American comedian Adam Devine was told by experts that he may only have a few years left to live after getting hit by a cement truck when he was just a kid.
Just a month before he and his wife welcomed their new baby boy last year, doctors gave the Pitch Perfect star a fatal six-year diagnosis.
He was told that he may suffer from a rare autoimmune disorder called stiff-person syndrome (SPS), which is a phenomenon where one’s muscles get so tight that they render the person immobile.
Highlights
- Actor Adam Devine was given approximately six years to live due a cement truck accident he was involved in at 11 years old.
- Doctors say he suffers from “stiff-person syndrome” but the man who coined that phrase said it wasn’t applicable to the actor.
- Devine still suffers from “unexplainable” spasms and pains to this day, especially after sitting or standing for too long.
- The actor optimistically views the accident as a major reason he was able to find success in Hollywood.
With the heart also being a muscle, it would cease beating, as well.
Adam Devine was told he only had six years to live after he was hit by a cement truck at 11 years old
Image credits: Christopher Polk / Getty
During Wednesday’s (April 2) episode of the In Depth With Graham Besinger podcast, the 41-year-old dove a little deeper into what happened that fateful day when he was 11 years old, fueled by the simple desire of wanting to buy some candy.
Devine and a couple of his friends were on their way to the convenience store—intent on also cheekily ripping out a few pages of a magazine—when they reached a “busy street.”
Image credits: adamdevine
While the actor doesn’t quite remember what happened, he was told one of his friends, who had already crossed the street, yelled, “Come on!”
“That just means I’m excited to go get a razzmatazz sucker and see some b*obs, you know?” Devine said. “But I took that as ‘coast is clear.’”
The minute he stepped out with his bike, he was slammed to the ground by a cement truck. Doctors say the only reason he survived is because the impact hit his bike first.
Devine and his friends were on their way to a convenience store
Image credits: Graham Bensinger
“And so I walked out and I got clobbered and taken under the wheel and spit out. I flew, like 500 feet they said, and was helicoptered away,” Devine shared.
In the podcast clip, he then lifted up the bottom half of his pants to show Besinger the damage that was still visible to this day: brutal scarring, saggy skin, and a noticeable bulge at the back of his leg.
The actor joked, “Looks like uncooked chicken.”
Image credits: adamdevine
But in the midst of the accident, Devine had broken everything from the waist down except for his right femur, and everything below his knees had been completely crushed.
His lung had also collapsed, causing the then 11-year-old to be put into a medically induced coma for two weeks and remain in the hospital for two months. His dreams of being a baseball player were unexpectedly broken that day.
The recovery process was grueling, to say the least. Devine was stuck in a wheelchair for a period of time. But as soon as he was healed enough, his family encouraged him to try standing up and walking in the backyard, which they covered in pillows — so that if and when he fell, it would cushion the impact.
After the accident, the actor was put into a medically-induced coma for two weeks and had to stay in the hospital for two months due to his extensive injuries
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For all of sixth and seventh grade, Devine said he was glued to his chair, constantly undergoing surgeries, before having to sit back down, and even trying out crutches.
But despite these procedures, it wasn’t quite enough.
Devine is still experiencing pain to this day with “unexplainable” spasms. But on the bright side, the doctor who coined “stiff person syndrome” has assured him he's in the all-clear and that any pains he feels now could be attributable to the accident, rather than a new condition.
Image credits: adamdevine
“It hurts to sit for too long, it hurts to stand for too long, and it hurts to walk for too long,” he admitted, saying that perhaps the intense workouts he participated in during the pandemic had to do with it.
But the actor has managed to find a silver lining through this tragedy — courtesy of his mother’s optimism.
“[My mom] is so positive,” the actor praised, saying she was always “drilling” the possibility of walking again into his head and spinning negatives into something positive. “It was nice having that.”
Image credits: adamdevine
Moving to Los Angeles was “a crazy thought to even entertain” before the accident, seeing that they didn’t know anyone who lived in California.
But after surviving a cement truck crash, his parents encouraged that “crazy” idea and Devine was able to make it big — both as an actor and comedian.
Many people extended their sympathies to the actor, saying his work has brought them a lot of joy over the years
