A Vancouver comedian is staying positive and hopeful that she’ll be able to walk again after getting seriously injured on the set of the Batwoman TV show.
Amanda Smith was working as a production assistant beneath the Georgia Viaduct during filming of the CW superhero show Wednesday when the bucket of a telehandler was lowered onto her head.
“They, unfortunately, did not see me where I was, and I did not hear the lift move and I didn’t notice that it had aligned directly above my head,” she told Global News from hospital Sunday.
“It wasn’t until it made contact with my body that I was able to scream and let somebody know that I was underneath it.”
Crew members immediately rushed to Smith’s aid and got her to Vancouver General Hospital for an emergency spinal surgery, after doctors discovered her spinal cord and the nerve itself had been damaged in multiple places.
She now can’t feel anything from the waist down but is going through the beginning stages of rehab to try and change that.
“I’m in a chair that is getting me used to sitting upright,” she said. “The idea is for me to do that a few hours a day before I hopefully … get blood rushing into my legs and lower abdomen.”
If she does regain feeling in her legs, Smith will have to learn how to walk all over again.
While the accident has been life-changing for the 30-year-old, Smith says she doesn’t blame anyone for what happened and is only appreciative of the support she’s received from her family, friends, colleagues and the larger industry.
“I have never felt more support in my life,” she said. “Honestly, I am in a very good head space right now. I feel very hopeful for the future and I feel very grateful for what I have and who I have around me. I’m just trying to focus on the positive about the whole situation.”
A GoFundMe set up by friends and colleagues has already raised more than $40,000 as of Sunday.
Smith says she’s also been assured by her production company that she will be supported as she awaits workplace compensation.
While she makes her living as a production assistant helping to coordinate locations on multiple productions, Smith also moonlights as a stand-up comedian in the Vancouver scene.
Fellow local comic Katie-Ellen Humphries has called on the local comedy community to help support “one of ours.”
“It could have happened to anyone,” she said. “And everyone has just been so amazing. I really don’t have any hard feelings at this time.”
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