Orlando Bloom's Instagram video from June 2022 of him shirtless and hitting the gym hard is still leaving social media users parched at the sight of him working up a sweat.
While some may find the practice of internet influencers posting gratuitous shirtless workout photos and videos for clout exhausting, his flex hit differently.
For starters, the Pirates of the Caribbean actor's physique is a chiseled marvel, which isn't necessarily typical of 46-year-olds.
But what set the video apart from other look-at-me workout sessions shared on social media was the context in which he presented his proud achievement.
Bloom wrote in the caption:
"I broke my back when I was 19 and they said I’d never walk again."
Here he is, 27 years since having defied the odds against him and demonstrating that a grim prognosis never stopped him from giving up on his hopes for a full recovery.
Meanwhile, the temperature continues to rise in the comments over a year after it was posted.
@orlandobloom/Instagram
@orlandobloom/Instagram
@orlandobloom/Instagram
@orlandobloom/Instagram
@orlandobloom/Instagram
@orlandobloom/Instagram
@orlandobloom/Instagram
@orlandobloom/Instagram
@orlandobloom/Instagram
Last year, in honor of World Mental Health Day—which is observed annually on October 10—Bloom recounted the near-fatal fall that led to his serious back injury.
He was climbing up to a rooftop terrace when the drainpipe he was holding onto suddenly broke apart.
The UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador said in a joint Instagram video post with UNICEF:
When I was 19 I fell three floors from a window and broke my back."
"I was very fortunate to survive the fall because my spinal cord was still just intact.”
He continued:
"When I was in the hospital, I was told for the first four days that I may never walk again."
"That was really the beginning of what was a long and painful journey for me into recognizing and understanding some of the patterns that had been in my life that had led me to having numerous accidents."
"And the culmination was breaking my back, which was a near-death experience."
The injuries Bloom sustained in his youth included breaking his nose and left arm, and cracking his skull three times while playing rugby.
He also broke his left leg in a skiing incident in Switzerland, broke his left leg in a motorcycle crash, and his right wrist while snowboarding.
Here is the clip of him sharing his recovery journey posted in October 2022.
This wasn't the first time Bloom—who rose to stardom playing Legolas in the Lord of the Rings films—flaunted his abs.
Bloom was aptly featured on the cover of Flaunt Magazine looking victorious standing atop a disused sewage pipe.
And here's another for the same magazine in 2019.
And here he's seen going for a casual dip.
He has to come up for air sometimes.
Whether the English actor is gearing up for a superhero film or prepping for outings at the beach this summer, fans are thirsting to see sequel videos to his workout session.
@JamesTate121/X
