Max Thieriot's 'SEAL Team' Character Just Suffered the Loss of One of His Limbs

Spoiler alert: This article includes spoilers for the current season of SEAL Team.

Since 2014, SEAL Team has been a fan-favorite for lovers of action and drama. The show is in its sixth season and focuses on a group of Navy SEALs who know how to handle the pressures of their career.

Members of the SEAL team know that any missions they go on, while rewarding and often worthwhile, are also going to be high-stakes and dangerous. Max Thieriot's character, Clay Spenser, has just learned this all too well. What happened to his leg? Is Matt an amputee in real life?

Clay was ambushed in a haunting attack and ended up losing his leg as a result.

His leg was amputated after doctors discovered an infection developing while he was staying in the hospital. In the show, Clay is already doing everything he can to learn how to walk again using a prosthetic leg replacement. He's the type of character who remains determined to overcome challenges and adversity, even through hardships.

He started off using a wheelchair to get around. Watching his journey back to walking normally again has already been incredibly inspiring to viewers.

Although Max is playing a character who has an amputated leg on SEAL Team, he is not an actual amputee in real life. A quick scroll through Max's Instagram shows both of his legs when he's surfing, fishing, playing with his dogs, spending time with his kids, and more.

While there’s no truth to Max having an amputated leg in real life, there is a lot to say about the five-year body transformation he underwent for his role on the show. He shared a photo thread on Instagram showing off just how much his physique changed from before he started filming SEAL Team up to Season 5.

The caption he added said, “The work doesn’t stop when you leave set. I have pushed myself mentally and physically for this TV show. I’ve literally bled for it more than once. Many things in life are beyond your control … physically being in shape is not! Took me five years to get where I am.”

He went on to explain that seeing Ryan Phillippe on the cover of Men’s Health Magazine stood as a huge inspiration to him to get in shape. Ryan's cover was a tipping point for him to start hitting the gym and focusing on improving his health and well-being.

He continued his caption saying, “At the time I thought [Ryan] looked great and decided I, too, could look like that and be on that cover. I believe I’ve accomplished half of my goal. Five years and tons of RedCon1 shakes later, here I am … now it’s time to put my head down and get back to work!”