Having already made plenty of headlines in 2024 — probably more for the critically blah-ed rom-com A Family Affair than the gross-out comedy Ricky Stanicky — Zac Efron sparked some far more troubling reports over the weekend after being hospitalized due to some kind of an incident while swimming. Details weren’t so prevalent immediately after things went down, but now more follow-ups have emerged, giving fans a better idea of what exactly went down.
The High School Musical vet was said to be hanging out with friends at his villa in Ibiza in the early hours of Saturday morning. Feeling the urge to take a dip, Efron apparently dove into the on-property pool in a way where his chest struck the bottom surface, which caused him to ingest a sizable amount of pool water in the moment, according to TMZ.
Thankfully, security personnel at the site were able to help Efron out of the water after he was visibly showing signs of distress. Because he was reportedly feeling a bit shaken up by the experience, the actor was taken to the hospital out of precaution.
While hospitalized, Efron’s chest was x-rayed to make sure his lungs no longer had any water in them, which was confirmed. Soon after, he was technically cleared to vacate the hospital and return home. However, due to photographers in the area catching wind that the celeb was transported there, Efron inevitably remained within the building for a few extra hours to avoid the publicity.
According to the outlet, Zac Efron returned to his villa after the hospital visit, and had a perfectly normal Sunday. Not only did he post a social pic of himself working out, but he also reportedly had dinner that night in Ibiza ahead of a Monday flight back to the United States without any further incidents.
Thank goodness the actor was with friends and had others around at the time, or else what amounted to an easy-to-rectify situation may have become far more serious. It’s a good reminder for anyone to double-check a pool’s depth before attempting a deep plunge.
Efron, a known supporter of the U.S. women’s gymnastics team, is no stranger to publicized medical incidents, having faced a few major scares over the years. He went through a “life or death” ordeal while filming the reality show Killing Zac Efron in 2019, and only in recent years did he open up about having shattered his jaw in 2013 in a near-death experience, which led to the surgery that notably changed the shape of his face.
Next up on the actor’s film slate will be A24’s adaptation Blake Crouch’s sci-fi thriller Famous, which will potentially be a lock for the 2025 movie schedule, so hopefully no further medical emergencies pop up in the meantime.