A Walt Disney World employee sustained injuries while heroically intercepting a 400-pound (180kg) rogue prop during a live performance at the Florida theme park this week. The incident occurred during the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! show, which recreates iconic scenes from the classic film series.
Video footage captured the moment the artificial boulder, constructed from rubber but weighing approximately 400 pounds, deviated from its intended track during Tuesday’s performance. As the massive prop careened toward audience seating areas, a quick-thinking staff member leaped into its path, successfully preventing it from reaching spectators but suffering injuries in the process.
The employee remained on the ground immediately following the impact, with fellow cast members rushing to provide assistance. While Disney officials have not explicitly confirmed the boulder as the cause, they acknowledged that ‘a prop moved off its track’ during the performance.
In an official statement released Wednesday, Disney representatives emphasized: ‘We’re focused on supporting our cast member, who is recovering. Safety is at the heart of what we do, and that element of the show will be modified as our safety team completes a review of what happened.’
Eyewitnesses described the staff member’s actions as potentially life-saving. One attendee told People magazine that the worker had ‘saved’ the audience from injury, characterizing the event as ‘a crazy experience and definitely one that we will remember.’ Another video captured an audience member exclaiming, ‘He literally saved our lives, that guy.’
The incident has prompted an immediate safety review of the popular stunt show, which features one of the most recognizable scenes from 1981’s ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark,’ where Indiana Jones narrowly escapes a massive rolling boulder triggered by a booby trap.