Jason Derulo has reflected on the terrifying moment he almost lost his life after falling on his head during a training session.
The 35-year-old has been behind some of the biggest hits of the last few years, including Whatcha Say, Want To Want Me and Ridin’ Solo.
However, there was a time where the Cats actor wasn’t sure he would ever be able to perform again, following a painful injury in the run up to his first tour.
During an appearance on the Great Company with Jamie Laing podcast, the musician explained that he was preparing for his first run of performances in 2013 when he broke his spine.
‘I was working on these back tucks for stamina, or that’s what this trainer was telling me,’ he told the host. ‘We’re doing back-to-backs, back-to-back to backs. We would stop for a while, take a break, and we’ll do back like 20.
‘I slipped on one and I bailed. You’re never supposed to bail, even if you slip, you’re just supposed to just keep going. I bailed, fell on my head, and I heard a crack. I was just like, “Oh, s**t. Is this it?”
‘I felt a heat, a huge heat in my neck. And I was just thinking in my head, “Damn, what just happened. Did my life just end? Where am I?”’
Everyone rushed to Jason’s help and warned him not to move, but after a few minutes, he was adamant that he needed to stand up.
‘You’re never supposed to get up after neck injury,’ he continued. ‘You’re supposed to allow an ambulance to come pick you up. But I wanted to stand up. I didn’t know those facts.
‘My mom was in the car – that’s how long ago it was – my mom was dropping me to dropping me to rehearsals.’
Despite being in ‘excruciating pain’, the superstar didn’t want to worry his mom and just passed it off as a small injury, but suggested that they go to hospital for a checkup.
After getting an X-ray done to assess his injury, the doctor informed them that he broke his C2 vertebrae and suffered a ‘hangman’s break’, which he was told ‘is the same break that happens when you get hung’.
‘This could have been way worse,’ the It Girl singer vowed. ‘[They said] “You’re going to be down for seven months, kiss your tour goodbye.” I had to cancel the entire tour and then I didn’t know what to make of the rest of my time.
‘That seven months – I didn’t know what the rest of my life was going to look like. I didn’t know whether I could take that kind of time off. This was pretty early in my career. I was like, “Was this it? Did I max out?”’
‘During that time, I created a routine for myself,’ he added. ‘For me not to get down on myself, I felt like the routine would be what I focused my time on, and my energy on, as opposed to being down on myself.
‘I would wake up in the morning, I would go and walk on the treadmill for 40 minutes, and then I would get home. I would literally spend at least nine to 12 hours in the studio.
‘And after the nine to 12 hours in the studio, I would have my meal, and then I would go to bed, and then I would start all over again.
‘Every single day, the same routine. That’s when I made my most successful album, which had six platinum songs on it.’
Following a lengthy recovery period, Jason got back to work and blessed us all with Talk Dirty, which was certified platinum in the US.
It had bangers including Wiggle (featuring Snoop Dogg), Trumpets, Stupid Love, The Other Side and Marry Me.
Jason Derulo shares gruesome details of his broken back after painful fall