Netflix star set to make Paralympics debut after horrific accident

An entertainment icon who recently appeared in a Netflix survival gameshow is gearing up to make his Paralympic debut this summer.

Last year, Netflix viewers were introduced to a brand-new competition series produced by All3Media’s Studio Lambert and Raw TV.

The nine-episode reality show, Surviving Paradise, led 12 contestants to believe they would be living together in a luxurious, tropical villa.

But upon their arrival, each star was dumped into the wilderness and was forced to compete in a series of challenges in a bid to take home a cool $100,000 cash prize. You can catch the trailer below:

The inaugural season of Surviving Paradise saw Linda Okoli crowned champion of the wild, while Shea Foster placed second and Lellies Santiago scoring bronze.

However, Shea, 27, has another chance at going for gold this summer as he is poised to compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.

Netflix alumni Shea will contest the T-38 men's 1500-meter race for Team USA later this summer—a race for eligible athletes whose movement and coordination are affected at a low degree in their legs.

Shea qualifies for the athletic competition after being involved in a road accident in 2012 that saw him crashing into a tractor-trailer whilst driving his Jeep in Louisiana.

Following the crash, the sportsman was in a coma for 48 hours and was temporarily paralysed from the waist down.

Shea Foster was told it would be a 'miracle' if he ever walked again. (Instagram/@shea_foster)

Practitioners initially informed Shea that it would be a ‘miracle’ if he could ever walk again, but later claimed ‘adversity’ gave him the ‘opportunity’ to overcome the medical chief’s expectations.

“It was always, 'That's not possible, you can't do that.' I had to do everything by myself and learn by experience at a very young age,” he recently confided to The New York Post.

Weeks after his life-altering surgery, the Surviving Paradise player began walking again and was able to run short distances just two months after going under the knife.

Shea says that his injury ‘changed’ his perspective on life but that he was initially hesitant to compete at the Paralympics.

“Basically, I couldn't swallow my pride and my ego,' he admitted. “I think what really lit a fire under my butt was my younger sister has spina bifida and she's in a wheelchair, she's in eighth grade, going to be a freshman in high school this coming fall.

The athlete first rose to fame on Netflix's Surviving Paradise. (Netflix)

“Right when I got done with surgery, the first thing she said to me was 'we have matching scars now. We're the same,” he continued.

“She was like 'I can't play any sports, I can't do anything,' and I was like 'Yes you can'.”

Shea claims his sibling helped him to ‘swallow’ his pride and begin to help others who ‘may not have recovered the same way’ as him.

From a devastating injury to Netflix stardom and now the Paralympics in Paris; you can catch Shea Foster in action for Team USA at the Summer Games.

The Paralympics are due to run from August 28 to September 8.