The bolt broke.

That's how Ryan Stock, a stunt performer from Edmonton, explained how he was shot in the neck with a flaming arrow on live television Tuesday night.

"Amber had a laser sight that was directly on target, right in the middle, and it looked like the back of an arrow that was being fired broke and sent the arrow off the string and sideways," said Stock on the Tuesday episode of America's Got Talent.

"It probably is the reason it didn't go through my neck."

Ryan Stock after swallowing an arrow, shortly before he was shot in neck with a flaming arrow. (NBC)

Stock and Amberlynn Walker, his partner both in life and flaming arrows, have made it all the way to the quarter finals of the variety show, wowing hosts Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, Simon Cowell and Mel B with their dangerous stunts.

"I loved it and I want to see where this will go," said Cowell after Stock auditioned by shoving a meathook up his nose and hanging himself from it.

The trick, Stock's signature move, is called "The Human Meathead."

Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows

Tuesday's stunt opened with Stock and Walker entering a set right out of Leave it to Beaver.

Stock first swallowed a curved sword while the song Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows played in the background. Stock then swallowed a metal funnel with a target on it.

Walker, standing on a ladder, readied a crossbow with a flaming arrow and pulled the trigger.

Amberlynn Walker aiming the crossbow on America's Got Talent. (NBC)

The arrow flew erratically and hit Stock square in the neck while the camera cut to a cringing group of judges. The final verse of Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows played as Stock batted at his neck.

Mandel said he was scared by how far people are willing to go to win the contest.

"I'm still shaking on the inside. I don't want to see anybody get hurt."

Being shot in the neck by a flaming arrow isn't Stock's first brush with fame. He holds five world records including heaviest weight lifted by hooks in the forearm which he broke in Edmonton by piercing his arms and lifting two cement blocks that weighed 32 kilograms.

It didn't go through my neck. I got lucky. - Ryan Stock

Stock also had a show on the Discovery Channel called Guinea Pig where he travelled North America performing stunts.

As for what happened, Stock explained that sometimes tricks just go wrong.

"It got very scary, very fast. That's the nature of live television and dangerous stunts," said Stock.

"I got really lucky. I walked away with a minor injury. It didn't go through my neck. I got lucky."