Avatar: The Way of Water's senior visual effects supervisor had to be rushed to have emergency surgery after his team won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects on Monday in Los Angeles.
Wētā FX's Eric Saindon is now recovering after the operation on his small intestine which had ruptured.
Indiewire reported Saindon was experiencing intense pain throughout the day of the Oscars and had gone to a Beverly Hills hospital around noon.
He'd tested negative for appendicitis and kidney stones and decided to still attend the awards ceremony, and was taking painkillers from his doctors.
After winning the award and accepting the trophy, Saindon experienced more pain and left post-victory interviews to go back to hospital.
It was there the doctors decided to carry out surgery on him.
A spokesperson from Wētā FX confirmed the reports to Newshub and said he was recovering after his surgery.
Saindon first served as on-set VFX supervisor for the film and was responsible for bringing the water scenes to life.
He was promoted to senior VFX supervisor during production.
