Adam Devine, the funny actor you might know from movies like Pitch Perfect and TV shows like Modern Family and Workaholics. He recently shared a scary story about his health that started with a terrible accident when he was a kid. When he was just 11 years old, he was hit by a huge cement truck—weighing 42 tons—while crossing the street.
Devine was on his way to a store with a friend to buy candy and magazines when the accident happened, according to “In Depth With Graham Bensinger podcast. The crash was so bad that it threw him about 500 feet, collapsed one of his lungs, and put him in a coma for two weeks. His injuries were so serious that he couldn’t walk for two whole years after the accident.
The crash left him with a lot of long-term health problems. Right after it happened, he had to go through more than 26 surgeries, and since then, he’s had maybe another dozen. The injuries damaged his legs, his groin, his hip ligament, and his back, and he needed lots of skin grafts and physical therapy just to learn how to sit and stand again. He jokes that his legs look like “uncooked chicken.”
Adam Devine’s childhood accident leads to life-threatening diagnosis
Even after all those surgeries and rehab, the effects of his injuries have followed Devine into adulthood. Last year, things got even worse for his health. At first, doctors told him he had something called Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS), a rare disease that makes your muscles stiff and causes painful spasms. Getting this diagnosis was especially hard because it happened just one month before his son, Beau, was born.
The doctors even told him he might only have a few years left to live, which made him terrified of leaving his son without a father. But later, they realized that first diagnosis was wrong. After more tests and talking to a specialist who actually helped name “Stiff Person Syndrome,” they figured out that his current health problems were actually because of his childhood accident.
The muscle spasms and tightness were likely his body’s reaction to the old injuries and all the physical stress he went through years ago. The expert explained that his body just couldn’t handle all the damage from the accident anymore. Even though this new explanation still meant he had serious health issues, it was at least a relief to know he didn’t have a rare, deadly disease.
Devine still deals with physical problems every day. Sitting, standing, or walking for too long causes him pain. He thinks his symptoms got worse because of the intense workouts he was doing—like cycling and CrossFit—which he started three years ago. He believes those exercises pushed his body too hard, leading to a painful breaking point.
Even with all the pain and uncertainty about his health, Devine has kept working and succeeding in Hollywood. His comedy career actually started during his long recovery as a kid. Stuck in a wheelchair, he would call radio stations and make funny impressions to win concert tickets and CDs. That experience gave him confidence and eventually led him to move to Los Angeles to become an actor.
Right now, he’s trying stem cell treatments and says he feels better than he has in the past three years. Even though his health struggles aren’t over, his experience proves his strength and positivity, always finding humor and hope in hard times. This has also made him closer to his family and more grateful for life.
Published: Apr 4, 2025 09:15 am