Oscar-winner Eric Saindon was hospitalised shortly after accepting an Academy Award for his work on Avatar: The Way of Water (Picture: A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images)
A visual effects artist who worked on Avatar: The Way Of Water was hospitalised and underwent surgery just after accepting an Academy Award for his work.
Eric Saindon was part of the visual effects team on James Cameron’s much-anticipated sequel, and on Sunday accepted the award for best visual effects along with colleagues Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham and Daniel Barrett.
The artist had been in pain all day, according to his mother, Lila, who spoke to News Center Maine, and attended hospital hours before the ceremony.
Doctors believed Eric could be suffering from kidney stones or even appendicitis, but he was ‘determined’ to be part of the potentially once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be at the Oscars.
And so, while at the hospital, he put on his tuxedo and headed to the ceremony.
However the pain continued, and while Eric fought through it enough to walk on stage and collect the award, he later doubled over in pain during the ceremony and was rushed back to the hospital – via a limousine.
Eric had attended the ceremony with his fellow VFX colleagues (Picture: Getty Images for Bafta)
It was the only win for Avatar at the 2023 Academy Awards (Picture: AP)
His mother explained that he was found to have ruptured his small intestine and was brought straight into surgery and intensive care following an operation.
She added that he was unlikely to be fit to return to his home in New Zealand for several weeks.
Eric and the Avatar visual effects team are part of New Zealand company Weta FX, with a rep telling Entertainment Tonight that he was ‘doing okay’ in hospital.
He was ‘recovering as we speak,’ the rep went on, adding it was lucky ‘he left when he did’ as ‘a rupture is serious stuff.’
Teh team had previously won a Bafta for their work on the film (Picture: Getty Images)
Oscar winners 2023
Here are the winners for the 95th Oscar Awards:
Best motion picture of the year
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Brendan Fraser in The Whale
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Ke Huy Quan in Everything Everywhere All at Once
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All at Once
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Jamie Lee Curtis in Everything Everywhere All at Once
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
Naatu Naatu from RRR, Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose
Achievement in directing
Everything Everywhere All at Once – Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
Best animated feature film of the year
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Achievement in cinematography
All Quiet on the Western Front
Achievement in costume design
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Best documentary feature
Navalny
Best documentary short subject
The Elephant Whisperers
Achievement in film editing
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Best international feature film of the year
All Quiet on the Western Front – Germany
Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
The Whale
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
All Quiet on the Western Front – Volker Bertelmann
Achievement in production design
All Quiet on the Western Front
Best animated short film
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Best live action short film
An Irish Goodbye
Achievement in sound
Top Gun: Maverick
Achievement in visual effects
Avatar: The Way of Water
Adapted screenplay
Women Talking
Original screenplay
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Eric and his colleagues clinched the only Oscars win for Avatar, with the highly acclaimed Everything Everywhere All At Once sweeping the board with a whopping seven awards.
Leading star Michelle Yeoh took home the trophy for best actress, beating out stiff competition from Michelle Williams, Cate Blanchett, Andrea Riseborough and Ana de Armas.
Elsewhere, Everything Everywhere All At Once took home many of the big statues available at the Oscars, including the best supporting actor award for Ke Huy Quan earlier in the night.
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Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – known professionally as the Daniels – walked away with the best director award, as well as overall best picture.
Jamie Lee Curtis, who played IRS auditor Deirdre Beaubeirdra, also nabbed her first ever Academy award for the role, and sobbed on stage during her speech.
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MORE : Bafta-winning Avatar: The Way of Water VFX team tease ‘terrific scenes’ in third movie
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Eric was in pain througout the day but was determined to make the Oscars.