A DAREDEVIL Britain's Got Talent star, who almost died in a horrific on-set accident which left him paralysed, has revealed he has embarked on a surprising new career.
Famous escapologist Jonathan Goodwin was left unable to walk and suffered horrific injuries after a stunt on America’s Got Talent's Extreme version went badly wrong.
He refused to think this was his worst nightmare, but viewed his survival as a second chance in life.
The 43-year-old has now retrained as a hypnotherapist, helping others overcome issues such as anxiety and insomnia.
He’s treated celebrities such as his fiancé, Sherlock actress Amanda Abbington, who struggled with anxiety for 30 years, and ex Pussycat Doll star Kimberly Wyatt to resolve her negative feelings.
He says: “It'd be very easy for me to look at my situation and be like, ‘Woe is me, I'm so unlucky, I've had all of these terrible things happen to me.
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"Or I could look at the same situation and be like, ‘Oh my God, I'm so lucky, I got a second chance, I can still cuddle my daughter, kiss my fiancé, sip a margarita and watch the sunset'. That second chance at life is something that I am incredibly grateful for every day.
"I’m grateful for the opportunity to do all the new things that I'm doing. I retrained as a hypnotherapist and spend my days helping people.
"There are so many people at the minute that are dealing with difficult psychological challenges, hypnotherapy genuinely helps with unwanted feelings, emotions, and behaviours.
“It gets a bad rep and I'm putting all of my effort into moving that needle to make people understand that it's beneficial and can really help."
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Jonathan is renowned for his daredevil stunts such as being buried in concrete and hanging from an aircraft by his feet.
He’s appeared on numerous TV shows in the UK and US after being given a telly break through his affiliation with good friend Derren Brown, whom he met while they were both living in Bristol.
In 2019, Jonathan was a finalist on Britain’s Got Talent and, a year later, got to the semis of the US version.
In October 2021, he appeared on America’s Got Talent Extreme, where he was supposed to escape from a straitjacket while upside down 30 feet in the air, suspended between two cars, but became crushed between the vehicles, which burst into flames.
"I broke my legs, suffered massive third degree burns, injured my liver, destroyed one of my kidneys, broke ribs, punctured a lung, broke both my shoulders, and had a T11 spinal cord injury,” said Jonathan.
He was then was airlifted to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, where he nearly died again as the shards of broken spine could have sliced crucial arteries or veins while he underwent emergency treatment.
After suffering these devastating injuries, he was also told by the doctor he’d never walk again, which Jonathan thinks was the wrong call to make.
"The same surgeon that told me about the shards, he said my injuries were the worst he'd ever seen, and he also told me I'd never walk again.
"I think that’s really not great to say to someone if you're newly injured and you're dealing with everything that’s come your way.
I have spent my lifetime confronting physical challenges."
"What am I supposed to do with that? I think it's a real mistake, if your job involves conveying life-changing information, you have to do it with care.
"I'm a very pragmatic person, I’m lucky, I took it with a grain of salt.
“I feel like it’d a bit of a waste of energy, that negativity, and I'd rather get on and deal with the things that I can deal with. I have spent my lifetime confronting physical challenges.
"It felt like somebody was handing me the keys to a car, which I already knew how to drive."
He was airlifted to St. Mary's Hospital, in Paddington, where he received “fantastic care by the NHS” for another month before spending a further three months going through spinal rehab at London's Wellington Hospital.
REHAB LIKE A 'PRISON'
"Prior to my accident, I'd always considered that rehab was a place that you go a couple of times a week, but, essentially, it's a prison, albeit a very nice one, because you're imprisoned by your injury.
"You can't do anything, it’s like somebody waved a magic wand, and you've become an adult baby. You have to learn everything all over again,” he adds.
Jonathan’s injuries meant that he had no feeling below the waist, so has no control over his bladder or bowel.
He says: “This is the grim stuff, but I'm happy to talk about it, as it’s also one of the biggest issues. When you’re paralysed, people think about you not being able to walk.
“But, actually, it’s everything that's below the level of your injury that doesn't work.
“Although every spinal injury is different, in my case, I work perfectly well from the waist up, and from the waist down, I don't work at all. That includes my bladder and bowel.
"You can't do anything, it’s like somebody waved a magic wand, and you've become an adult baby."
"As for my bladder, I have to use a catheter and, as far as the bowels go, the part of the tube that pushes stuff along doesn't work. So I have to do that digitally [with my fingers] in the old fashioned sense of the word.
"This is a skill, and when you're newly injured, you don't have that skill. So, every morning in hospital, somebody comes along and they get acquainted with you very quickly.
"On more than one occasion during my stay in hospital, there was nobody who was qualified to do that, nobody knew that skill. And so, in that instance, you start to back up.
"I know that sounds funny, but it's a very serious thing and it can result in quite a major physical condition and, in severe cases, even death.”
Some of the things Jonathan laments is the sense of touch and being able to walk on the beach with Amanda.
“It's the small things that you miss, I used to go to the beach with Amanda, and the beach is one of the least accessible places that you can go now.
"The idea of not being able to feel the sand squishing between your toes, or paddle, that's affecting, that's probably the saddest part of it for me – the loss of touch, as much as the loss of the ability to stand and walk,” Jonathan said.
DIFFERENT GOALS
"I was always a very, very capable person. I hate the idea of not being able to do the things that I that I used to be able to do, help out around the house, mow the lawn, that sort of thing. It's difficult for me to be useful, but you just find other ways to be beneficial.
"I wouldn't say I'm happy because I'm paralysed, but I'm happy because I'm in a wonderful relationship and have different goals.
"Not because I now spend all my time sitting down, but it's because of other things that happened at the same time.
"I'm not a person that looks back, they told me that I was paralysed, and my response was, ‘Okay'. They told me that I would never walk again, and my response was, ‘All right'. There wasn't a moment where I spent any time thinking about the loss.
"The message I have for people who’ve suffered serious injuries – take every moment as it comes.
"Your past and your future just exist in your head. While that seems obvious, I think a lot of people spend a lot of time lamenting the past or worrying about the future.
"I think all of that is wasted energy. I've always done everything that I can do to live in this moment, because it's the only moment that we have any control."
NEW CAREER
Jonathan has now found a new career in hypnotherapy, with fiancé Amanda revealing on Instagram that a session with him had relieved her anxiety, which she’d suffered for decades from.
Another happy client is Pussycat Doll Kimberly, with Jonathan sharing a video on social media where she "discusses anxiety, parenting and is hypnotised to release unwanted unconscious feelings”.
He adds: “People are very suspicious of hypnotherapy because they’ve only seen cheesy entertainers on TV that are going to make you think you're a penguin!
"It's very misunderstood and I really want people to understand. It's a panacea, something that can help with any number of unwanted feelings, behaviours, emotions, and medical conditions.
“It’s learning in a way that we're not used to learning because we are used to learning consciously. Hypnosis is a controlled method of learning unconsciously.
"And so it feels weird because your information isn't coming in by the traditional route, but it's incredibly effective. I’ve currently got an 85 per cent success rate.
“It's not a therapy, which requires you to sit and talk about what's happened to you, you don't have to talk about past traumas like in psychotherapy. We're trying to reprogram some of those things that we've learned that maybe aren't beneficial to us.”
Jonathan is speaking out in support of Brain Research UK, the leading charity dedicated to funding research into neurological conditions, which teams up with the country’s top universities on pioneering work into spinal cord and brain injuries.
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He says: "The developments in technology that are occurring at the minute, the spinal cord research is coming on at such a pace, that the things we'll be doing in ten years probably haven't even been thought of yet. There's never been a better time to be a spinal patient.
“It really feels to me like being a member of the Apollo crew. While I may not get to walk on the moon, even just being part of of this field, is very exciting.”
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