People often say that they feel like they’ve been hit by a car after finishing up in BJJ training, but it’s pretty much the last thing you expect to actually happen. For the practitioners at Leadership Martial Arts Academy in the Steele Creek area of Charlotte, North Carolina, this actually nearly became a reality. WCCB Charlotte initially reported the event where a driver crashed his car straight through the wall of the BJJ academy, including the video of the incident that was captured below. BJJ black belt and academy owner Derek Richardson supplied the footage and gave the following statement to the local news station:
“From what we can tell, the guy hit the curve at such a speed, he jumped over our neighbor’s detention pond, and then through the wall of our facility. He probably came a good 45 feet in the facility with his vehicle.”
The driver was identified as 42 year-old Daniel Duffy and he was immediately rushed to hospital after the accident, although thankfully there were no other parties injured in the crash. From watching the footage below, it becomes clear that the BJJ practitioners were incredibly fortunate that the crash happened when it did. Duffy drove straight across half of the academy’s mats but thankfully the students were all huddled into the opposite corner and able to notice the crash happening, as opposed to being spread out around the academy floor sparring.
Duffy has since been released from hospital and was subsequently charged with reckless driving to endanger, no operator’s license and driving while impaired.
