History Main / CareerEndingInjury

* ''Series/{{Degrassi}}''

* In ''Manga/DinosaurSanctuary'', Masaru, a ''Triceratops'', was a popular zoo attraction for years, until he got one of his horns stuck in his enclosure wall and broke it off. Though the injury was entirely superficial, the popularity of his exhibit plummeted, and he was relocated to a much smaller zoo. Even there, he was relatively unpopular until his keepers decided to play into the idea of his broken horn by putting it on display as part of the exhibit (even challenging guests to try to lift it), which turned out to be a good enough gimmick to save him from being sold again.

* One ''Elseworlds'' story called ''Flashpoint'' (Not to be confused with the CrisisCrossover of the same name) centers around Franchise/TheFlash taking the bullet for JFK, an act that causes him to be paralyzed from the neck down. This, of course, ends his career as the Scarlet Speedster.

** Creator/AkiraKamiya is one of the biggest names of Japanese voice acting in the 1980s to 1990s, best known for [[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar Kenshiro]], [[Manga/CityHunter Ryo Saeba]], and many, many HotBlooded SuperRobotGenre protagonists that required him to [[CallingYourAttacks yell a lot of attack names]] (chief amongst them is [[Manga/GetterRobo Ryouma Nagare]]). Not to mention, he tended to reprise the last ones if they reappeared in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'', recording ''even more yellings''. Eventually, his lungs gave out and he has stated that he would no longer be able to make such kind of voice acting anymore, so he either tutors the latter generation of voice actors or does roles that don't require him to yell a lot (for example, the aforementioned Ryo Saeba). This is also why ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' slowly phased out the usage of series that starred Kamiya in concern for his lung health.

* In ''Film/{{Diggstown}}'', Caine finds out that the once-great boxer Charles Macom Diggs (for whom the titular town is named), was poisoned by [[BigBad Gillon]] when Diggs refused to throw a fight. The poison and the resulting injuries from the fight paralyze Diggs for life. He manages to move his hand slightly during Roy's climactic fight, giving Roy the strength to continue.

* Wrestling/BretHart suffered a concussion so severe that any significant blow to the head would give him ''another'' concussion. Two years after he retired due to this injury, he suffered a stroke as a consequence of that injury. The cumulative damage from all of these cranial ailments means he cannot safely lift weights or board airplanes, let alone perform in a professional wrestling ring.
* Darren "Droz" Drozdov was rendered quadriplegic in 1999 after an incident during a recording of ''Wrestling/WWESmackDown'', where Wrestling/DLoBrown botched a powerbomb and accidentally broke his neck (it's been widely agreed to have been a tragic accident out of D'Lo's control, and Droz holds no animosity towards him for the incident). Droz would later become a writer and columnist and has since regained some control of his upper body and arms.

* Apparently, the [[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu shield fracture]] Éowyn suffers in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' is TruthInTelevision for knights and other melée warriors. While her arm heals, this sort of injury would realistically put a shield maiden off the field for the rest of her life. So stop complaining about {{Chickification}}.

** Matt Smith isn't the only former ''Doctor Who'' actor to have been a footballer: Creator/BradleyWalsh originally started life as a footballer for several non-league teams, until ankle injuries caused him to retire at 22. He then turned to, amongst other things, a performer at a holiday camp when was spotted, and recruited, by Creator/{{ITV}}.

** Creator/MattSmith originally wanted to be a professional association footballer and was a rising star as the striker and captain of UsefulNotes/EnglishPremierLeague side Leicester City's youth team. However, a back injury put an end to his early career. Considering he's now a world-famous actor and [[Series/DoctorWho the Eleventh Doctor]] (and got to [[TheCastShowoff show off]] his still impressive football skills in the latter), we're going to go out on a limb and presume he's not too bitter about it.

** Ironically, ''Film/KillBill'', the film that gave Creator/UmaThurman her CareerResurrection, also killed her career in the long run. During production, she suffered a [[https://web.archive.org/web/20190524142010/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/03/opinion/sunday/this-is-why-uma-thurman-is-angry.html bad neck injury]] while performing a stunt that director Creator/QuentinTarantino pressured her to do herself with NoStuntDouble, despite having voiced her reservations beforehand about the unsafe conditions. Not only did the incident do lasting damage to the [[ProductionPosse working relationship]] between Thurman and Tarantino (it would be over a decade before they reconciled), but the injury gave her chronic neck pain that she has struggled with ever since, preventing her from taking on the kind of action heroine roles that ''Kill Bill'' demonstrated she was gifted at.

** Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson, best known for competing in the 2008 Beijing games, had to retire from gymnastics for good just before the 2012 London games due to a knee injury.
** Elena Mukhina was left paralysed from the neck down in 1980 while practising the extremely difficult and hazardous Thomas salto, which led to the move being [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique banned for women in competition. As of the 2017-2020 quad, rollout skills (except for a simple dive/hecht roll), including the Thomas salto, have been banned for both men and women]].

* Apparently, the [[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu shield fracture]] Eowyn suffers in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' is TruthInTelevision for knights and other melee warriors. While her arm heals, this sort of injury would realistically put a shield maiden off the field for the rest of her life. So stop complaining about {{Chickification}}.

* Wrestling/{{Paige}} had to retire from in-ring competition at only ''25'' because of neck injuries. That, on top of the wear and tear of wrestling as young as 13.