Former All Black Sonny Bill Williams shares 'near-death experience while lifting weights at home

"Wow that was dangerous." Photo credit: Twitter @sonnybwilliams

This article was first published in May 2023.

Former All Black and NRL star Sonny Bill Williams has shared his "near-death experience" while lifting weights at his home gym.

Sharing a video on Twitter on Tuesday, Williams appears to be finishing a set at 120kgs on portable squat stands when his re-rack turned sour. 

Williams put the weighted bar back on the rack but appeared to have misjudged the placement of the bar on the right-hand side. 

The right-hand side of the bar falls dramatically, closely catching Williams' neck before he quickly steps away from the bar entirely. 

Just moments after Williams steps away the left-hand side of the bar falls too, taking the same side of the rack with it.

Williams walks back into the shot with a sore hand and he's seen shaking off the pain. 

"Near-death experience on 3! 1… 2…" Williams said in the video caption. 

Followers of Williams have reacted to his video, with one saying: "You are lucky."

"Wow that was dangerous," replied another.

"I hope you are fine."

"You need to get yourself much stabler squatting rack, remind me of me," suggested another. 

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