Grover C. Magnus 
Actress Lucy Lawless is today asking fans to help her raise money to cover the cost of surgery for her stuntwoman who was seriously injured while filming in New Zealand.
Dayna Grant, who has done stunt work on shows such as Wonder Woman 1984, Mad Max, Amazon’s Lord Of The Rings TV series and Xena: Warrior Princess, has suffered a traumatic brain injury.
Set up on Monday to provide help, the ‘Donate a Little’ crowdfunding page says she underwent CT scans and MRIs, which showed she had an 8mm aneurysm.
The page also says his operation will cost NZ$60,000, or around £30,000.
(Image: daynastunts/Instagram)
Ms Grant was working on the new multi-million pound Lord Of The Rings TV series currently in production in New Zealand and produced by Amazon Studios when she was injured.
A source from Amazon Studios confirmed that Dayna fell and suffered a mild concussion on set.
However, the studio also said doctors cleared her to work and she continued on four more productions as well as her weekend stunt school, called NZ Stunt School.
Last night, the stuntwoman said through tears, “Hi everyone, I just wanted to say this. I’m absolutely speechless with all the love and support from everyone all over the world.
“I can’t write it in a message, I just wanted to reply to you all but I can’t. Thank you very much!”
Lucy Lawless, the well-known star of Xena: Warrior Princess, tweeted her 300,000 followers to help defray the cost of Dayna’s surgery.
She also disputed why New Zealand health cover did not cover the injury.
The fundraising page says: “As is often the case with these things, insurance and liability is a maze of paperwork and life-threatening delays in the public health care system.”
“Immediate, private surgery costs NZ$60,000.” is what Dayna needs.
Dayna Grant has three children, the youngest of whom is only seven years old.
“We would like to give Dayna’s friends, the Whanau Film (family), including the Stunt community and fans of her work around the world, the opportunity to help,” the page continues.
“If you know and love Dayna, have enjoyed her work, or shared her training/inspirational workshops, please help us get her back to health as soon as possible and with the best care.”
(Image: (Credit too long, see caption))
As of Tuesday, the page had raised more than 67,000 New Zealand dollars, or around £34,000, to cover Dayna’s operation, surpassing the fundraising target in around a day.
Since being the stunt double for Lucy Lawless in the iconic Xena: Warrior Princess, Dayna has been a stunt double for stars including Charlize Theron, Tilda Swinton, Lynda Carter, Gwyneth Paltrow, Bridget Regan and Ingrid Bolso Berdal.
In 2020, she starred in Wonder Woman 1984 and has been in the industry for 20 years.
The Lord of the Rings series, considered the most expensive television series ever made, began filming in February 2020.
Filming was halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but restarted in September 2020 and tThe first episode is scheduled for this year.
