A vicious shark attack? An out of body experience? And what famous actor fell
three stories and survived? These celebrities nearly lost their lives to freak accidents,
but somehow, they lived to tell the tale.
A 1984 Pepsi commercial landed the late
Michael Jackson in the hospital after he suffered second-degree burns on his scalp. According to
The Daily News, in January of that year, Jackson teamed up with his famous brothers, who made up
the Jackson 5, to perform his hit song "Billie Jean" at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles
for a commercial with Pepsi-Cola. However, when Jackson got near a pyrotechnics display, it went
off, and "exploded" with Jackson's hair catching fire. Unaware he was on fire, Jackson continued
to perform before his brothers and others rushed to his side to help put out the fire.
The soft drink manufacturer gave Jackson $1.5 million because of the accident, but he gave the
money to the hospital that treated him. According to ABC News, after Jackson was given painkillers
for the incident, he admitted to abusing them later on. Sadly, Jackson died on June 25, 2009
from an overdose of propofol which was improperly administered by his physician, Dr. Conrad Murray.
30 Rock star Tracy Morgan's
life changed forever when he was involved in a tragic car crash that left him in critical
condition and his friend and comedian James McNair dead. According to The New York Times,
on June 7, 2014, Morgan, his assistant, McNair, and two other comedians were in a Mercedes-Benz
Sprinter when a Walmart truck slammed into their vehicle from behind and overturned
their car on the New Jersey Turnpike. Only McNair died from his injuries,
while Morgan suffered a traumatic brain injury and broken bones. The star spent two weeks in
a coma and several months in a wheelchair and underwent extensive physical therapy.
In June 2015, Morgan made his first television appearance
since his crash on the Today show. He said that he did not recall the crash.
"But I have my good days and my bad days."
According to NJ.com, the tractor-trailer driver was Kevin Roper, who was awake for
more than 24 hours when he hit Morgan's vehicle. Roper pleaded
guilty to vehicular homicide and four counts of assault.
Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker barely made it
out alive when he and close friend DJ AM managed to escape their burning plane that killed four
others in September 2008. The passengers boarded a small plane in South Carolina bound for California
when its tires blew up during takeoff. The plane ran off the runway, where it then crashed into
a fence, crossed into a five-lane highway, and struck an embankment where it burst into flames.
"We were a ball of fire in the sky."
Barker and DJ AM, whose real name was Adam Goldstein, were the only survivors. The
plane's two pilots, Barker's assistant, Chris Baker, and his security guard Charles Still,
died in the crash. The accident report stated that both Barker and DJ AM suffered second and
third-degree burns. The drummer also underwent 26 surgeries and multiple skin grafts. Sadly,
DJ AM died of an accidental drug overdose a year later.
Barker revealed that he developed PTSD from the horrific crash and avoided flying. However,
in 2021, Barker let go of his fears and flew for the first time with his wife,
Kourtney Kardashian, according to TMZ.
Actor Amy Schumer has one gnarly scar on her leg
after a surfing accident that she proudly showed off on David Letterman's late-night show in 2015.
"See my scar?"
Although she didn't go into detail, she would tell Vanity Fair the following
year about the incident and how she believed it was her last day on Earth.
Schumer told the publication that she went surfing and ended up with
her surfboard fin piercing her leg. She managed to get out of the water,
where she spotted a man who held her leg together to stop the bleeding. She went on,
Schumer never got to see the man again but shared that with blood rushing out of her leg,
she was afraid that sharks could have been lurking nearby, adding,
The star ended up with forty-one stitches.
Before Orlando Bloom
nabbed roles in Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean, he was living life dangerously,
but living such a carefree lifestyle almost killed him. Speaking with GQ in 2005, the actor recalled
falling three stories after trying to get to a rooftop terrace when a drainpipe collapsed from
under him in 1998. As a result, Bloom broke his vertebrae and could have been in a wheelchair for
the rest of his life. The star recovered, but the accident left an impression. Bloom shared,
Thankfully, Bloom's career would keep him busy. He landed the role
of Legolas in Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001.
"And you have my bow."
The O.C. wouldn't be the same if Rachel Bilson wasn't around to play Summer Roberts on the
teen drama series. Speaking to The Mirror in 2008, the actor detailed a scary car crash she
was involved in as a teen that could have taken her life. Thankfully, Bilson made it out alive.
Bilson recalled the day she, a girlfriend, and two men were
speeding on the Pacific Coast Highway when they crashed head-on with a truck, saying,
Fortunately, everyone survived the crash.
Bethany Hamilton is
an inspiration to people around the world. Hamilton was only 13 when a
tiger shark bit off her left arm while she was surfing the waves of Hawaii in 2003.
"The first thing I saw was red water, and then I just started paddling in."
However, losing her arm didn't stop her from continuing her dreams of becoming a
professional surfer. According to her website, Hamilton returned to doing what she loved just
a month after the attack. In 2005, she won the National Surf Championship, and in 2008,
she began full-time surfing, where she placed third at the Roxy Pro in Australia. In 2017,
she was inducted into the Surfer's Hall of Fame.
Niki Taylor was
just about everywhere in the '90s. In 1996, famously known as the "Niki Six," the model
graced six magazine covers in the same month, including Vogue. She was the youngest model to
sign a contract with CoverGirl Cosmetics at 18 and was featured in over 300 magazines. However,
a car crash in April 2001 had the model fighting for her life.
According to ABC News, Taylor and her then-boyfriend were in his car when
he lost control and crashed into a utility pole in Atlanta, Georgia. While her boyfriend walked
away from the vehicle with minor injuries, Taylor managed to get out of the car and lay
on the ground until paramedics arrived, unaware that she had suffered severe internal injuries.
When taken to the hospital, she learned that she had lost 80 percent of her blood,
and her liver was cut in half. According to People, Taylor was in a coma for weeks and
needed over 50 surgeries. One included putting two steel rods in her back to hold her spine together.
According to Fox News, Taylor was given blood from over 300 donors
to stay alive. The model even had the chance to meet 15 of them, stating,
She has since become an American Red Cross ambassador and raised
awareness about how vital it is to give blood.
Gary Busey has been in the entertainment
business since the early '70s. His performance as Buddy Holly in 1978's The Buddy Holly Story scored
him a nomination for Best Actor at the Oscars, and he had a promising career. However, his career was
put on pause when he was involved in a motorcycle accident in December 1988 that nearly killed him.
"And my bike hit sand and fishtailed. And I hit the front brake and flipped over,
hit my head on the curb."
Busey was in a coma for weeks but miraculously recovered and
after several weeks, walked out of the hospital of his own accord.
Speaking to The Guardian, Busey recalled having a
spiritual awakening while on the operating table, saying,
He said that a "light" asked him if he wanted to
continue living or go to the other side. Busey chose to live, sharing,
Gloria Estefan is recognized worldwide for her
songs like "Conga," "Don't Wanna Lose You," and "Rhythm is Gonna Get You," for which she performed
with the group Miami Sound Machine before going solo. Estefan was already a mega star by the
late '80s, so it shook fans around the globe when she was involved in a tour bus accident in 1990.
Recalling the crash with her daughter Emily Estefan and her niece Lili Estefan on Red
Table Talk: The Estefans, the songstress shared that she was on her tour bus with her husband,
Emilio and their son, Nayib when a semi-truck rear-ended them on the Pennsylvania highway.
Estefan, who was sleeping, found herself on the floor in extreme pain. She had
broken her back.
"I tried to get up.
I had the taste of electricity in my mouth, that's the only way I can describe it."
Estefan needed surgery and had two titanium rods placed in her back. She
required the use of a wheelchair with fears that she would never be able to
walk again. Fortunately, she made a full recovery.
Actor Jeremy Renner's
start to 2023 turned out to be nothing that he had ever imagined when the actor
was critically injured on January 1st from a snow plow accident on his property in Reno,
Nevada. According to authorities investigating the incident, Renner used his snow plow to free
a car stuck in the snow. However, after getting off of his plow, Renner saw it begin to roll and
attempted to get into the driver's seat to stop it. It was then that the over 14,000-pound snow
plow rolled over him. Renner was airlifted to a nearby hospital and suffered chest trauma
and orthopedic injuries. The actor underwent surgery and remained in the intensive care unit.
Just two days after the accident,
Renner posted a photo of himself in a hospital bed on Instagram, writing,
Angus Cloud's
first-ever acting gig was playing Fezco on the HBO hit series Euphoria. The actor was
discovered while walking around Manhattan and was asked to come into a casting for a
reading. Cloud had no idea how his life would drastically change after nabbing the role.
"So you trust her?"
"With my life."
Talking about his newfound fame,
Cloud told Teen Vogue that he's still a regular person on the inside, saying,
Now a big star in Hollywood, fans have learned much more about Cloud's personal life,
including an incident where the actor almost died after falling into a construction pit.
He recalled that day, which turned out to be a Friday the 13th in 2013, with Variety.
The actor talked about the noticeable scar on his head, which was the result of breaking his
skull after he tumbled into a pit in California. Although the actor managed to get out 12 hours
later and even took a bus home, it wasn't until his mother took him to the hospital
that he learned he had severe internal injuries, including internal bleeding in his brain and a
broken skull. Cloud lived to tell the tale but revealed that he suffered "minor brain damage."
On February 23, 2021, Tiger Woods
suffered significant injuries after his vehicle was involved in a rollover crash in Los Angeles.
"The vehicle he was driving going off the highway and rolling over several times."
The professional golfer needed to be pulled from his wrecked SVU as
he had leg injuries and was unable to stand on his own.
Woods' Twitter account stated that he required emergency surgery on his right leg and ankle,
adding that the beloved golfer was recovering. In April 2021, Woods showed his fans that he was
on the road to recovery with an Instagram post. In November, Woods shared a short
video on Twitter of him hitting a golf ball. Miraculously, Woods participated in the 2022
Masters Tournament in April 2022, which was his first major tournament since his crash.
Despite making his return, Woods revealed to
ESPN that he wouldn't be playing a full schedule in 2023, saying,
George Clooney took
home his first-ever Academy Award and his second Golden Globe for
Best Supporting Actor for his work in the 2005 political thriller Syriana. While it
was a celebratory moment for the star, he recalled that working on the film
left him with a terrible spinal injury that drove him to contemplate suicide.
According to The Guardian, Clooney revealed that he suffered the injury
while filming a scene for the film. The actor was in constant pain for several
months as doctors could not figure out what was causing his intense
headaches. It became so painful that Clooney considered taking his life.
Thankfully, a doctor identified the problem,
and the actor underwent multiple procedures to cure his headaches.
In 2018, the actor also sustained a few injuries
from a motorcycle accident in Italy. However, he made a full recovery.