shot went terribly wrong when Ms Jackson was thrown from the bike after a collision with a mechanical mobile film camera.

Ms Jackson, who is married to British stuntman David Grant and lives in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, spent 17 days in a coma and had to have her left arm amputated – with her left forearm never being found.

She also suffered brain swelling, punctured lungs, dozens of broken bones and a severed vital neck artery as well as a dislocated shoulder and a twisted spine.

Three years on, the former Thai kickboxer has launched a legal fight in Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, for compensation for her life-changing injuries.

Court papers state that she is seeking more than £2.2m in damages.

In the documents, she claims she is unemployable due to the incident and that she was previously earning £20,000 a month while working in the UK.

Ms Jackson is suing seven parties for negligence, including the Road Accident Fund, the camera crane operator and the film director, all in a personal capacity.

All parties have served notice to defend the actions but the full responses have not yet been filed.

The camera crane operator said in court papers that the accident would have been avoided if Ms Jackson had applied brakes.

The court case is expected to be heard next year.