The Tragedy That Changed Hallmark Star Niall Matter's Life Forever

Niall Matter may have made a name for himself as an actor, but his journey started a world away from the small screen. Raised on a dairy farm in a family of oil riggers, the "Eureka" alum spent his early years undertaking manual work. That was until the Hallmark star survived a serious accident that nearly cost him his life. That's when he decided to turn his focus to acting. While the decision may sound like a complete 180-turn for a rural Canadian bred for blue-collar work, Matter had been investing in his artistic abilities for years.

Matter signed up for a drama class when he was 13 after a teacher suggested it. A typical sports-loving teenager, he initially laughed the advice off but ultimately believed it would be an easy credit. "I didn't think drama was a joke," he told the Ottawa Citizen in 2007. "I just never thought of me performing in front of people." But his talents needed no time to shine through. In 1999, the year he graduated, Matter won best actor in a local drama championship.

He loved every second spent onstage. Offstage, however, Matter was prone to getting into trouble. At a loss, his parents sent him off to the oilfield with his grandfather for three months. "It knocked the attitude right out of me," he admitted. But he enjoyed the work and saw in it an opportunity to fund his acting ambitions. Matter kept going back until he joined the list of Hallmark stars whose lives changed following a near-death experience.

After graduating high school, Niall Matter left Edmonton, Alberta, behind to study at the Vancouver Film School. To make ends meet in the expensive West Coast city, he kept flying back and forth to work in the oil rigs until he was 25. That's when he suffered a near-fatal accident that forced him to change his life. Matter rolled over in a drilling rig, entrapping the right side of his body. "I got to the hospital [and] they wanted to amputate my right leg, initially," he told Hallmark's Home and Family (via Woman's World).

While he was able to avoid amputation, Matter's leg was severely damaged. "I ripped my quad muscle off my femur, and I had something called compartment syndrome," he told the Chicago Tribune in 2011, referring to a condition that happens when pressure around the muscle leads to blood-flow restriction. The recovery was slow and painful. "It took me about six months to learn how to walk again," he said.

Matter returned to the job. On his first week back, he watched a worker suffer a similar accident — with a more tragic ending. "I actually witnessed a guy leave his legs on the rig," he said. He quit the next day and started supporting himself through bartending. Despite the sad event in the Hallmark star's life, his luck was about to change. A month later, he landed the lead role on "Beyond Loch Ness," and the rest is history.