A Mainer who just won an Oscar is recovering from sepsis.
Eric Saindon, 53, who graduated from Gorham High School in 1988, worked on visual effects for “Avatar: the Way of Water,” which secured the Oscar for VFX Sunday night.
His mother told CBS 13 that while preparing for the big night, Saindon had doubled over in pain, so he and his wife went to the hospital before the ceremony.
Doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong, and with Saindon determined to get to the show, they left for the Oscars anyway.
Saindon ended up winning an Oscar for visual effects.
Afterward, when he left with his family, he collapsed during a talk with reporters.
Doctors figured out he had a ruptured, small intestine and he was developing sepsis, which can be life-threatening.
Saindon’s mother said her son is recovering in the hospital and expected to return home in the weeks ahead.
Saindon got his start working in animation in California, and in 1999, went to work for Weta, which was in the process of creating the visual effects for Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. He has been effects supervisor on films such as “Night at the Museum,” “X-Men: The Last Stand” and all three “Hobbit” films.
Today, Saindon lives in New Zealand with his wife and four children. Saindon was previously nominated for an Oscar for his visual effects work on “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” in 2014 and “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” in 2013, neither of which he won.