Giants star Jason Pierre-Paul tries to elevate hand to stop massive bleeding after fireworks accident

Jason Pierre-Paul has shared a photo taken shortly after the July fireworks accident that almost took his entire hand and ended his NFL career.

The New York Giants star is seen in a complete daze in the photo as he lays in a hospital bed while trying to keep his mangled hand elevated to stop the bleeding caused after a firework exploded in his hand on July 5, 2015 while he was in Florida.

After many surgeries doctors were eventually able to save his hand, but forced to amputate his right index finger and parts of some of his other fingers, which caused his thumb to lose mobility.

Despite this, he still managed to return to the field, being placed on the active roster by the Giants in Week 9 of the season.

‘July 5th I remember,’ wrote Pierre-Pauls next to the photo, that shows him in a complete daze.

Pierre-Paul just underwent yet another surgery on his hand late last week to deal with bloating in his middle finger at the Hospital for Special Surgery.

That surgery was performed by Giants’ hand specialist Dr. Robert Hotchkiss.

Pierre-Paul may not end up back with the Giants however next season as he is set to become a free agent in March.

His injury seemed to do little to hamper his playing ability as he finished the season with one sack, 26 tackles and even had two fumble recoveries.

The defensive end had a strong 2014 with the Giants, with a very impressive 12.5 sacks on the season, and had been enjoying down time when the accident happened last July.

He was picked up by the team in the first round of the 2010 draft, and has been very vocal about not wanting to play anywhere else during his career.

Pierre-Paul has twice been named to the Pro Bowl during his career in New York and more importantly was able to be part of a Super Bowl-winning team thanks to the Giants 2012 victory over the New England Patriots.

His hand injury changed everything however, as he lost millions of dollars in both salary and endorsement money along with his spot on the Giants.

The team had already placed the franchise tag on Pierre-Paul months before his accident, and he signed his one year deal in late October before being activated by the team on November 7.

Pierre-Paul was actually just one of two football players who lost fingers last July 4th weekend with Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback C.J. Wilson losing two fingers in a fireworks accident as well.

Wilson was not as lucky as Pierre-Paul however, and announced his retirement from the NFL just three weeks after his accident.

Source: The DailyMail