Omar Gooding is counting his blessings after surviving a terrifying car crash that left him hospitalized and in serious pain.
The actor and comedian, who is also known as Big O, shared the scary update with fans from his hospital bed while wearing a neck brace. In the video, the 49-year-old made it clear that, despite the frightening injuries, he knows things could have been much worse.
“There will not be a clone of me, I’m good. No surgery needed, thank Jesus,” he said.
Gooding explained that he suffered what doctors call a hangman’s fracture, but said he did not completely break his neck. He also gave a major shoutout to one thing he believes saved his life: his seatbelt.
According to Omar, he was asleep in the back seat of a car on the way to the airport when the crash happened. Because he was buckled up, he believes the outcome was far less devastating than it could have been.
He even joked that after this experience, he should start appearing in seatbelt commercials because he “sure wouldn’t be here without them.”
In the caption of his post, Omar gave fans a fuller picture of what he is dealing with.
“Yes, I was in a bad accident,” he wrote. “No I did not break my neck… completely. Hangman’s fracture is what they call it. GOD IS GOOD.”
He added that he made the post in part so people would stop calling and texting to ask what happened, since he is still in pain and trying to recover.
The Baby Boy and Family Time star said he needs to keep his phone on so family can reach him, but admitted he is not sure how long he will remain hospitalized. He also revealed that his doctor is expecting his recovery to take around three months, which means fans may not see him back to work until summer.
“Stay BLESSED! And tell a loved one you love them … TODAY,” he wrote.
Fans quickly filled the comments with prayers and well wishes, with many saying they were grateful he survived and relieved his injuries were not even worse.
But just a couple of hours later, Omar returned with another raw update that made it clear this is no minor recovery.
“I’m messed up. In a lot of pain. So stop calling me,” he said in another video.
He explained that even talking and laughing hurts right now, and once again asked friends and fans to give him time to heal.
“Wait three months and then call me. I love you all. I’ll be fine, but right now I’m in pain,” he said.
He later summed it up in his caption with a mix of honesty and humor, saying the support means a lot — but right now, he just needs rest because this hurts.
Hope he has a complete recovery.