ZDF under fire after bungled live TV stunt

Germany’s public broadcaster ZDF is under attack after a stunt on its flagship entertainment programme went wrong leaving a young man in a critical condition.

Samuel Koch was trying to jump over five moving cars assisted by spring-loaded stilts.

But the fourth attempt went horribly wrong and the 23 year old ended up motionless on the ground with severe spinal injuries.

The live Saturday night show ‘Wetten, dass…?’ — meaning ‘you want to bet?’ — is a national institution in Germany. It was taken off air for the first time in its 29-year history.

Doctors operated on Koch for two and half hours, then put him into an artificial coma.

Wolfgang Raab from Düsseldorf University Hospital said: “The patient’s life is not in danger at the moment, but his condition is still very critical and he has to be treated in intensive care.”

The future of the TV programme now looks increasingly uncertain with critics claiming the stunts have become more and more dangerous in ZDF’s battle to win prime-time viewers.

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