Quadriplegic rugby star speaks at UCF

Star of the 2005 documentary "Murderball," quadriplegic Mark Zupan, thinks of life as a choose your own adventure book. You come to impasses, you make choices and you push forward.

Zupan has been in a wheelchair for the past 17 years, yet considers it to be the best thing that's ever happened to him.

"My injury has led me to opportunities and experiences and friendships I would never have had before," Zupan said during an appearance at the University of Central Florida on Wednesday. 

As a part of the university's 18th-annual Diversity Week, Zupan spoke in the Pegasus Ballroom of the Student Union. His speech, "Smashing Stereotypes," offered stories of his personal experiences with a disability and offered inspiration for others who have them. 

After a soccer victory in October of 1993, Zupan and some of his fellow college teammates went out to celebrate. An intoxicated Zupan passed out in the back of a truck belonging to his best friend, who then eventually drove away not realizing Zupan was there.

The truck spun out of control, hurling Zupan out of the truck and over a fence into a canal. Because Zupan's friend was unaware of Zupan's presence, and the police assumed it was a one-person accident, Zupan spent 14 hours hanging onto a branch, unable to move.

"My legs just wouldn't work," Zupan said. "At first I thought maybe they were asleep."

By the time Zupan was found he had no pulse, a body temperature of 88 degrees, he was hypothermic and had pneumonia. He also had red ant bites from the tips of his fingers to the tips of his toes.

Zupan underwent surgery in a trauma hospital, and while in recovery was handed a piece of cardboard with numbers and letters on it for communicating.

"That thing became my new best friend," Zupan said. "The first thing I said with it was: 'I am lucky?'" 

Zupan is good-humored about his injury. He said that one of his favorite memories immediately following the accident was a visit he had from his friends in the hospital. One of Zupan's close friends adjusted the position of his bed to make it seem as if he were dancing, and then played around with his catheter.  

"They still treated me like my friends," Zupan said.

Zupan believes that it was important that he have as much fun as he could with the situation he was dealt. His light-hearted nature made things easier on him.

.The hardest thing for Zupan was leaving the hospital and going home. With his friends and family getting back to school, work and normalcy, Zupan was left wondering where to go next.

Zupan knew after leaving the hospital that the remainder of his life was going to be spent in a wheel-chair.

"It started to register that life was going to be different," Zupan said.

Rather than going back to Florida Atlantic University, the school he attended before his injury, Zupan went to Georgia Tech to pursue a civil engineering degree. It was there that he first became interested in playing quadriplegic rugby and eventually suited up and hit the courts.

What started out as merely a competitive outlet for Zupan, quickly became a passion that paid off. Zupan and his rugby teammates brought home the gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

"I just want to be the best at anything I do," Zupan said.

His story has brought Zupan fame through the 2005 documentary "Murderball," a film about a group of men who play full-contact rugby in wheelchairs.  Zupan has also made appearances in the Jackass films.

Zupan's positive outlook and humorous delivery was well-received by the audience of about 100 at UCF. The crowd welcomed Zupan's sense of humor and laughed along with his anecdotes

Michael Freeman, who is the Education and Training Coordinator with the Office of Diversity Initiatives at U.C.F., said the Zupan speech has been in the works for a year now and that Zupan was very willing to come speak.

"He is very accessible," Freeman said. "He loves doing this on college campuses."

Freeman feels it is a great opportunity for students to hear Zupan's story because it is both relatable and credible.

"What Mark represents is a very visible piece of a community [that] is largely invisible," Freeman said.

Zupan said that when people say he can't do something it makes him want to accomplish it even more.

"It lights a fire under me," he said, "Makes me want to prove people wrong."

Zupan believes it is important to accomplish one's dreams.

"Since life is short - dream big," Zupan said. "Go out there and experience everything you want to experience."