YouTuber David Dobrik Sued By Former Friend for $10M Over Near-Fatal Crane Stunt Accident That Left Him With Fractured Skull

YouTuber David Dobrik is being sued by former friend Jeff Wittek for damages after a surviving a near-fatal video stunt.

According to TMZ, Wittek, Dobrik, and a group of friends traveled to Provo, Utah in 2020 to film the bit.

The plan was for a large excavator to be placed in Utah Lake that Dobrik would operate while various friends would try wakeboarding, inner-tubing, and swinging from a rope suspended from the machine.

For the video, Wittek chose to hold on to the rope and be swung around by the excavator. Once he grabbed hold of the rope and the machine began to move, Wittek realized just how fast Dobrik was moving the machine.

Dobrik promptly slowed down, causing Wittek to slam into the machine, sustaining major face and skull injuries, including “breaking his foot, hip, tearing a ligament in his leg and shattering his skull in 9 places,” and Wittek said he “almost lost his eye,” TMZ reported.

Following the incident, both Dobrik and Wittek parted ways. Wittek later revealed in a YouTube video just how close he came to death.

“I nearly died. I came an inch from death and an inch from going blind. I’ll have life-long brain injuries,” he said.

Dobrik has previously commented on the incident repeatedly saying it was “just an accident.” Wittek is suing for damages citing his lost wages from not being able to work following the incident and mounting hospital bills.