HAMMOND, La. (WGNO) — A freak accident at the Louisiana Renaissance Fest left a star performer paralyzed.

26-year-old John McKeane took an incredibly hard fall on his neck while jousting last weekend at the Ren Fest on Saturday, November 6.

John also known as ‘Jack’ and his jousting partner Marcus Desmond were doing their lance passes like usual. Tragedy struck on the last pass.

Desmonds lance hit him in the guard but shot up into his buff (the part that protects your face.) The force of the blow lifted Jack up out of the saddle according to Desmond.

The incident happened around 4 p.m. in the second part of their show on opening day.

McKeane has been jousting for 4 years.

“We know the dangers associated with what we do and people have broken bones before but in the 30+ year history of this company, no one has ever broken their back or landed on their neck,” said Desmond.

Desmond said as of right now Mckeane is in good spirits and even cracking jokes which is a good sign.

Friends of John McKeane created a Gofundme to help pay for recovery expenses.

Here is the link to help.

His GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/dd18e27f