‘AGT’: What Happened to Daniel Alvarez? Reason for His Wheelchair, Explained

Daniel Alvarez received four yeses from judges Simon Cowell, Mel B., Sofia Vergara, and Howie Mandel after his America’s Got Talent Season 21 audition. However, he still has to prove himself before earning a place in the Live Shows.

Because so many acts made it through the Auditions round this season, the show added a new Judges’ Callback Round, giving the judges an opportunity to see certain acts perform one more time before deciding whether they would move forward. Daniel was one of Howie Mandel’s callback picks and will have to impress him (again) during the August 11 episode if he wants to make the Quarterfinals.

Daniel is a stand-up comedian who came to the show with an inspiring background story about how he ended up in a wheelchair for 18 years. Ahead of his return to the stage, scroll down for a refresh on what happened to him.

What happened to Daniel Alvarez?

Daniel was shot while leaving a Halloween party in 2007. He joked about the situation in his AGT audition, saying, “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.”

What is Daniel Alvarez’s injury?

Daniel’s injury was a T3-T4 complete spinal cord injury. The bullet hit his back in the T3-T4 vertebrae region, which is in the middle/upper region of the back.

Can Daniel Alvarez walk?

No, Daniel cannot walk. He is a paraplegic and cannot move or feel anything from his chest down.

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“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 previously told Voyage LA. “I’ve had to learn how to do almost everything again. The biggest adjustment has been mental. People see you as less then or not equal to the when your in a chair.”

America’s Got Talent, Season 21, Tuesdays, 8/7c, NBC