The Horrifying Moment a Man Snaps His Spine While Lifting Weights

The video footage taken of a Colorado man lifting weights at a competition in California shows him pushing hundreds of pounds over his head. Within seconds, his legs gave out and the weight dropped behind him, hitting his back.

In that moment, Kevin Ogar's spine was severed. He is now paralyzed from the waist down.

CrossFit coach Kevin Ogar severed his spinal cord in an accident while lifting weights at a competition in California over the weekend. (Image source: YouTube)

The incident occurred Sunday when Ogar was lifting in an athletic competition. Back in Englewood, Colo., he's a coach at the gym CrossFit Unbroken.

"It was just kind of a freak accident,” Christian Lucero, also a CrossFit athlete, told KCNC-TV.

Watch this censored and edited video of the accident:

Ogar's boss and training partner, Matt Hathcock told ABC News that CrossFit shouldn't get a bad reputation because of this accident.

"You can get injured doing anything, playing soccer, football. I'm sure you can get injured doing curling," Hathcock said.

Now, the community is rallying around Ogar to support him and his family, as the man, who also worked part-time at Whole Foods, did not have medical insurance.

Kevin Ogar lifting at a different time, prior to the accident. (Image source: Front Range CrossFit)

Monday, the man in his 20s had surgery fusing his T11 vertebra and underwent further surgery Tuesday, a blog updating followers on Ogar's progress reported.

The CrossFit community started a funding site to help the family with medical bills, raising more than $207,000 of their $250,000 goal at the time of this article's posting Friday.

Watch KCNC-TV's report about the community rallying around Ogar:

Ogar's father told KSDK-TV from a California hospital Thursday his son is already wearing a back brace and having physical therapy sessions.

"Spirit-wise, he's doing pretty good," Vince Ogar told the news station.

"The CrossFit community has shown up in force. They've been awesome. Not just their support financially, but their support with prayers and coming by to see Kev," the father continued. "It's amazing."

This story has been updated.

(H/T: Daily Mail)