Ex-NFL star's shin left 'like Play-Doh' after contracting skin infection

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By Phoebe Egoroff

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An ex-NFL player's shin has reportedly been left like "Play-Doh" after contracting a horrific skin infection.

Lawrence Okoye - a British track athlete, Olympian, and former NFL defensive tackle in San Francisco, New York, Dallas, Miami, and Montreal -  posted a short clip of his shin after he came down with a nasty infection after he "smashed up" his leg, The New York Post detailed.

The 31-year-old Londoner took to TikTok - where his handle is @fullheartedpush - to show off his unique injury, pressing his fingers into his shin and causing little dimples that remained depressed.

So far, Okoye's original TikTok received 8.5 million views and close to 650,000 likes since it was first posted in December. "Looks like a normal leg, right? Watch this," he says in the 20-second clip, before pressing small dents into the leg with his finger. "It's like I'm made out of Play-Doh," he adds.

After receiving hundreds of comments from viewers who were curious to know what happened, Okoye make a subsequent TikTok where he revealed he had been suffering from cellulitis.

"So a lot of people have been asking me what's going on with my leg, and basically it's this thing called cellulitis," he states. "I had a leg injury a few days ago and the wound got infected with bacteria, which causes redness, swelling, and that pitted edema you saw, which was me basically making craters in my leg.

"It was easily treatable - just a week's worth of antibiotics and some rest, and I shall be back to normal," Okoye concluded.

Two weeks later, Okoye then gave his fans an update on the situation in a more lengthy video, following tons of comments asking how he was faring. "Thought I would give you an update on my leg. I had a ton of people in the comments trying to tell me I had heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease, cancer, diabetes, blah blah blah. Obviously, that's not the case," he began.

"I had an infection called cellulitis. It's basically bacteria that gets into your system when you have an open wound. As you can see I have these scars here from when I smashed my leg a couple weeks ago, so that's why I had the crazy pitted edema that you saw. You'll see now that it's gone," he added, as he began squeezing his leg to show it was no longer infected.

He then stated: "Those crazy holes that were in my leg no longer exist, so I'm pretty much back to normal. Thanks to all the people that wished me well."

Fortunately for Okoye, he clearly managed to catch the cellulitis in time. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have detailed that, if left untreated, the bacterial infection can cause a range of complications - including blood infection, bacterial infection in a joint, bone infection, and swelling that can cause blood clots.

Featured image credit: Gary Mitchell, GMP Media / Alamy

Ex-NFL star's shin left 'like Play-Doh' after contracting skin infection

vt-author-image

By Phoebe Egoroff

Article saved!Article saved!

An ex-NFL player's shin has reportedly been left like "Play-Doh" after contracting a horrific skin infection.

Lawrence Okoye - a British track athlete, Olympian, and former NFL defensive tackle in San Francisco, New York, Dallas, Miami, and Montreal -  posted a short clip of his shin after he came down with a nasty infection after he "smashed up" his leg, The New York Post detailed.

The 31-year-old Londoner took to TikTok - where his handle is @fullheartedpush - to show off his unique injury, pressing his fingers into his shin and causing little dimples that remained depressed.

So far, Okoye's original TikTok received 8.5 million views and close to 650,000 likes since it was first posted in December. "Looks like a normal leg, right? Watch this," he says in the 20-second clip, before pressing small dents into the leg with his finger. "It's like I'm made out of Play-Doh," he adds.

After receiving hundreds of comments from viewers who were curious to know what happened, Okoye make a subsequent TikTok where he revealed he had been suffering from cellulitis.

"So a lot of people have been asking me what's going on with my leg, and basically it's this thing called cellulitis," he states. "I had a leg injury a few days ago and the wound got infected with bacteria, which causes redness, swelling, and that pitted edema you saw, which was me basically making craters in my leg.

"It was easily treatable - just a week's worth of antibiotics and some rest, and I shall be back to normal," Okoye concluded.

Two weeks later, Okoye then gave his fans an update on the situation in a more lengthy video, following tons of comments asking how he was faring. "Thought I would give you an update on my leg. I had a ton of people in the comments trying to tell me I had heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease, cancer, diabetes, blah blah blah. Obviously, that's not the case," he began.

"I had an infection called cellulitis. It's basically bacteria that gets into your system when you have an open wound. As you can see I have these scars here from when I smashed my leg a couple weeks ago, so that's why I had the crazy pitted edema that you saw. You'll see now that it's gone," he added, as he began squeezing his leg to show it was no longer infected.

He then stated: "Those crazy holes that were in my leg no longer exist, so I'm pretty much back to normal. Thanks to all the people that wished me well."

Fortunately for Okoye, he clearly managed to catch the cellulitis in time. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have detailed that, if left untreated, the bacterial infection can cause a range of complications - including blood infection, bacterial infection in a joint, bone infection, and swelling that can cause blood clots.

Featured image credit: Gary Mitchell, GMP Media / Alamy