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Mohamed Massaquoi


D Bone

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https://nypost.com/2018/02/12/ex-browns-wide-receiver-reveals-how-he-lost-his-left-hand/

 

Ex-Browns wide receiver reveals how he lost his left hand
By Mark W. Sanchez February 12, 2018 | 10:56am

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 finger’s not going to make it, we have to take it off. This finger’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, who caught 118 passes and seven touchdowns from 2009 to 2012 with Cleveland after being a second-round pick, said it’s more than his hand that has been affected.

“I went with denial, I went through fear of what was going to come,” Massaquoi said. “This just gives you a perspective of how precious life is, how fast things can change.”

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We've taught a lot of kids how to ride over years - safety, safety, safety. Speed is fun, til you see somebody get killed or badly injured. A close friend's son stopped by one day, years ago, and said he was riding with some friends, and they wanted to try a dangerous uphill.

He tried to talk them out of it - but one kid went after it high speed. He wrecked, went over the hill, ATV landed on him - may never walk again, other injuries... that's just so sad about Massaquoi . He wasn't just trail riding, I think.

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40 minutes ago, D Bone said:

https://nypost.com/2018/02/12/ex-browns-wide-receiver-reveals-how-he-lost-his-left-hand/

 

Ex-Browns wide receiver reveals how he lost his left hand
By Mark W. Sanchez February 12, 2018 | 10:56am

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 finger’s not going to make it, we have to take it off. This finger’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, who caught 118 passes and seven touchdowns from 2009 to 2012 with Cleveland after being a second-round pick, said it’s more than his hand that has been affected.

“I went with denial, I went through fear of what was going to come,” Massaquoi said. “This just gives you a perspective of how precious life is, how fast things can change.”

I hope he's right handed :(  

29 minutes ago, calfoxwc said:

We've taught a lot of kids how to ride over years - safety, safety, safety. Speed is fun, til you see somebody get killed or badly injured. A close friend's son stopped by one day, years ago, and said he was riding with some friends, and they wanted to try a dangerous uphill.

He tried to talk them out of it - but one kid went after it high speed. He wrecked, went over the hill, ATV landed on him - may never walk again, other injuries... that's just so sad about Massaquoi . He wasn't just trail riding, I think.

I try to stay off those things. Had one roll up my foot and got plantar fasciitis out of it. I was lucky, way back saw where a guy was riding one at high speed down a road, didn't see the cable stretched across it- and essentially got cut in half. 

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1 hour ago, calfoxwc said:

We've taught a lot of kids how to ride over years - safety, safety, safety. Speed is fun, til you see somebody get killed or badly injured. A close friend's son stopped by one day, years ago, and said he was riding with some friends, and they wanted to try a dangerous uphill.

He tried to talk them out of it - but one kid went after it high speed. He wrecked, went over the hill, ATV landed on him - may never walk again, other injuries... that's just so sad about Massaquoi . He wasn't just trail riding, I think.

My son's best friend was riding one up a dry river bed during the drought here a few years back, flipped it and lost an eye as a result. If he wasn't such a big strong guy it could have been even worse.

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Here's a video with him talking about it: https://www.theplayerstribune.com/mohamed-massaquoi-nfl/

Massaquoi was a serious player in high school. I had the (strong) displeasure of playing independence (where he went to high school) in charlotte. Granted we were God awful, but he was just a man amongst boys. He also was on the opposite side of Hakeem Nicks so it was just a friking slaughter. I really thought he was going to be a great NFL pro, but he couldn't get over the hump.

Hope for the best.

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I got to meet Momass at the Browns' Meet the Rookies event they had. Momass and David Veikune came around while we were in a line and they took a picture with me. Great guys. Kaluka Maiva was also a good dude. 

It's really nice that they did those events, it really helps you realize that these guys are real people and not some abstract football cyborg.  I think that a lot of the times we expect to much out of these guys because they are paid so much money. Life is a river, go with the flow man. 

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