If you didn’t see it already, one contestant named Ryan Stock on America’s Got Talent was shot in the neck by a flaming arrow on live television when one of his stunts went horribly wrong. He talked to PEOPLE magazine to describe the horrifying moment.
“We had never done it for an audience before, but we’ve been working on this for the last three months,” Stock explained. “We put thousands of dollars into this. We did this 10 times a day, every day for three months. We had no mishaps and then we had a malfunction on stage during the live rounds.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
Stock’s fiancรฉ and performance partner, AmberLynn Walker, was the one behind the trigger who fired the flaming arrow at his neck. While the couple may have practiced for an extensive period of time, Stock admits that at first he was nervous to do the stunt. “The first few times it was definitely scary, but we learned to trust the equipment and we learned to trust each other. So neither of us saw this coming.”
The Canadian stuntman has been entertaining audiences for the past 15 years with Walker, and took to Facebook to detail the mishap.
“This was not Amber’s aim that was the problem,” he writes. “Her laser sight was on target. It appears as though the notch holding the arrow broke and sent the arrow sideways. Fortunately because of how it hit, it wasn’t at full power and I walked away with a minor injury.”
After Stock’s initial reaction to make sure that he was not on fire, he shifted his focus to his partner Walker. “I was concerned about Amber,” he states. “I knew Amber was going to feel bad.”
Stock refused medical attention after the incident, but stated that judges Mel B. and Heidi Klum paid him a visit to check on him.
“They came by to make sure I was okay and feeling well and if I knew what happened,” he said. “They wanted to know!”
The unfortunate accident, however, has not thwarted Stock’s desire to complete the stunt for the audience. When asked if he would do the trick again he stated, “Absolutely, we will be attempting this stunt again.”
America’s Got Talent airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
