John Bernecker

John Bernecker, the stuntman on The Walking Dead who suffered serious injuries from an on-set accident, has died. Bernecker suffered serious head trauma from his fall, leading the show to halt production of its eighth season. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bernecker became brain-dead on Wednesday evening:

The coroner in Coweta County, a suburban area southwest of Atlanta, confirmed that he became brain-dead — legally dead — on July 12 at 6:30 p.m., about a day and a half ago. Overnight on July 13-14, it appears, a ventilator was withdrawn, although this could not be authoritatively confirmed.

Bernecker’s death resulted from a 20-foot fall onto concrete on the show’s set in Georgia. He held an impressive resume that included stunt roles in The Hunger GamesThe Fate of the FuriousGet OutLogan and many more.

Bernecker’s death is the first Hollywood on-set fatality in nearly three years. The last time someone died, an audio technician on the show “Cops” was hit by an Omaha policeman’s stray bullet while filming an attempted armed robbery scene.

[The Hollywood Reporter]

About Jesse Kramer

Jesse is a writer and editor for The Comeback. He has also worked for SI.com and runs The Catch and Shoot, a college basketball website based in Chicago. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Follow Jesse on Twitter @Jesse_Kramer.