CHANDIGARH: Renowned Hollywood cinematographer George Richmond — the visual mastermind behind blockbusters such as Deadpool & Wolverine, Free Guy and Rocketman — is recovering after undergoing a life-saving, high-precision spinal surgery at PGI Chandigarh on Thursday.Richmond, 54, was rushed to the premier tertiary care hospital in a critical condition following a 25-foot fall during a paragliding accident in Himachal Pradesh. The impact initially left him with quadriplegia (complete paralysis of all four limbs).The accident took place on June 9 in the remote, high-altitude Deo Tibba region of Kullu district. Richmond was on a multi-day bivouac flying expedition — a style of cross-country paragliding in which pilots fly during the day and camp in remote wilderness areas at night. Having taken off from the world-famous paragliding site at Bir Billing, he crashed during a difficult take-off attempt at an altitude of 4,000 metres.A rescue operation coordinated by the Indian Air Force and the British Embassy successfully evacuated him by helicopter. After initial stabilisation at Kullu Regional Hospital, he was airlifted directly to the Advanced Trauma Centre at PGI Chandigarh as a high-priority "red-alert" emergency.Upon reaching PGI, Richmond's condition was extremely fragile. The impact had caused a near-total loss of motor function, leaving him with only faint, barely perceptible "flicker movements" in his lower legs, according to the treating doctors at PGI.Furthermore, because the trauma occurred at the upper neck level, his ability to breathe independently was under immediate threat. The injury compromised the critical nerve pathways that control the diaphragm, the primary muscle responsible for inflating the lungs.The medical team said that the fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae in his neck had become completely misaligned, crushing the delicate spinal cord inside. A stable fracture was also detected in the uppermost vertebra at the base of the skull.A multidisciplinary team of neurosurgeons, orthopaedic spine specialists and cardiac anaesthetists was immediately mobilised. Led by Dr Vishal Kumar, a senior orthopaedic spine surgeon holding prestigious British fellowships (FRCS), the team carried out an intricate, life-saving emergency procedure.“The entire newly aligned section of the neck was permanently anchored using a titanium plate secured with four specialized medical screws to ensure absolute structural stability. Now we are confident of making him mobile in few days by providing him world class care here,” said Dr Vishal.The Hollywood veteran is currently being monitored round the clock in the ICU. Plans are already underway to introduce a physical therapy regimen designed to help retrain damaged nerve pathways.