'He jumped like someone shot him': Moment CrossFit athlete was left paralyzed after having his spine severed by dropped barbell

Denver CrossFit coach Kevin Ogar was competing in OC Throwdown when the accident happened



He was performing weightlifting move called 'snatch' when the bar fell, bounced and struck him in the back

CrossFit is intense fitness regimen combining weightlifting, gymnastics and sprinting that was introduced in 2000



A Colorado CrossFit athlete was performing a routine lift during a competition in Southern California over the weekend when he suffered a critical injury to his spine, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.



Tragedy struck Sunday while Kevin Ogar, a coach at a CrossFit gym in Denver, was performing a 'snatch' - a staple move in the sport that combines weightlifting, gymnastics and sprinting.



According to published reports, the 6 foot 1, 210-pound Ogar lifted a heavy barbell to his waist and then over his head, but couldn't hold it, letting the heavy bar plummet to the floor behind him.



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Modern-day gladiator: CrossFit athlete Kevin Ogar, pictured here lifting 275lbs, was left paralyzed from the waist down while competing in California

Fateful moment: Ogar (center) is shown lifting hundreds of pounds of weight in Costa Mesa Sunday 'Freak accident': These images show Ogar trying to lift the bar from the waist over his head, only to have it plummet to the ground behind him

Terrible injury: The bar carrying the weights bounced and struck Ogar in the back, severing his spine and leaving him unable to move his legs

The bar bounced against another set of weights, striking Ogar in the back and severing his spine.



‘When impact was made, he jumped almost like someone shot him,’ Ogar's friend and employer Matt Hathcock told ABC News.



The gravely injured athlete collapsed to the floor inside the Costa Mesa venue hosting the OC Throwdown, unable to move his legs.



The CrossFit enthusiast and his training partners described the devastating injury as a 'freak accident' and insisted that the flourishing sport was not to blame for it.



However, the increasingly popular high-intensity physical regimen has been criticized in recent years by members of the medical community, who have expressed concerns over potential risks to the athletes’ health.



Dr. Vonda Wright, an orthopedic surgeon at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, told ABC News she has seen a spike in the number of CrossFit-related injuries supposedly caused by lack of supervision, bad form and excessive training.

Brave face: This photo of Kevin was posted on Facebook with a message that said he had slept for 5 hours and brushed his own teeth. He has returned to CrossFit following his crippling injury, posting videos of himself completing the same lift that severed his spine Bad move: Ogar, a CrossFit coach from Denver, was performing an Olympic lift when the barbell fell, bounced against another set of weights and struck him in the back, severing his spine Great expectations: Ogar (far left) has been training for years in hopes of qualifying for the annual CrossFit Games competition

‘Kevin has been doing CrossFit for a very long time at a very high level. Are injuries going to occur? Sure, but Kevin's not going to blame the sport,’ Hathcock told ABC. ‘This was not the fault of CrossFit.’



Since it was founded by California fitness coach Greg Glassman in 2000, CrossFit's popularity has exploded in the U.S., with nearly 7,000 privately owned gyms dedicated to the hard-core fitness program.

Every year, Glassman's company, CrossFit Inc, holds CrossFit Games where first-place winners can walk away with as much as $275,000 in prize money and land lucrative sponsorship deals.



As a top-tier athlete, Ogar has been training to compete in the televised Games in the near future. Now, he is fighting to regain the use of his legs.



The Missouri native works part time at a Whole Food supermarket and had no health insurance to cover his mounting medical bills.



Hard-core fitness: CrossFit refers to a high-intensity fitness regimen first introduced in 2000 that combines several athletic disciplines

Let's get physical: CrossFit athletes train in weightlifting, gymnastics and sprinting



To help Ogar with his recovery, the global CrossFit community has rallied around him, raising money towards his costly medical treatment and rehabilitation.



As of Thursday evening, 3,230 people from all over the world have donated just under $200,000 on Fundly.com. His friends and supporters also have been selling T-shirts on the site KevinOgar to help the injured athlete financially.



Ogar has undergone two surgeries so far, had screws and rods inserted in his injured back, and will be moved to a rehab facility in Colorado.

