For the past month, Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek has been on top of the streaming world. The launch of Apex Legends catapulted the former Counter-Strike pro into a higher echelon of Twitch popularity than he’d ever achieved playing games like PUBG and Call of Duty, bringing him up to 100,000 subscribers and nearly 6 million followers. Yesterday, his good fortune came to a halt when he got into a scooter accident.
Shroud announced his potentially career-altering injury with characteristic nonchalance—upon taking stock of his recent success just a few days prior, he said he plans to forgo a Ninja-style mainstream push because he just wants to “game until I’m dead.”
“No stream today boys,” he said on Twitter yesterday. “Blame the scooter. Getting surgery on my elbow today. Might be out of commission for a bit.”
Shroud is beloved on Twitch in part for his understated personality and sense of humor, but largely because he’s got aim like Zeus hurling lightning bolts from the heavens. So of course, fans immediately feared the worst: that Shroud had wrecked his aiming arm. Shortly after, he put those fears to rest.
“It’s my left arm,” he said. “Don’t worry, the aim’s still there. Movement might be a little slow as I recover.”
With Shroud indisposed, housemate and fellow streamer Justin “Just9n” Ortiz provided more details about the accident, noting that Shroud protects his almighty right arm like an all-star pitcher or a guitarist fretting about their hand.
“He hit the brakes too hard, and he flew over the handlebars about 10 to 12 feet, onto the asphalt,” Just9n said during a stream yesterday. “Now, being Mike, he’s looking out for his right arm, he fell on his left arm—all of his weight. He got a bunch of road rash from about his hip down to the middle of his thigh. It’s all purple and blue, all fucked up. He landed on his elbow, put a huge hole in his elbow. From what I understand, he tore a ligament and removed a piece of the bone from the elbow, so [the surgeons] need to go in and reattach that bone to his elbow.”
According to Just9n, Shroud may need multiple surgeries if the doctors find an infection.
Earlier today, Just9n said that Shroud had entered surgery. He also posted images of Shroud giving a thumbs-up despite his extremely gnarly wound, as well as flowers and a get-well card from Shroud’s fans.
“With love from all the communities you’ve touched with your fat cock,” reads the card. “Get well soon. Thank you for being you.”