Mark Zupan

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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. After a soccer game October 14, 1993, Zupan got drunk with teammates and then crawled into the bed of his buddy's, Chris Igoe, truck to sleep. A short time later Igoe left the bar and began driving home. The truck was involved in a collision and Zupan was thrown into a canal, where he held onto a branch for 14 hours until being discovered by a passerby [1]. He went into hypothermia and became quadriplegic as a result of the accident.

When asked if he would "turn back the clock on that day", Zupan answered "No, I don't think so. My injury has led me to opportunities and experiences and friendships I would never have had before. And it has taught me about myself. In some ways, it's the best thing that ever happened to me."

After his accident, Zupan graduated from Georgia Tech, became 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 0-06-112768-X) was published by HarperCollins on October 17th, 2006.

Most recently, Zupan starred in Jackass: Number Two in the stunt titled "Lake Jump" where, in a rocket powered wheelchair, he attempted to jump a lake.