Photo: Nick Pendergrast/Instagram
Married at First Sightalum Nick Pendergrast is opening up about a near-fatal accident that he was involved in earlier this year.
The former reality star, whowelcomed twinsin December 2017 with his girlfriendHeather Yerrid, revealed in an emotional Instagram post on Friday that he was left partially paralyzed after an “unfortunate severe accident while on the job” this past January.
Now in a wheelchair, Pendergrast said he has endured a “depressing” and “difficult” past six months, but is working to “become independent” and walk again.
In an exclusive statement to PEOPLE, the father of two also credited his girlfriend and mother for helping him through this challenging time and noted that his children, 1½-year-old son Logan and daughter Layla, continue to motivate him every day.
“I finally thought the time was right to share… seems like the platformMarried At First Sighthas given me is going to be an amazing support system as I continue to fight for life,” he adds. “The outpouring of love and support already means everything to me.”
“It’s been a life changing and devastating 2019. I knew for myself I needed to be in a better mental state to share what happened to me in January,” he wrote alongside a series of photos and videos documenting his progress since the accident.
“I don’t really know if I am truly ready to open up about all of it in fear of how it will be received. What I am sure of, I need all the support I can get right now to make it through this,” he continued. “These pictures were taken so that if I survived, I could see how far I have come to give me hope for the future.”
Though Pendergrast did not give specifics of how the January 22 accident happened, he told his followers he was “found submerged in water for hours, with severe hypothermia, multiple pelvic fractures, severely comminuted sacral fractures, Morel-Lavallee, and more.”
“When Heather arrived to the ER, she was told they didn’t know if I was going to make it through the night,” he added of his condition that evening.
Nick Pendergrast.Nick Pendergrast/Instagram
Pendergrast, who is now in a wheelchair and receiving therapy to hopefully walk again one day, explained that he’s had to uproot his entire life to an area that had “the best doctors to save my life, and the best environment to regain any functionality in my lower body.”
“Up until 2019, I had never met anyone in a wheelchair or knew of anyone in my circle that had experienced this type of thing,” he admitted. “The past 6 months have been lonely, depressing, scary, stressful, and difficult.”
Despite feeling an array of emotions from the accident, Pendergrast said he’s recently had a change of heart and has been focused on becoming independent again as a disabled individual.
“I am fighting every day to stay sane, motivated, and in high spirits,” he said. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. I have gained empathy, compassion, and gratitude through this and hope to gain more. If nothing else, I just want to be able to walk again.”
RELATED VIDEO: Twins on the Way for Married at First Sight Alum Nick Pendergrast
“Even if you were told you’d never walk again and didn’t, I would love to hear how you have coped and moved forward,” he said. “I am asking for your prayers, love, and hope through this difficult journey.”
Though Pendergrast asked for support amid the challenging time, a rep atMarried at First Sighttells PEOPLE they are confident the former reality star will make it through this.
“Nick is an incredibly brave individual. We, atMAFS, have always known that,” a rep for the show says. “He is a beloved member of our show family and we lift him and his family up now and forever. If anyone can turn this tragedy into a triumph, it’s Nick Pendergrast.”
Courtesy Nick Pendergrast
TheMarried at First Sightalum’s accident sadly comes a little over a year after he welcomed twins with his girlfriend on December 10, 2017.
At the time, Pendergrast and Yerrid shared their disbelief over being parents of two little ones in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE.
“We are in awe with the twins. This entire experience has been surreal,” the couple said in February 2018. “If you would have asked either of us if this is what we thought life would look like in a year, we would have laughed.”
The babies were born two months early and spent some time in the hospital’s NICU, but eventually went home in February of that year and have continued to grow and thrive ever since.
In December 2018, the father of two wrote a sweet post in honor of hischildren’s first birthday. It was the last photo he posted on his Instagram before the life-changing accident occurred just a few weeks later, and he subsequently went silent for months.
In April, he returned to the platform with acute video of his daughter. He followed that Instagram post with another adorable one, shared last month, when he celebrated the twins turning 18 months old.
source: people.com
