2 Years After Severe Spinal Cord Injury Left a High School Athlete Partially Paralyzed, Mark Wahlberg Bows Down to His Unwavering Want to Walk Again

Hollywood action star and fitness enthusiast Mark Wahlberg has spent decades working on his physique and fitness levels. Even at 52, the actor regularly wakes up at 4 a.m. to workout. He also posts snippets of his 4 a.m. workouts to inspire his millions of followers on social media. However, there are some individuals whose stories inspire icons like the 52-year-old.

That’s exactly what happened when the Uncharted actor came across the story of Jake Thibeault. Jake Thibeault is a former high school athlete who played ice hockey. However, two years ago, when the hockey player was 18 years old, he got severely injured during an ice hockey tournament. Thibeault was rushed to the hospital and his life changed in the blink of an eye. However, the 20-year-old has refused to give up.

The story that inspired Mark Wahlberg

The Transformers 4 actor shared a video on his profile earlier. The video was a montage of Jake Thibeault’s journey so far. After getting injured on the ice hockey field, the high school athlete found himself paralyzed from the waist down. Due to the nature of his injury, doctors gave him none to a slim chance of walking again. However, the youngster refused to give in.

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While Thibeault had uploaded the original video, Mark Wahlberg uploaded it to his 25 million Instagram followers. The 52-year-old CEO of the 4 a.m. club was so impressed with the video, he wanted to share it with everyone. The video showed the 20-year-old working on his fitness and mobility with physical trainers in the gym. 

It showed how despite his grim diagnosis the teen has been trying for two years to walk. The video showed clips of Thibeault doing squats, leg presses, and trying to walk on his own with minimal assistance from the physiotherapists. “Words can’t express how proud I am of this guy @jake.thibeault. What an inspiration. The true definition of a fighter. Stay positive,” wrote Wahlberg.

Thibeault’s story inspired hundreds of thousands of Wahlberg’s followers. They also left encouraging comments in the video. While the former ice hockey player will continue to inspire people with his journey, let’s look at why he is in a wheelchair today.

How everything changed for Jake Thibeault

In early September 2021, Jake Thibeault geared up for a tournament where he would represent Milton Academy. The teen was a rising ice hockey player with a bright future ahead. However, hockey is a full-contact sport where players aggressively tackle one another, and fights happen even at the highest level of the sport. 

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During the tournament, Jake Thibeault got severely injured. An opposition player slammed into the athlete and smashed him against the ice rink boards. While such tackles are a common sight during a game, Thibeault collapsed. The then-18-year-old was rushed to UMass Memorial Medical Center, where doctors informed his spine was featured. Thibeault also suffered a mild brain hemorrhage.

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Despite his injury, Jake Thibeault has refused to give up and continues to work toward his goal of walking again. One can only assume he found Mark Wahlberg’s words encouraging.