Samuel Koch, Injured “Wetten Dass?” Stuntman, Paralyzed

A college student who was critically injured in a stunt on a live German TV show earlier this month, prompting Justin Bieber to abandon a concert on the program, has been told he’ll never walk again.

Samuel Koch, 23, fractured his neck when he attempted to jump over a moving car on the live game show Wetten Dass (Wanna Bet?) on Dec. 5. Koch was attempting the jump as part of a dare from the game show’s host, Thomas Gottschalk, that he could jump over five cars in a row using spring loaded footwear called Kangaroo shoes. Koch managed to jump over three cars, one driven by his father, but on the fourth attempt his head hit the car’s windscreen before he slammed into the studio floor. An estimated 10 million people were watching the popular game show, now in its 30th season, when the accident happened.

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Koch’s accident set off a firestorm of controversy for Wetten Dass? producers, who have been accused of for deliberately endangering the participants in order to boost ratings.

Koch was taken to a hospital in Dusseldorf and kept in an artificial coma before undergoing emergency surgery.
Despite doctors efforts, Samuel’s injuries have left him a paraplegic.

“While there may be slight improvements in the coming years he will never be able to walk unaided again,” Dr. Michael Baumberger told German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur Tuesday. “He will never lead a normal life like people without injuries do.”