Mark Zupan vividly remembers the night of the accident — or at least until it happened.

Following his Florida Atlantic University soccer game, Zupan went out to the bar with his friends. After an evening of drinking, he climbed into the back of a friend's truck and fell asleep. Not knowing Zupan was in the back of the truck, his friend drove away and later spun out on an exit ramp throwing him into a canal.

Zupan spent more than 13 hours in the canal before he was discovered — he has been quadriplegic ever since.

"Being in a chair, people say I'm sorry," he said. "I just say, why are you saying sorry? This is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I've done more in a chair than I did able-bodied."

As a quadriplegic rugby player and subject of the documentary film "Murderball," he has gained nationwide recognition. Zupan has competed in events around the world earning four MVP awards and has been a member of multiple medal-winning teams.

"Murderball" follows the rough-and-tumble U.S. quad rugby team to the 2004 Summer Paralympic Games, where they earn a bronze medal. The film won best documentary at the Sundance film festival in 2005.

Nearly 300 attendees packed into the Union ballroom to hear Zupan speak Wednesday night after a screening of "Murderball." He shared his experiences on making the film and life after his accident, as part of the University Activities Board series "Faces of Courage."

Murderball was the original name for quad rugby because of the combative way it's played. Players must pass a volleyball while moving into the opposing team's side. Players attempt to cross the goal line, while the chairs of the opposing team members surround and smash into them in an effort to stop them.

Zupan became involved in the "Murderball" documentary when Dana Shapiro, a reporter from Maxim, contacted him after learning about the sport.

"At first it was intrusive, but they put together such a great film that it shows how much they learned," said Zupan, who encouraged crews to film anything and everything.

"What's cool about the movie is that it answers the questions people don't want to ask," Zupan said

Matthew Strugar-Fritsch, a marketing senior, has been paraplegic for two years and continues to participate in sports. He currently races hand cycles and has taken MSU's wheelchair basketball course. He said "Murderball" is amazing.

"(The film) destroys every preconception anyone has ever had about anyone in a wheelchair," he said.