Adam Devine recounts decades-long health battle stemming from horrific childhood accident

Adam DeVine is widely known for his comedic chops in shows like 'The Righteous Gemstones' and 'Pitch Perfect,' but behind the laughter lies a painful story that has defined much of his life. In a deeply emotional conversation on the 'In Depth With Graham Bensinger' podcast, DeVine, opened up about the lingering effects of a catastrophic childhood accident and how it continues to shape his health and identity.The accident occurred when he was just 11 years old. What started as an ordinary day turned tragic when he was struck by a cement truck while crossing the street with his bicycle. As he explained during a 2019 appearance on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, he misinterpreted a friend’s call “Come on!” as a cue that it was safe to cross. At that very moment, three cement trucks were barreling down a hill in his suburban neighborhood. The third truck, unseen by the young DeVine, hit him. He was dragged under, crushed, and thrown to the side. “It broke everything from my waist down except my right femur,” he shared. “It crushed everything from the knees down and took all my skin off.”DeVine was placed in a medically induced coma for two weeks and underwent 26 surgeries from sixth grade through his first year of high school. Doctors considered amputating both legs but were able to save them, though the trauma would follow him for life.Fast-forward to recent years, DeVine began experiencing troubling muscle spasms and extreme tightness throughout his body. As he described on the Bensinger podcast, doctors were initially baffled. Then came a terrifying diagnosis: stiff-person syndrome, a rare and progressive neurological disorder that causes severe muscle stiffness, spasms and eventually, paralysis. It was the same disorder that pop icon Céline Dion was diagnosed with in late 2022.“The doctors told me I had it — literally a month before my son Beau was born,” DeVine said, referring to his child with actress Chloe Bridges. “And I’m like, ‘Oh great, now I’m gonna die.’” At the time, he was told he had only six years to live, the average life expectancy for someone with the condition. The news left him devastated and overwhelmed.However, six months later, with symptoms persisting but no major progression, DeVine was referred to a top expert — the very physician who coined the term “stiff-person syndrome.” After examining DeVine, the specialist came to a very different conclusion. “He told me, ‘You don’t have it. You absolutely do not have it,’” DeVine recalled. Instead, the expert attributed the muscle issues to long-term physical trauma from his childhood accident. The tightness, he explained, had become so intense that DeVine’s nervous system was misfiring, creating painful spasms and dysfunction.According to People magazine which reported on the interview, DeVine believes part of the problem may have also stemmed from his intense pandemic workout routine, including CrossFit and cycling. “I think I just got so tight and tightly wound and my body has all these little things wrong with it… I just sort of snapped,” he admitted.Now, three years into the symptoms, DeVine says daily life is still difficult. “It hurts to sit for too long, to stand for too long, to walk for too long,” he explained. He has to foam roll his muscles two to three times a day to relieve the tightness and relies on continued physical therapy. In 2024, he underwent hip surgeries and has also tried stem cell treatments to manage the lingering damage.Despite the pain and misdiagnosis, DeVine remains grounded, thanks in part to humor — something he credits with helping him survive. After the accident, he couldn’t play sports or physically defend himself. His father advised him to “punch back with words,” and that, he says, is where his journey into comedy began.“I think that’s why I got into making people laugh,” he said. “Comedy was my way of fighting back when I had nothing else.”From overcoming life-threatening injuries to facing a terrifying but false diagnosis, Adam DeVine’s story is one of resilience, missteps, and a determination to keep going with laughter as both armor and medicine.