Stuntman details recovery and mission to be a role model after accident that left him in critical condition
Jonathan Goodwin has pushed boundaries with his death-defying stunts like lighting himself on fire or hanging from a helicopter, but last October one stunt went terrifyingly wrong.
Goodwin spoke exclusively to "Good Morning America" about what happened after the incident at rehearsals for "America's Got Talent: Extreme" that left him with broken legs, shoulders, a damaged kidney and other injuries.
"I don't really have a great memory ... I know that there was a moment where I knew it was going wrong," Goodwin said.
In a video obtained by TMZ, Goodwin appears to get struck by two vehicles while suspended in the air, then falls nearly four stories to the ground.
"He fell about 40 feet, missed the airbag, landed on his head," a witness said on the phone to 911 dispatchers, in the video.
Goodwin was alive but in critical condition. Besides the mentioned injuries, he also punctured a lung, fractured his ribs and had a complete spinal fracture.
"The spinal surgeon said that my injury was the worst that he'd ever seen and also told me that there was a really good chance I wouldn't make it through the surgery," he told "GMA."
He said he had to make an impossible phone call to his fiance of then just one month.
"I said to her, 'you know -- clearly you have a get out of jail free card.' Amanda has been there for me every day since and has been and was really my motivation to get through it," Goodwin said.
Despite the long road ahead, he was determined to rehabilitate and heal.
"The closest thing that I can explain is that it's like somebody waves a magic wand and all of a sudden you're a baby and you have to learn everything you know," he said of his recovery.
He moved from Las Vegas to London to be with his fiance and closer to family. Now, he's learning how to navigate the 300-year-old house in which he lives. The home has modifications including the addition of an elevator, to help get him get around.
Now Goodwin says he wants to be a role model for others.
"I think that the people that have disabilities are largely underrepresented in the media. If I can use that position to be able to help other people -- then I will," Goodwin said. "Obviously there are lots of things that I have lost, but I'm not concentrating on that -- for me, it was about creating a spectacle for an audience, showing people things that they'd never seen before. And that's absolutely something I can still do. Maybe in a different form."
