Exclusive: Marcus Rosner Reveals How Devastating Injury Has Changed Him

Heavy/Hallmark Marcus Rosner

After a devastating injury and risky surgery that could have derailed Marcus Rosner’s acting career, the Hallmark star says he’s now “basically 100%” and, to his surprise, grateful for the harrowing experience.

On November 16, 2024, the star of over a dozen Hallmark movies marked two years since undergoing a high-risk surgery to repair the extensive damage caused by tearing two of the primary hamstring muscles from his pelvis, which then retracted down his leg.

Worried that he might never fully recover, he hid his ordeal from fans and colleagues for more than a year. But looking back, Rosner told Heavy ahead of the second anniversary of his surgery, he not only feels physically strong again but has grown emotionally, too — thankful that so many people have shared their health struggles with him since he opened up about his own.

“It was really uplifting,” he said. “It’s funny, the things that you’re kind of embarrassed about sometimes end up being the things that connect with people the most. And it’s just really nice. Like, everybody’s been through medical stuff, you come to learn, and everyone has their own stories.”

Marcus Rosner Says His Empathy for Others Has Grown Immeasurably Since His Injury

In addition to hearing others’ stories and realizing he needn’t be ashamed about going through a medical hardship, Rosner told Heavy that he also realized that before his ordeal, there was no way of truly understanding what others facing health setbacks were going through.

“You have a very surface level empathy when you walk by a hospital,” he said of his outlook before his injury and surgery. “You feel really bad for the people going through that, but I think until you go through something like that, it’s easy to categorize them as ‘sick’ people. You have sympathy for them, but you don’t necessarily see them as the same as you.”

The “Notes of Autumn” star continued, “And then once something happens to you, you’re like, ‘This is just people that have had something happen to them, and they were at their job or with their family yesterday, and now they’re here.’ It had quite a profound impact on me.”

“When you spend time in a hospital alone, you (have) this overwhelming sense of sympathy towards everybody else in that hospital with you at that time,” Rosner told Heavy. “It was a very important time of my life from my perspective.”

Rosner also noted that he gained new insights on how hard it can be to deal with the healthcare system.

“Navigating the medical industry is its own monumental task,” he told Heavy, “and we are forced as people to do that when we’re at our lowest. I don’t have a better system to offer right now, but it just puts things in perspective.”

Marcus Rosner’s Surgeon Said He’ll Never Attempt Similar Procedure Again

Rosner was initially embarrassed about how he got injured, wrestling his best man at his own bachelor party in December 2021, three weeks before his New Year’s Eve wedding to wife Ali Kroeker.

When Rosner finally opened up about his ordeal in February 2023 via Instagram, he revealed that the injury was initially misdiagnosed as a “severe pull,” so he “rehabbed obsessively” and was able to walk down the aisle. But an MRI months later showed the extent of the damage and built up scar tissue creating additional issues.

Rosner told fans that his surgeon had to “implant a donor’s Achilles tendon to act as a bridge between my muscle and bone” and warned him that the procedure could accidentally damage his sciatic nerve, which would likely keep him from ever using his leg properly again.

Fortunately, the high-risk surgery was a success — though Rosner said his surgeon declared he’d never attempt the procedure again on another patient. Rosner told Heavy he continues to do physical therapy “all the time,” but that he’s able to run and do all the things he wasn’t able to do before.

In a series of Instagram Stories Rosner shared on November 16, looking back at the last two years since his surgery, he wrote, “I’m sure we just rationalize things in the end but the strangest part of having gone thru all that was coming out the other end grateful for the experience.”

Next up for Rosner, in addition to producing new movies with his Canadian production company, Northern Gateway Films, is the December 22 premiere of “Engaged By Christmas” on Lifetime. He’ll also appear with fellow Hallmark stars at the fourth weekend of the Hallmark Christmas Experience in Kansas City and sets sail on his first fan cruise in January.