SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (WGN) — Nēv Schulman, the host of MTV’s “Catfish,” announced Saturday that he is recovering after breaking his neck in a crash while riding his bike this week.
According to a post shared by the reality show host on Instagram, the crash unfolded on Monday while he was traveling to pick up his son on his bike.
Specific details about the crash are unclear, but Schulman indicated in the post that he had been hit by a truck before falling unconscious on the pavement.
“I never made it to pick up my son from school on the bike. In fact, in some ways, I’m glad I didn’t. I was alone on impact. Me and the truck. And then I guess the pavement. I was alone and unconscious. And then conscious. Maybe I was fine (I wasn’t). Maybe I can still do my long run on Thursday (I couldn’t),” Schulman wrote in the social media post.
Schulman went on to say that he suffered a stable spinal fracture around cervical nerves 5 and 6, otherwise known as C5 and C6, but is not paralyzed.
The cervical spine covers the first nine vertebrae from the base of your skull through your neck. According to the Cleveland Clinic, this region is responsible for stimulating movement in your neck and shoulder, as well as arms and hands.
Your deltoid muscles and biceps are controlled by C5, which also “provides sensation to the upper part of your upper arm down to your elbow,” Cleveland Clinic explains. Below it, C6 controls muscles in your wrist and your biceps and “provides sensation to the thumb side of your forearm and hand.”
Schulman said there were some questions regarding the mobility of his hands.
“My hands were a question mark there for a minute but the human body is incredible and so are HUMANS. The incredible knowledge and care from everyone in the medical community has been so remarkable,” Schulman said.
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In the post, Schulman also shared photos of himself standing up and walking and said that he was projected to make a full recovery.
In one video included in the post, Schulman appeared to be in good spirits, walking down a hallway — without a shirt and shoes, but still donning a neck brace — and high-fiving staff, joking that he felt like he was wearing “a tuxedo” and had “never felt more dressed in his life.”
“I’m lucky to be here, alive, standing and hugging my family, projected to make a full recovery,” Schulman wrote in the post. “And I’m really starting to understand the meaning of gratitude. For the big and little things before the accident, and now everything moving forward.”
Schulman did not provide details on where the crash unfolded, but he said in the post that he was being treated at Stony Brook ICU in Southampton, a town in southeastern Suffolk County in New York.
Schulman is the host of “Catfish: The TV Show,” a reality-based documentary show based on the 2010 film “Catfish.” The show, which has aired on MTV for nine seasons, follows the stories of couples who have formed online relationships but never had the chance to meet in real life.