A crew member on the South African set of the sixth and final Resident Evil film directed by Paul W.S. Anderson tragically died earlier this month. According to the South African website IOL, a U.S. Army issue Hummer fell on Ricardo Cornelius, fatally injuring him. He died on December 3.
Ricardo and other members of the crew were rotating a small platform upon which the Hummer stood. The platform tilted and the Hummer fell on him. After being rushed to the hospital and put on life support, he died several hours later with his family at his side. Ricardo had been married for only nine months, and he was buried in the clothes his wife had bought him for Christmas.
“At the hospital, doctors said they had to take him into theatre as soon as he arrived,” Ricardo’s wife told IOL.
“His heart stopped and they were fighting for his life but managed to revive him again. The doctors said his lungs were completely flat and he was bleeding a lot.
“He was unconscious and he was already on life support. I held his hand and I told him not to leave us because we need him and he is a strong man.
“I spoke to him but the doctors said he didn’t know what was going on around him. We were with him for about an hour, then he died.”
This is the second tragedy on the set of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter this year. In October, Milla Jovovich’s stunt double Olivia Jackson nearly died after colliding with a camera crane during a motorcycle stunt. She spent two weeks in a coma and suffered a laundry list of injuries, including a degloved face. She miraculously survived the accident.
