Mark Zupan (born May 20, 1975) is a wheelchair rugby player and the captain of the United States wheelchair rugby team which competed in the

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

in 2004. He is best known for his appearance in the 2005 film '' Murderball''. Zupan was also a part of the 2008 United States gold winning team at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games.

Early life

Zupan was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, to Thomas and Linda Zupan. He played varsity

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, earning him a scholarship to

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Florida, Dania Beach, Davie, Florida, Davie, Fort Lauderd ...

Paralyzing accident

After a soccer game on October 14, 1993, Zupan got drunk with teammates at a bar and then crawled into the back of friend Chris Igoe's truck to sleep. Some time later Igoe left the bar unaware that Zupan was asleep in the back. Driving drunk, Igoe spun out and Zupan was thrown from the pickup bed, over a fence, and into a canal, where he held onto a branch for 14 hours until being discovered by a passerby. He went into

hypothermia Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe h ...

and became paralyzed as a result of the accident. Zupan has incomplete quadriplegia and is able to walk for short distances with crutches.Gimp: When Life Deals You a Crappy Hand, You Can Fold -or You Can Play -

Wheelchair rugby career

After his accident, Zupan graduated from Georgia Tech, became a two-time quad rugby national champion, the 2004 quad rugby player of the year. He was a member of the bronze medal-winning U.S. team at the

2004 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 136 , athletes = 3,806 , events = 519 in 19 sports , opening = 17 September , closing = 28 September , opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos , cauldron = Georgios Toptsis , stadium = Olympic ...

, and the gold medal-winning team at the 2008 Games. He is a resident of

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. When asked if he would "turn back the clock on that day", Zupan answered "No, I don't think so. My injury has led me to opportunities and experiences and friendships I would never have had before. And it has taught me about myself. In some ways, it's the best thing that ever happened to me."

Media personality

Zupan was featured as a customer in

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an As ...

's '' Miami Ink'' during the first season. Parts of his documentary were shown as background information. He was depicted in an episode of the claymation series '' Celebrity Deathmatch'' in a match against

Chris Pontius Chris Pontius (born July 16, 1974) is an American stunt performer and television personality. He is best known as a cast member of the reality comedy show '' Jackass'' and co-host of its spinoff ''Wildboyz'' with fellow cast member Steve-O. ...

; he won. In August 2007, Zupan's team "Superman's Crip-Tonite" placed second in

Red Bull Flugtag Red Bull Flugtag (, 'airshow' ) is an event organized by Red Bull in which competitors attempt to fly home-made, human-powered flying machines, size-limited to around and weight-limited to approximately . The flying machines are usually laun ...

event in

. For their efforts they won a $3,000 prize. Zupan's Flugtag adventure was chronicled in an

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story by writer Mary Buckheit. He was also in the movie ''

Jackass Number Two ''Jackass Number Two'' is a 2006 American reality slapstick comedy film directed by Jeff Tremaine. It is the sequel to '' Jackass: The Movie'' (2002), both based upon the MTV series '' Jackass''. Like its predecessor and the original television s ...

'', in a skit called "Lake Jump", where his wheelchair was rigged up with

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...

tanks and pushed off a ramp by

. Before taking off, the tanks triggered, launching him off of the ramp and into the lake. Zupan was featured in a 2008 episode of '' 30 Days'' in which former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

athlete

Ray Crockett Donald Ray Crockett (born January 5, 1967) is a former American football player in the National Football League. He played for fourteen years in the NFL and earned two Super Bowl rings with the Denver Broncos as a cornerback. He played his high s ...

used a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

for 30 days and at one point attempted to play wheelchair rugby. In the second season of the television show '' Friday Night Lights'', Zupan appeared briefly in the episode "Bad Ideas" as Steve, a friend who accompanies character Jason Street to a doctor appointment. In the first season of '' Nitro Circus'', he made a brief appearance in episode 11. He was seen being taped to a sled and rode down a hill before crashing.

Bibliography

* Zupan's autobiography ''GIMP : When Life Deals You a Crappy Hand, You Can Fold—or You Can Play'' () was published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

on October 17, 2006.

Filmography

Television

*''

Live with Regis and Kelly ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'' (or simply ''Live'') is an American syndicated morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. Executive produced by Michael Gelman, the ''Live with...'' show formula has aired under various hosts since ...

'' (1 episode, 2005) *''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

'' (1 episode, 2005) *''

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish actor and comedian Craig Ferguson. This was the third iteration of the ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airing from January 3, 2005, to December 19, ...

'' (1 episode, 2005) *'' Larry King Live'' (1 episode, 2005) *'' Miami Ink'' (1 episode, 2005) *'' Friday Night Lights'' (1 episode, 2007) *'' 30 Days'' (1 episode, 2008) *'' Nitro Circus'' (2 episodes, 2009) *''

50 Documentaries to See Before You Die 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...

'' (1 episode, 2011)

Films

*'' Murderball'' (2005) *''

'' (2006) *''

Jackass 3D ''Jackass 3D'' (known as ''Jackass 3'' on home media) is a 2010 American 3D reality comedy film directed by Jeff Tremaine. It is the third installment in the ''Jackass'' film series, and the sequel to ''Jackass Number Two'' (2006). The film sta ...

'' (2010) *''

Jackass 3.5 ''Jackass 3D'' (known as ''Jackass 3'' on home media) is a 2010 American 3D reality comedy film directed by Jeff Tremaine. It is the third installment in the ''Jackass'' film series, and the sequel to ''Jackass Number Two'' (2006). The film sta ...

'' (2011)

References

External links

Mark Zupan - Profile
at UsParalympics.org
Mark Zupan's Murderball Journal
from 2005, at MTV.com * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zupan, Mark 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from Cleveland Sportspeople from Austin, Texas American wheelchair rugby players Florida Atlantic Owls athletes People with tetraplegia American disabled sportspeople Paralympic wheelchair rugby players of the United States Wheelchair rugby players at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair rugby players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Georgia Tech alumni Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in wheelchair rugby