“Blood Started Running Down My Leg”: Arnold Schwarzenegger “Was Scared” After His First Week in America Turned Into a Life-Threatening Situation in 1968

In 1968 Arnold Schwarzenegger immigrated from his home country of Austria to the U.S.A. Having won the Mr. Universe title in London, the young bodybuilder was excited to chase his dream of becoming the best bodybuilder in the world. However, “the new and marvelous life I had dreamed about easily could have ended just a week later,” Schwarzenegger wrote in his autobiography. One day, Schwarzenegger borrowed his friend’s muscle car to drive to the gym when disaster struck.

The car Schwarzenegger drove had over 350 horsepower. While the Austrian Oak drove a car and even knew how to drive a tank, he had never experienced the power of an American muscle car. All it took was one mistake for the seven-time Mr. Olympia to lose control.

Arnold Schwarzenegger learned many lessons that day

In his book, the bodybuilding champion revealed the car belonged to one of his “brand-new” gym friends. The Australian strongman and crocodile wrestler lent Arnie his Pontiac GTO. “I’d never driven anything so incredible, and it didn’t take long before I was flying up Ventura Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley at autobahn speed,” wrote the Hollywood action icon.

The autobahn is a highway system in Germany where drivers can drive as fast as they want in the de-restricted sections. However, the then-future bodybuilding icon didn’t realize how slippery the roads had become due to the morning mist. “Downshifting the GTO slowed the rear wheels abruptly,” recounted Arnie while describing how the tires lost grip. 

The Mr. Universe winner lost control as the GTO “spun wildly,” into the lane with oncoming traffic. “I watched as a Volkswagen Beetle T-boned me on the passenger side,” he recalled. More cars crashed into one another before everything came to a standstill. After the terrifying ordeal, the Austrian Oak felt excruciating pain in his right leg.

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The crash wrecked the GTO’s console, jamming a piece of plastic inside his leg. “I pulled it out, and now blood started running down my leg,” he wrote in Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story. The bodybuilder “was really scared,” and limped inside his gym to ask for help but learned that getting help was the least of his problems.

Right place at the right time

After explaining his situation to the people inside Gold’s Gym, a lawyer among the gym goers offered him some crucial advice. “Don’t leave the scene of an accident. It’s called a hit-and-run here,” said the stranger. However, due to the language barrier, Arnie didn’t understand what a hit-and-run meant. Realizing this, the man asked Schwarzenegger to trust him and return to his car, which had crashed 30 yards from the gym.

The Terminator actor went back to the scene and saw everyone was “shaken up,” However, no one accused him of causing the crash. While he didn’t have insurance, the police understood Arnie’s situation and they let him go without a citation. The ordeal finally ended after his bodybuilder friend, Bill Drake, drove the Austrian to the hospital. While Arnold Schwarzenegger has been in his fair share of road accidents since then, none were as severe.

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The seven-time Mr. Olympia only has one regret from the incident. In his book, the former champion wrote if he knew the names of everyone involved in the accident, he would apologize.