Mark Zupan (athlete)
Mark Zupan (born May 20, 1975 in Cleveland, Ohio) is the captain of the United States quadriplegic wheelchair rugby team which competes in the Paralympic Games and the official spokesperson for Team USA. He is best known for his appearance in the 2005 film Murderball.
Mark Zupan was born in Cleveland, Ohio to parents Thomas and Linda Zupan. He played varsity football and soccer in high school, earning him a scholarship to Florida Atlantic University. On October 14, 1993, Mark Zupan was thrown from a friend's truck and into a canal, where he held onto a branch for 14 hours until being discovered by a passerby. He went into hypothermia and became quadriplegic as a result of the accident.
In spite of this tragedy, Zupan holds that the accident was "the best thing to ever happen to me."
Zupan survived the incident and went on to become a graduate of Georgia Institute of Technology, a two time quad rugby national champion, the 2004 quad rugby player of the year, and an Olympic quad rugby bronze medalist.
Zupan is a resident of Austin, Texas. He lives with his girlfriend Jessica Wampler.
Zupan's autobiography GIMP : When Life Deals You a Crappy Hand, You Can Fold---or You Can Play (ISBN 006112768X) will be published by HarperCollins in October 2006.
References
- Freydkin, Donna. "From Murderball to reluctant movie star", USA Today. July 7, 2005. Retrieved December 28, 2005.
- "Mark Zupan Q&A", Washington Post. July 22, 2005. Retrieved December 28, 2005. (transcript)
External links
- Mark Zupan's Murderball Journal
- Mark Zupan profile on quadfather.net
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