March, 2017
Jung II-woo suffered a horrible accident in April of 2006. He was headed for a short vacation in the Gangwon province with two high school friends, one of them Lee Min-ho. A car coming from a ‘hit and run’ situation, coming from the opposite lane veered off course and crashed head on into their car. Jung II-woo was sitting on the passenger side of the car while Lee Min-ho was in the back seat of the car. Jung II-woo and Lee Min-ho miraculously survived but not without serious injuries.
Jung Il-Woo had a concussion, cerebral hemorrhage, and partial memory loss. He broke his wrist and cracked his left pelvis bone. He spent 4 months in the hospital. At that time, the damage to his wrist (which was crushed) and his pelvic bone seemed to be the worst that happened to him. Lee Min-ho’s suffered even more severe injuries which included a severe broken thigh bone and ankle and a tear in a knee cartilage. Some reports say he was in the hospital for seven months!
According to one article, to this day Jung II-woo continues to suffer pain in his pelvis bone at times. The reason for this is that he was not able to go through consistent treatment at the time of the accident. Jung II-woo had signed the contract for High Kick and he did not want to lose the opportunity. His symptoms became worse due to his acting as it involved strenuous physical activity.
Jung II-woo had to go back to the hospital to get wrist surgery, as his wrist continued to bother him while filming High Kick. These are photos from this time.
2009
In this video from the show “Happy Together” (Cr. MBC), Jung Il-woo talks about his accident:
2016
Aneurysm Diagnosis and Announcement
In late 2016, news was published that Jung II-woo was diagnosed with an aneurysm. This too is a consequence of the head trauma he suffered in this accident. Some reports say that Jung II-woo started suffering from severe headaches in 2013. He received the diagnosis of his aneurysm then and continues to monitor his condition carefully to this day.
This is an excerpt from Soompi from this time:
In an official announcement released on November 30, Jung Il Woo’s agency said, “In 2006, after a car accident, Jung Il Woo had been diagnosed with a concussion, cerebral hemorrhaging, and localized amnesia (memory loss of certain events, usually traumatic). Since about three years ago, he has had frequent headaches. After a medical examination, Jung Il Woo was diagnosed with a cerebral aneurysm.”
This news in its time was devastating for all of us fans! I remember all the notes in Instagram… I was in awe how in spite of it he was so determined that he did the basic military training just like anyone else. I can’t find the article but I remember reading that he had some really bad headaches doing this training but still he persevered.
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2019
Update January 21, 2019″
Jung Il-woo talks about Haechi and his Aneurysm in a press conference by SBS.
Update September 29, 2019:
I found an article written by a doctor from Hanyang Hospital and translated it HERE.
If you want to read more about the accident and its consequences, these are some articles available online:
English:
https://www.soompi.com/2016/05/19/jung-il-woo-releases-enlistment-details-following-lee-min-ho/
Korean:
http://entertain.naver.com/read?oid=433&aid=0000022417&gid=999339&cid=1051022
On December of 2019, in the sixth episode of the show Convenience Store Restaurant, Jung Il woo talked about what he felt when he was diagnosed with the aneurysm:
Also in December of 2019, Ilwoo was a guest in Happy Together, Episode 61 with his beloved High Kick grandfather, Lee Soon-jae. Here he shared a lot about the accident and his aneurysm:
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2020
In 2020, Jung Il woo participated in the first and premiering episode of a variety show called “Phone Cleansing.” During this program Ilwoo revealed that he suffered from partial memory loss due to the accident. He expressed:
“I have about 70,000 photos on my mobile phone ― since I have partial memory loss, I try to recall things through pictures,” said Jung, who appeared as a guest.
Source (In this article they think he went to Santiago de Chile …instead of El Camino de Santiago! ^ ^ )
You can see some of the videos of this program HERE.
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2021
In April of 2021, Jung Il woo was a guest in a show called “Eat More” from MBN, in it he talked about the accident and its consequences in his life:
You can read the translation of these videos HERE.
If you want to read about aneurysms, this is a really good site:
WITAT (What I Think About This)
When I first read about his accident…A much as I thought it was horrible I also thought he was extremely lucky…the survival rates of a head on crash are so low! I also believe this accident made Jung Il-woo a more caring person, as he values not only his life more, but the lives of others.
I am in awe, that after that, he rode motorcycles and bungee jumped, and more recently he parachute-jumped in the show Running Man in 2015. He also plays soccer with his friends and this is so risky! A bad hit made Andrea Bocelli blind! So I get the chills just thinking about it! Part of me is like…are you insane? But the other part is like… I understand!…he did and does not want to live less because of that accident…he wants to do everything he wants to do…as much as he is able to. He was after all a man in his 20’s! Now 30’s!
He does take care of himself though. He eats very healthy and works out regularly. He stopped smoking by February of 2014. He also takes care of himself when filming. Remember the scene of Golden Rainbow where his head hit the pavement?…That was definitely a very low soft hit for all the blood that issued after. I could barely watch that scene…! I also remember seeing the BTS takes of Cinderella and the Four Knights “wash hair in the bath tub” scene. Someone was holding on to Jung II-woo by the arm…the whole time he was on the the edge of that bathtub. I was so glad to see this! Please take good care of our Jung II-woo!
One of my friend’s mother has lived for over 30 years with this condition…she had an initial aneurysm that bled. She didn’t know she had it! She started suffering from headaches that got really severe. The doctors misdiagnosed it for migraines. Dizziness, fainting and partial paralysis finally gave it away! Sadly, she is currently dealing with another aneurysm that is causing her headaches. She is 70 years old. So I think that Jung II-woo is lucky because he knows what he has and he has all the resources to take care of himself. This doesn’t mean that he does not suffer. My friend’s mother describes the headaches as if someone was crushing your head with pliers! I hope it’s not that bad for him.
I also have colleague who’s sister suffered the burst of an aneurysm. She was extremely lucky as she was able to get immediate medical help. But even so, she lost mobility in her right side and could not talk or walk. After a year of therapy she can walk with a cane and she has regained some of her ability to talk. Her aneurysm was in the front of her brain. Like Jung Il-woo describes it… it’s like a time bomb in your head… you don’t know if or when…when or how… and you don’t know what the outcome will be. It depends on where it’s located, how much bleeding and damage into the brain happens and the speed in which you get medical help. Can you imagine living your life with something like this?
Jung II-woo, continue to take care of yourself and may your guardian angel continues to protect you! Keep your spirits up! Though you need to keep an eye on your condition, enjoy life and concentrate on today! If I had three wishes on a magic lamp…I know what one of my wishes would be! And I know how lucky I am that I can write this…
If you are still reading, it’s time for some Jung II-woo Delights! There are so many in this website, you can do a search or go the events page HERE and choose a year you’d like to see. I am currently in the year 2016 so check back often as I am building the site year by year. I’m also covering his current events, a good way to see these is to visit the year 2019. My wish is to be done telling the story of his professional life (and organize them by year) by the end of this year.
May god bless you dearest Il-woo and may you live a full great life! …and may we have many … 많이! years of your delights!
화이팅!
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February 3, 2022
Early this morning I found out that Jung Il woo was diagnosed with Covid 19. I wish you a prompt recovery with no lingering issues Ilwoo Ssi! I think that is why I am working on your site now. It makes me feel that I am doing something… for you…
I know someday you will have surgery to eliminate to help the condition of your aneurysm. My guess is when you in your 40’s. I read this is a good time age wise. I just want to say that May all the best happen for you on this day, may you be surrounded by angels and in GOD’s loving light. May you recover promptly and well and may you live a full, happy, good, productive… very healthy life!
With you always,
Fan 13