Ex-Browns receiver reveals how he lost hand
The hands that made Mohamed Massaquoi millions and shaped who he was are no longer intact.
The former Browns wide receiver revealed Monday that all that remains of his left hand is a thumb, as a palm that used to corral passes is now a prosthetic after an ATV accident.
“Making a turn — I take the turn too sharply,” the 31-year-old said in a video for The Players’ Tribune. “And before I know it, my ATV loses control. The next thing I feel is something just feels like an explosion just went off in my hand. I’m in shock, so I don’t feel it. But I’m very aware of what’s going on, just because there’s blood everywhere.
“What I’m seeing and what my friends are seeing are completely different — they’re seeing what actually happened, I’m seeing what I think happened. I’m thinking that I just broke my hand. My friend, on the other hand, thinks my hand just went through a meat grinder.”
It is unclear when the accident and amputation happened. Massaquoi hasn’t played since 2013, when he was cut by the Jets and Jaguars in training camp.
After the crash, Massaquoi was airlifted to a hospital, where doctors told him the hand was likely gone, but they would see how it healed.
“Over those next days and weeks we’d see, ‘ OK, this f inger’s not going to make it, we have to take it off. This f inger’s not going to make it, we have to take it off,’ ” said the North Carolina native, who starred at Georgia. “And then you’re left with what is now a thumb.”
Massaquoi caught 118 passes and seven touchdowns from 2009 to 2012 with Cleveland after being a second-round pick.