Horrifying moment man’s neck is crushed by squat machine at the gym

There is a chance he may never walk again

Regilânio da Silva, 42, was training at the 220 Fit gym in Juazeiro do Norte where he was using a squat plate which was holding up to 150kg of plates.

In the CCTV footage captured on August 4, Da Silva was seen resting in between sets before being hit by the plates as the squat machine collapsed over his neck.

Luckily for the 42-year-old, three men quickly rushed over to the scene and were able to get the weights off before he was taken to hospital.

Da Silva underwent four hours of treatment to stabilise his neck however it is unlikely that he will ever walk again - with doctors giving him a one per cent chance of doing so.

Dr José Correia, a neurosurgeon told Brazilian news outlet G1: "It depends a lot on the degree of injury at first, the level of return of previous functions.

"There are neither motor nor sensitive components, unfortunately. It is the most serious injury there is from the point of view of neurological damage.

"The chance is, statistically, less than 1% of the return of motor and sensitive functions."

Despite the equipment clearly falling on Da Silva, 220 Fit gym have claimed that there was nothing wrong with the machine which had only been purchased two months before. Although there's confusion about how the accident happened, Da Silva's family claim they and the gym equally paid for the cost of his surgery, which amounted to around £5,400.

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