Kevin Hart Calls Car Crash a ‘Resurrection’: ‘The Other Version of Myself Died in That Moment’

Kevin Hart was involved in a near-fatal car crash in September, and he has since been open about the fact that the accident has changed the way he looks at his life. In a new interview with Men’s Health, the actor discussed his new state of mind, explaining that he sees his life post-crash as a “resurrection.”

“That’s the best way for me to put it,” he said. “I feel like the other version of myself died in that moment and this new version was born to understand and to do better. Sometimes you’re not going to get it when you’re supposed to get it. But when it comes and that light bulb goes off, holy f—.”

The crash left Hart with three spinal fractures that, according to his doctor, would have paralyzed him were they a quarter centimeter in another direction. He underwent surgery and was in the hospital for over a week before beginning the rehabilitation process.

“It all boiled down to four walls. And in the space of those four walls was my wife and my brother, my kids and my friends, all on rotation,” he said of his time in the hospital. “And I got a chance to think about what matters, and it’s not fame. It’s not money. It’s not jewelry, cars, or watches. What matters are relationships. You know, the people that were helping me get up and out of the bed. The biggest realization came from something somebody told me. ‘You can’t be married to your career and date your family.’ That blew me the f— away.’”

After beginning physical therapy, Hart didn’t immediately regain his full range of motion, revealing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in December that at one point, he “couldn’t even wipe my a—.”

“You’d think that wiping my own a— should be the biggest victory, but putting on my socks was a bigger deal,” he added to Men’s Health. “I felt so hopeless not being able to do something that once was so easy.”

The comedian added that while he had been told not to do so, he would go into his closet every morning to check for improvement.

“So there I was, hiding in my closet, trying to put my socks on,” he recalled. “One morning I got to walk out and declare, ‘I put my socks on!’ Goddamn, that was a big day!”

Photo Credit: Getty / Tasos Katopodis