'My life was taken away from me,' says stuntwoman Olivia Jackson

Olivia Jackson has performed countless death-defying stunts — jumping from buildings, doing wheelies in high-speed motorcycle chases and kicking bad guys’ butts while working as a stunt double for Hollywood actresses including Charlize Theron, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Lizzie Olsen.

But now she is playing her most challenging role yet — as a “one-armed bandit” after a horrific accident on a Johannesburg film set in 2015 that tore the skin off her face, crushed her spine, severed her neck artery and ripped off her left arm.

The 35-year-old Capetonian, now living in Buckinghamshire in England, still experiences excruciating pain and panic attacks — but with a wry sense of humour and a fair dose of Buddhist inspiration.

“I’m still trying to pick myself up. I don’t think I will ever be able pick myself up properly to the strength I used to be but I’m trying to make the most of what I have and I’m always pushing to get healthier, stronger and happier,” Jackson told the Sunday Times.

She was doubling for Milla Jovovich on the Resident Evil: The Final Chapter film that was shooting in Johannesburg when her life was changed forever.

“I was riding a motorbike without a helmet because that is what was required for the shot. There was an action vehicle driving towards me with a crane hanging off to the side of it. The action vehicle was supposed to hold the crane swooping along low, near to the ground, and as it came near to me it was supposed to lift up and over the top of me.”

But that didn’t happen and the crane rammed into her head and upper body. The force of the impact was so severe that her left forearm wasn’t found and she spent 17 days in a coma.

Now, more than 10 operations later, Jackson, with the support of her British stunt performer husband David Grant, who nursed her through her recovery, is rebuilding her life.

“The hardest part is the loss of the life you had and loved. Motocross and stunts were my life and they were both taken away from me, which is very hard to deal with,” Jackson said.

“But also on a daily basis the hard part is not being able to go anywhere for too long. Due to all my injuries, the longest I can manage to leave my house is a few hours, and those few hours will be in excruciating pain. The constant pain is also extremely tiring to live with.

“My injuries are so complex and severe that I wouldn’t be able to manage even half a day’s work because of the standing up and moving around. I’m putting my energy into sports like kick-boxing and horse riding and trying to focus on mending myself as much as possible.”

She fondly remembers how becoming a stuntwoman “just kind of fell into my lap”. She was a professional Muay Thai fighter living and fighting in Bangkok when she met a casting director for a French movie.

“He told me this film was looking for a lead actress who could do her own stunts. I cast for the part and got it. They taught me how to do stunts and I absolutely fell in love with the action side of it all, so I carried on doing stunts and never looked back.”

In 2013 she was asked to go to the UK to stunt-double for actress Karen Gillan in Guardians of the Galaxy. She met Grant on set and has lived in the UK since then.

However, Jackson will return to SA when her R39m lawsuit begins in the Gauteng High Court next year. She is suing seven parties, including the Road Accident Fund, the crane operator and the movie director. Jackson was reluctant to talk about the case but Sky News reported last year that she claimed in court papers that she was unemployable due to the accident and that she was previously earning about R360,000 a month in the UK.

All parties have served notice to defend the action. The camera crane operator said in court papers that the accident would have been avoided if Jackson had applied brakes, the news outlet reported.

“I know it [the court case] will be very emotional but I feel OK about it,” she said. “It will be good to get it all over with and put it behind me. The people responsible have used some laws in a way to advantage themselves, which is utterly disgraceful, but I wouldn’t expect anything better from them.”