Ex-NFL WR Mohamed Massaquoi Had Most of His Left Hand Amputated After ATV Accident
Former Browns wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi revealed his prosthetic left hand in a Players Tribune video explaining what led to the amputation of four of his fingers.
Massaquoi, a second-round pick of the Browns out of Georgia in 2009, said he was riding ATVs with friends when he made a turn too quickly. That's when he said he felt like an "explosion" had went off in his left hand.
"What I’m seeing and what my friends are seeing are completely different," Massaquoi said of the accident, which happened in April 2017.
"They’re seeing what actually happened, I’m seeing what I think happened,” Massaquoi said. “I’m thinking that I just broke my hand. My friend, on the other hand, thinks my hand just went through a meat grinder or something like that. Meanwhile you can see the panic and the fear in everybody.”
He said doctors worked to save his hand but ultimately had to remove four fingers, leaving his thumb intact.
"In losing a hand, which was critical to the job that I had to do, it was critical to getting a scholarship, critical to getting drafted. To not have, that it's a part of you that helped me become who I am."
Massaquoi had 118 receptions, 1,745 yards and seven touchdowns in four seasons with Cleveland. He spent time on the Jaguars' and Jets' practice squads in 2013, and the 31-year-old has not been on an NFL roster since.
