SNL Star Jorma Taccone Survives 20-Foot Fall: 'I'm Insanely Lucky to Be Alive'
JORMA TACCONE'S DARING FALL: Comedian's Terrifying Accident Leaves Him Temporarily Unable to Walk
In a jaw-dropping turn of events, SNL alum and comedian Jorma Taccone has suffered a harrowing fall from a rickety ladder at his Connecticut farmhouse, leaving him temporarily unable to walk. The 48-year-old funnyman is still reeling from the accident, which he recalled in vivid detail during an exclusive interview on The Lonely Island & Seth Meyers Podcast.
Taccone's near-death experience has left him shaken, but grateful to be alive. "I'm insanely lucky," he said, his voice trembling as he recounted the terrifying incident. "I mean, I've been in some crazy situations before, but this one was different. This one was life-changing."
According to Taccone, the accident occurred on a fateful morning when he was preparing for his daughter's fifth birthday party at their farmhouse in Connecticut. As part of his DIY project to build a mural on the barn, he had borrowed a rickety ladder from a neighbor without realizing its precarious condition.
"I was painting this barn, and as a final touch, I wanted to hang these lights that would highlight the barn," Taccone explained. "I used this ladder that my neighbor let me borrow, but he warned me it wasn't stable. I told him, 'It'll be fine,' and now I'm paying the price."
As Taccone ascended the rickety ladder, which was leaning at a diagonal angle with no footing or support, disaster struck. "When this happens, I'm probably 20 feet off the ground on this very wobbly ladder," he recalled. "The legs were bad, and the base of the ladder wasn't secure. In that moment, my life flashed before my eyes. I thought, 'Oh no, I've got to get off this ladder.'"
In a split second, the ladder gave way beneath him, sending Taccone plummeting towards the ground. He remembered feeling weightless for an instant before crashing onto his buttocks. "It was like time slowed down," he said. "I saw the yard below me and thought, 'This is going to hurt a lot.'"
After the fall, Taccone screamed in agony as he struggled to get up. "It wasn't the coolest way to start the day, especially since it was my daughter's birthday party," he chuckled wryly.
The comedian was taken to the hospital, where doctors delivered devastating news: Taccone had shattered his pelvis on the left side and suffered a detached sacrum from his spine. A damaged disc also needed to be removed. "It takes time to schedule surgery because they want to do both parts – front and back," he explained.
The road to recovery for Taccone is expected to take around six months, with a grueling regimen of physical therapy ahead. While he's managed to get up with assistance, his doctors have cautioned him that acute rehab will be necessary to achieve full mobility. "It's definitely no joke," he said, his voice filled with determination.
Despite the setback, Taccone is taking his recovery in stride. "The doctors all agree – I'll be walking within three to six months and back to my normal self," he assured his fans.
As news of the accident spread, Taccone's friends and colleagues rallied around him, including his SNL bandmates Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer. The trio has been collaborating on music projects as part of their comedy troupe, The Lonely Island.
With a career spanning over two decades, Taccone has made his mark in Hollywood with films like MacGruber (2010) and Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016), which he co-wrote and directed. His marriage to film director Marielle Heller in 2007 has also brought him joy, along with their son born in 2014 and daughter in 2020.
As Taccone navigates this new chapter in his life, fans are sending get-well wishes and holding onto the hope that he'll be back on stage and screen in no time.
