UPDATE: According to sources close to the project, the surgery that Grant needs is not due to her work on the set of The Lord of the Rings.
Stunt performers make their living by doing dangerous things, pulling off feats that the rest of us wouldn’t even think about. Despite being highly trained, accomplished and decorated professionals, the risk of injury is still significant, and the sad news has emerged that Dayna Grant suffered a serious accident on the set of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings series, and was sent for emergency surgery after suffering a brain aneurysm and spinal trauma.
The heartwarming news is that over $60,000 has been raised via crowdfunding in less than 24 hours, with Xena: Warrior Princess star Lucy Lawless donating money towards her former stunt double’s treatment and urging her social media followers to do the same. Even more encouraging is that Grant has spoken publicly and revealed her intentions to donate any of the leftover funds to charity, so hopefully she’ll be okay in the long run.
In a career dating back over 20 years, Grant has lent her talents to a number of high profile film and television productions including the aforementioned Xena, in addition to Peter Jackson’s King Kong, The Meg, Disney’s live-action Mulan remake, James Cameron’s Avatar sequels and Wonder Woman 1984, while she also doubled for Charlize Theron in Snow White and the Huntsman and Mad Max: Fury Road.
It’s always a sad indictment of the healthcare business when tens of thousands of dollars are required to take immediate action over something so serious, and the support shown by both the New Zealand film industry and Grant’s past and present collaborators has been a genuine silver lining to a terrible accident on the set of the most expensive TV show in history, with The Lord of the Rings‘ first season alone costing $465 million.