Catfish host Nev Schulman is an avid runner with several New York City Marathons under his belt. But a nasty bike accident on Aug. 5 left his neck broken and his dreams of running the race for a seventh time in question. That hasn't stopped him from making a miraculous recovery.
Schulman will be running this year's marathon on Nov. 3, less than three months after breaking his neck. He won't be doing it alone, though; he's registered as a blind runner guide for his friend, elite para-triathlete Francesco Magisano, through the Achilles International Foundation.
The TV host recounted his road to recovery and his preparation for this year's race in a new interview with People.
"About two weeks after the accident, he texted me, ‘How are you feeling?' I said, ‘I'm feeling terrible, and you should probably look for a new guide,'" Schulman remembered. "He said, ‘Nev, I'm not going to find a new guide. Take your time, get better. And I don't care how fast or slow we go, I really want you to be my guide.' And honestly, this was a very inspiring part of my recovery."
Magisano's attitude pushed him to try to get running again as quickly as possible. "I’m in a brace. I'm laying in bed. I am devastated for a million reasons. And for the first time I’m thinking, 'Okay, wait a second. Maybe there's a chance if he's counting on me,'" he said.
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Schulman shocked his doctors and nurses when he started walking around the ICU just three days after the accident. "I knew how lucky I was and it gave me a lot of hope," he said. Still, as he spent weeks at home resting up, he could feel his hours of training going down the drain.
"I kept thinking, ‘All that hard work I did is sort of fading away,'" he said. "But I also understood that I should just be patient and know that this little bit of time that I'm taking to let my body heal is far more important than anything else."
"I need to move my body for my own mental health," he added. "Running, as I discovered in my 30s, is the best medicine for my happiness. So that was such a huge relief for me and really gave me a big surge of energy and optimism."
With just eight weeks before the race, Schulman and Magisano were able to get into shape for the big day.
"My body really bounced back," he said. "The first few runs were obviously tough, I was going at a much slower pace than I would normally go and working much harder than I would normally work. But once got some momentum going, by the third or fourth run I really felt strong again. I’m not 100 percent, but I feel great, honestly."
Schulman and Magisano hit the streets for the NYC Marathon on Nov. 3.
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