AGT: What Happened to Daniel Alvarez? The Reason He Uses a Wheelchair Explained
Daniel Alvarez earned four yeses from Simon Cowell, Mel B., Sofia Vergara and Howie Mandel during his America’s Got Talent Season 21 audition. But receiving unanimous approval from the judges was only the beginning of his journey.
Because so many performers advanced from this season’s Auditions, AGT introduced a new Judges’ Callback Round. The additional stage gives the judges another opportunity to evaluate selected contestants before deciding who will move on to the Live Shows.
Daniel was one of Howie Mandel’s callback picks, meaning he had to perform again on the August 11 episode to prove he deserved a place in the Quarterfinals.
The stand-up comedian has also shared an inspiring story about the circumstances that left him using a wheelchair for 18 years.
What happened to Daniel Alvarez?
Daniel was shot in 2007 while leaving a Halloween party.
During his AGT audition, he used humor to talk about the traumatic experience.
“I got shot at a Halloween party. There’s nothing funny about that except the act I was dressed as Spider-Man. Yeah, my spidey senses did not go off,” he joked.
What injury did Daniel Alvarez suffer?
The shooting left Daniel with a T3-T4 complete spinal cord injury.
The bullet struck his back around the T3-T4 vertebrae, located in the middle to upper portion of the back.
The injury has had a permanent impact on his mobility and sensation.
Can Daniel Alvarez walk?
No. Daniel is paraplegic and cannot move or feel anything from his chest down.
He has previously spoken about how difficult it was to adapt to life in a wheelchair after the shooting.
“It has been a very difficult experience having to adjust to life in a wheelchair and not being able to move or feel from the chest down,” he told Voyage LA.
Daniel explained that he had to relearn how to carry out many everyday activities, describing the mental adjustment as the biggest challenge.
“The biggest adjustment has been mental,” he said, adding that people can sometimes view someone in a wheelchair as “less then or not equal” to others.
Now, through his stand-up comedy and his appearance on America’s Got Talent, Daniel has brought that personal experience to a much larger audience while continuing his journey through the competition.