‘Catfish’ Hunter Neve Shulman Runs NYC Marathon Three Months After Breaking His Neck
TV’s catfish hunter won’t run this marathon at breakneck speed.
That Nev Shulman will run the TCS New York City Marathon on Nov. 3 is nothing short of a miracle — just three months ago a bike accident broke his neck and doctors feared he would never walk again.
“I just remember the look on every nurse’s and doctor’s face when they came into the room for the first time … expecting me to be paralyzed, and very shocked and almost confused,” Shulman, 40, told The Post.
“They would all come in and do the same test every few hours. They’ll touch my feet and they’ll say, ‘Do you feel that?’ . . . I became very aware in those first 48 hours [in the ICU] That’s how close I came to potentially not walking — or walking — out of the hospital ever again.”
The host of MTV’s “Catfish” was picking up his son from camp on his bike in the Hamptons on Aug. 5 when he tried to merge into a lane of traffic and was hit by a truck.
“And somehow within moments that I looked over my shoulder. . . Traffic stopped and I actually rear-ended a truck, flying over my handlebars and hitting my head on the back of this truck,” he explained.
Doctors at Southampton Hospital discovered he had a fractured neck and he was taken to Stony Brook Hospital for surgery.
The Upper East Side native was in the midst of training for a half marathon and asked her doctor when she could run again.
“He’s like, ‘You’re going to be in a neck brace for at least six weeks. . . . I definitely don’t expect to run any marathons this year,'” said Shulman, who now lives in Williamsburg.
The TV star, who ran last year’s marathon as a guide to blind runner Francesco Mazziano, has resigned herself to missing out on the five-borough, 26.2-mile race this year. Until Francesco texted her.
“I said, ‘Yeah, I feel pretty good. . . . I’m not going to rely on me to be your guide,'” Shulman recalled.
“And his response was, ‘Nev, I want to run it with you. I don’t care how fast or slow we go. If you think there’s a chance you might be able to do it, I’ll wait. ‘
His six-week follow-up X-ray showed that his neck had healed.
Shulman immediately walked her first mile — and on Sunday, she’ll run her eighth NYC Marathon with Francesco, an Upper West Sider who’s also director of the NYC chapter of Achilles International, an organization that supports athletes with disabilities.
“For totally blind athletes, they have two guides, one who is directly attached to them and then one who basically runs ahead to see the obstacles, help move people if needed, and perhaps, most importantly, get water and Gatorade. From the stations, ” explained Shulman, who will switch off with his friend Tom Flaherty, as the guide splits the two duties.
Before he agreed to participate, Schulman, a father of three, spoke with his doctor.
“I said, ‘Am I cleared to run,'” he recalled. “And I actually recorded a video of him so I could show my wife, because I knew she wouldn’t believe me.”