Three months after fracturing his neck in a major bicycle accident, MTV’s “Catfish” host Nev Schulman is ready to run the New York City Marathon.
Schulman is expected to take off from the marathon starting line this Sunday, Nov. 3, defying the predictions of some who thought he’d never walk again.
“I just remember the look on every nurse and doctor’s face as they came into the room for the first time,” Schulman told the New York Post. “[They were] expecting me to be some version of paralyzed, and being so shocked, and almost confused.
“They’d all come in and do the same tests every few hours. They would touch my feet and they’d say, ‘Do you feel this?’ . . . I became very aware over the course of that first 48 hours [in the ICU] how close I came to not potentially walking out of the hospital — or walking — ever again.”
Schulman is the host of MTV’s “Catfish,” the famed show following the journey of couples who have formed an online relationship, but have never met in person, and might not match the images they’ve presented online.
He was riding his bike in the Hamptons in August to pick up his son from camp. When he tried to merge into a lane of traffic, he slammed into a truck.
“And somehow in the moments that I looked over my shoulder . . . traffic had come to a stop and I actually rear ended a truck, flew over my handlebars, and hit my head into the back of this truck,” he said.
Doctors rushed him to Stony Brook Hospital for surgery after discovering the neck fracture.
But Schulman was already planning his comeback, asking his doctor when he could start running again.
“He’s like, ‘You’re going to be in a neck brace for at least six weeks . . . I wouldn’t expect to run any marathons this year for sure,’” Schulman said.
Schulman ran last year’s marathon with blind runner Francesco Magisano. He was about to give up his hopes for 2024’s race — until Magisano texted him.
“I said, ‘Yeah, I’m feeling pretty s–ty . . . I wouldn’t count on me to be your guide,’” Schulman said.
“And his response was, ‘Nev, I want to run it with you. I don’t care how fast or slow we go. If you feel like there’s a chance you might be able to do it, I’ll wait.’”
After Schulman’s six-week follow-up X-ray showed he had healed, he began training, to the amazement of his doctor.
“I said, ‘Am I cleared to run,’” Schulman noted said. “And I actually recorded a video of him saying it so I could show my wife, because I knew she wouldn’t believe me.”
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