Jared Padalecki Says He Is “On the Mend” After Car Accident

Walker star Jared Padalecki is “on the mend” after a car accident and is hoping to get back to filming on The CW’s western series this week.

Padalecki took to his social media on Tuesday to thank his fans for “the outpouring of love” he received after his Supernatural co-star Jensen Ackles revealed at a fan event in New Jersey that Padalecki had been in a car accident.

“Hey y’all! I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of love,” Padalecki captioned a photo of him and his daughter. “I’m definitely on the mend and hoping to return to filming later this week. I’m so lucky to have had the best care and be surrounded by people who love me. So grateful for everyone????#SPNFamily #WalkerFamily #akf.”

At the event held earlier this week, Ackles revealed that Padalecki was “lucky to be alive” after “a very bad car accident.”

“I don’t know if you guys know what’s going on,” Ackles told the crowd of his onscreen brother. “He was in a very bad car accident. He wasn’t driving, he was in the passenger seat, and he’s lucky to be alive.”

Ackles continued, “And not only that, but he’s at home recovering which — the fact that he’s not in a hospital right now is blowing my mind because I saw the car.” The actor added that the “airbag packs a punch” and shared that Padalecki had said the accident felt like he had “gone 12 rounds with [Mike] Tyson.”

Ackles and Padalecki played monster-hunting brothers Dean and Sam Winchester in The CW’s Supernatural, which premiered in 2005 and ran for 15 seasons on the network before coming to an end in 2020.