A distressing video shows the moment a US Army veteran and YouTuber had a missile rocket launcher blow up in his hands during a ballistic test-gone-wrong, leaving him with a fractured skull and horrific burns.
Adam Knowles and his team at the popular weapons-testing YouTube channel Ballistic High-Speed were shooting a video in November demonstrating the effects of backblast – the release of hot gasses from the back of a rocket launcher — when the stunt ended in what one of the crew members described as a “catastrophic failure.”
On the final shot of the day on Nov. 13, as Knowles mounted an RPG-7 launcher onto his shoulder to show what would happen to a ballistic dummy’s head positioned directly behind him in an open field, the weapon exploded, engulfing him in flames.
The devastating impact of the blast ripped the helmet and goggles Knowles was wearing clean off his head and knocked him unconscious to the ground.
Frantic crew members immediately jumped into action, rushing to Knowles’ aid as he lay injured in a cloud of smoke, with blood streaming from a wound on his cheeks and his arms charred.
Someone could be heard yelling “call 911!” while another person remarked that the veteran was “bleeding from his face,” as seen in the video of the accident that the retired serviceman only recently had a chance to view for the first time.
Knowles was filmed sitting down with another member of his team to watch and analyze the dramatic footage capturing his near-death experience, which Ballistic High-Speed posted Sunday on its YouTube channel, where it has already been viewed more than 1.5 million times.
Knowles, still wearing bandages on his arms, appeared visibly stunned by the video and exclaimed, “Holy s–t!”
He admitted that he had no recollection the explosion or its immediate aftermath.
“I remember counting down to one, and then next thing I knew I was on the ground and my arms were entirely black,” Knowles said.
The accident left the veteran with a fractured skull, a brain bleed, a broken jaw, third-degree burns on at least 10% of his body, cuts on his face and chest, and several pieces of shrapnel embedded in his body, along with long-term nerve damage.
Knowles has undergone multiple surgeries and received skin grafts for his burns, leaving him with a $300,000 medical bill, according to an online fundraiser started by a friend.
More than a month later, Knowles said he is feeling “a lot better” but still has a long road to a full recovery.
Despite his very close call, the former serviceman-turned-YouTuber said he was ready to move forward and continue making videos.