Brave Cast Member Who Stopped Indiana Jones Boulder Suffered Fractured Vertebrae

It’s been over two weeks since Robert Herrick stepped in front of the runaway 400-pound boulder at the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular at Walt Disney World. Now, the Cast Member many are calling a “Hero” is speaking out about the incident.

Herrick has worked at the Hollywood Studio show for over 30 years. And on December 30, 2025, he stepped in front of the runaway set piece headed for the audience.

In the now viral video, Herrick is thrown back when the boulder hits him, and his head is bloodied when other Cast Members sit him up.  He later returned to wave at the crowd before heading in for medical treatment. He has two broken vertebrae in his neck and will need to wear the neck brace for about eight more weeks.

Indiana Jones Incident Video
byu/the_busta_25 inWaltDisneyWorld

In an interview with WFTV Herrick described the ordeal, but he doesn’t think of himself as a “hero”

“There was no thought about that at all [being a hero]. My only thought was ‘That thing could reach the audience’.”

He also said,

“I was probably out of my seat before it went over the thing, without any thought of what was going to happen…. I can’t tell you that I was just thinking of anything other than it cannot make the audience. Anyone that sees that and the way it propels me backwards, it’s not 10 pounds.”

The news anchor spoke about Herrick after the interview, saying, 

“And you could tell in his response to me, he was so humble when he spoke about this. He said there are so many people doing good deeds every single day, including the doctors and nurses that took care of him after this happened. He said the only difference between him and them is that they don’t have 2,000 people watching in a crowd with cell phones out.

He also misses the show, his “Epic Family”, and the audience, 

“I miss my epic family, and I miss the audience, I missed the audience, I missed that little girl and the big eyes watching the show that I get a chance to make magic for people every day.”

Here is the interview

When we talk about the “Disney Difference” and I say that “the Cast Members are that difference”, people like Herrick prove it to be true.

We wish him a speedy recovery so he can return to doing what he loves.

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