Mark Joseph Connolly was run over on the set of Mission: Impossible - and died a few hours after receiving million in compensation

In 1999, filming took place for Mission: Impossible 2, an action spectacle starring Tom Cruise. An accident occurred on the set of this production, in which stuntman Mark Joseph Connolly suffered serious injuries (via FilmStarts).

The man was hit by an airborne motorcycle. After the accident, Connolly had a broken collarbone and suffered from constant pain and limited function in his right arm. After these events, it was impossible for him to continue his stunt career, and Mission: Impossible 2 was his last movie.

Connolly sued the second unit director Billy Burton for negligence in safety duties that led to his accident.

Burton was the director of the action scene in which Connolly participated and was injured. As determined by the New South Wales Supreme Court, Burton instructed the stuntman to stand in a specific spot during the filming of a scene in which a motorcycle was to fly past him in the air. Connolly, along with another stuntman, was supposed to be facing away from the motorcycle and firing blind shots at a helicopter circling nearby.

The court found that there was a high risk of injury if Connolly didn’t receive the appropriate visual cue to move out of the motorcycle's path at the right moment.

In the judge's opinion, although an audible signal could have been given, it wouldn’t have fulfilled its function due to the noise on the set – Connolly might not have heard it, which increased the risk of an accident.

As the judge said:

Eight years after the accident, a verdict was reached in the case, awarding Connolly 1 018 253 dollars in damages. It was announced on Friday, December 14, 2007, at 10:40 a.m. Unfortunately, the case didn’t have a happy ending, as a few hours later, at 2:00 p.m., Mark Joseph Connolly died of pancreatic cancer.

Aware of the bad health of Mark Joseph Connolly, who had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in May 2007, the judge wanted the case to be resolved that year, which it was, but only a few hours before the stuntman's death.

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