As you may recall, TLC and Food Network star Buddy Valastro suffered a terrible accident at his at-home bowling alley back in September.
The 43-year-old Cake Boss star recently chatted with ET to update his fans on his injury.
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Buddy is known best for starring on the hit TLC show, Cake Boss , as well as the Food Network baking competition show, Buddy vs. Duff.
Fans first heard the news of the TLC star’s injury from an Instagram post back in September.
Buddy shared a photo of himself in a hospital bed with the caption : “Was involved in a terrible accident a few days ago… What do you think of my new accessory?”
Buddy’s rep later reached out to People explaining that the reality star’s injury occurred after his hand became impaled at the Valastro family’s at-home bowling alley.
“There was a malfunction with the bowling pinsetter, a common fix in the past, but it turned into a terrible accident,” they explained.
“After trying to release the bowling pin from the cage mechanism, his right hand became lodged and compressed inside the unit,” the rep continued.
“Unable to remove his hand, he can see a 1-1/2″ metal rod slowly and repeatedly impale his hand three times between his ring finger and middle finger.”
After over 5 minutes of pain, Buddy’s sons, Buddy Jr., 16; and Marco, 13, had to use a reciprocating saw “to cut through the metal rod and relieve his father from the machine.”
Now, the 43-year-old is updating fans on his current condition, and whether he will ever be able to bake again or not.
“Well, I’m feeling good, you know, I feel like I’m in good spirits trying to look at the glass half full versus half empty,” he told ET .
He continued: “I’m, you know, just trying to recover and get all my strength back and see exactly what the full extent of everything is gonna wind up being, you know, because it’s still a little unforeseen.”
“But the positives, I still have my hand right. I could’ve lost fingers and could’ve went through my wrist and been a lot worse. So, I’m taking it day by day and cake by cake.”
“Right now, realistically, you know, the scars have healed up. It’s very, very stiff. I don’t really have as much motion, as much strength, dexterity … So, it’s really just a matter of continuing to do rehab. I’d say I’m probably at, like, 10 or 15 percent of the strength that I used to have…”
“It’s just really gonna be a matter of time to see exactly what comes back with the nerve too. … And a lot of, like, nerve damage, so my fingers are kinda numb in the middle, you know? They’ll always feel numb and stiff … and we’ll see what happens.”
“Honestly, I don’t know how much I’m going to be able to do,” he revealed.
“I can assure you and everybody — again, whether I have to do a left-handed, a thirty percent — I’m going to try to do it with all of my heart. I just don’t know, you know, I might be like a boxer who’s got the heart but ain’t got the tools anymore and hope to God that that’s not the case and only time will tell.”
He explained that he doesn’t want to be back in the kitchen just to boss everyone around.
“Look, I’m not the kind of guy — even though I don’t make every single thing with my own two hands, I still put a lot of my own touch on things, right? — and the fact is, if I can, if I can’t, I don’t want to be the coach, right?”
“And just saying, ‘Guys, do this, do this, do this,’ I could do that. [But] I want to be the guy when it’s fourth and goal to say, ‘Give me the ball and run in for the touchdown.'”
He continued: “I’m not ready to be on the sidelines yet, so I don’t know what the transition is going to be or what capacity things are, you know, going to end in.”
Buddy revealed that he has gone back to the bowling alley in his home since the accident.
“I actually went for the first time with the camera crew last week, and it was pretty intense,” he confessed.
“It was emotional, I would say.”
When asked if he knows when he will start filming again, the Cake Boss said it was all up in the air.
“It’s hard to say right now, I will do everything in my power. I am not throwing in the towel yet and we are trying to film now but not competing yet, just really trying to get my training and my level up, but you could take it from me, I am going to do everything in my power.”
“Whether I got to do it left-handed, whether I got to do it with 30 to 40 percent of what I got, I will give everything I got no matter what.”
We’re wishing all the best for Buddy’s recovery!
h/t: ET