Oscar Winner Rushed to Hospital Immediately After Accepting Award

Marisa Losciale
·2 min read
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It was a big night for 'Avatar: The Way of Water,' unfortunately, one production team member didn't get to celebrate.

Following Avatar: The Way of Water's win at the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday, senior visual effects supervisor Eric Saindon headed straight to the hospital for emergency surgery.

According to a representative for Weta FX, the VFX production company behind the groundbreaking Avatar sequel, Saindon had been experiencing intense gastrointestinal pain throughout the day leading up to the Mar. 12 evening ceremony.

Saindon reportedly checked into the Beverly Hills hospital around noon. After testing negative for appendicitis and kidney stones, the VFX pro was treated with painkillers and decided to attend the awards ceremony.

<em>L-R: Richard Baneham, </em>Eric Saindon, Daniel Barrett, and Joe Letteri accept the Oscar® for Visual Effects during the live ABC telecast of the 95th <a href="https://parade.com/movies/oscars-2023-academy-awards" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Oscars;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">Oscars</a>® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023.<p>Blaine Ohigashi / ©A.M.P.A.S.</p>

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But when it came time to accept the Oscar statuette for Best Visual Effects (and Saindon's first-ever Academy Award win) alongside production senior visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri, visual effects supervisor Richard Baneham and senior animation supervisor Daniel Barrett, Saindon was in more pain than before and was forced to leave his press room interview early before returning to the hospital.

After a second assessment, doctors determined that Saindon suffered from a ruptured small intestine and performed emergency surgery. He is currently in recovery, per the statement shared by his rep.

Saindon, who also served as a VFX supervisor on the original Avatar in 2009, was brought on as the on-set VFX supervisor for The Way of Water. His primary focus was bringing all of the water scenes to life. During production, however, he was promoted to senior VFX supervisor.

Other notable projects he's worked on include Night at the Museum, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Green Knight and The Hobbit trilogy, which earned him his first two Oscar nominations in 2012 and 2013.

Wishing Saindon a speedy and easy recovery!

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