Kevin Hart Calls Out Friends Laughing At Him About Being In A Wheelchair

Kevin Hart is calling out his friends for giving him grief for landing in a wheelchair temporarily after injuring himself in a race against former New England Patriots running back Stevan Ridley.

The 44-year-old comedian announced last week that he challenged the former NFL athlete to a 40-yard dash after debating who was faster, and tore his lower abdomen and adductor muscles in his hip and thigh.

“I got to be the dumbest man alive,” he wrote alongside the video message on Instagram.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the age 40, is real,” Hart said in the video. “It’s not a game, respect that age. Respect that age, or that age will make you respect it. I was just forced to respect it. This is just a public service announcement.”

In a followup video, Hart said he’s been inundated with phone calls from friends playing armchair doctor and accusing him of being out of shape. To “every friend that has called me, and laughed at me,” he said he’ll be back in fighting shape in six to eight weeks.

“All of a sudden everybody is d doctor or a physician,” he wrote alongside the video.

Hart said that in all the calls from friends and athletes, “everybody starts out the same … ‘Man, you’re supposed to be in shape.'” But it had “nothing to do with being in shape,” he said, noting that he is in shape.

“When’s the last time that you have run an all-out sprint? I’m talking about a hard effort run, giving it all you got,” he said. “People don’t do this sh**. Not at the age 40 and up,” he said.

According to physical therapist Dr. Karena Wu, owner of ActiveCare Physical Therapy, he’s right. By not training ahead of time for such an “explosive” activity, Hart set himself up for an injury despite being generally fit.

“Kevin Hart’s comments about being in the 40s are true, but his injuries also stem from a lack of conditioning for this specific activity,” Wu said.

“If he didn’t train for this explosive activity, that is how he injured his torso and hips. He pushed his tissues past their limits in order to participate and attempt the win, but in doing so created massive strains on the soft tissue,” Wu said. Strains are “macro tears” in soft tissues, Wu said, rated on a level of 1 to 3 based on degree of injury.

“As physical therapists, we always train our clients to gradually increase intensity and condition the body for high intensity or explosive activities before the actual event so they can avoid injuries or any re-injury of a pre-existing condition,” Wu said.

“I’m a mess,” Hart said. “It’s bad.” He described his swollen genitals, and said he can’t use his legs. “Never again,” he said.

Hart said he will continue to document his road to recovery.