'Cake Boss' says he fears he won't bake again after gruesome hand injury
A gruesome injury to his dominant hand has the "Cake Boss" questioning whether he'll ever make another one of his signature elaborate cakes again.
Buddy Valastro spoke to People about his fears after his right hand was impaled by a machine in the family's home bowling alley, resulting in damages to nerves, muscles and tendons in his hand.
Watch TODAY All Day! Get the best news, information and inspiration from TODAY, all day long.
"I have a thing with my hands. If I get a paper cut on my hand, I'm pissed off. My hands to me are my lifeline of everything I do," he said. "And I wonder, ‘Am I ever going to do what I used to be able to do?'"
Valastro opened up about the accident in his New Jersey home on TODAY Tuesday, growing emotional as he detailed how his son Buddy Jr., 16, ran and got a saw and other tools to cut him loose.
"I thought I was going to faint, I looked at my hand and there was blood everywhere and I was stuck, the rod going back and forth because the machine goes back and forth," Valastro told Savannah Guthrie. "Something told me to stay calm.
"My whole family worked together, my son Buddy, my son Marco, and within five minutes they were able to take the bolt out, cut me off the machine, and I was actually in my driveway before the ambulance even got there."
The TLC reality star and owner of Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken first revealed the injury last week with an Instagram photo of him in the hospital with his bandaged arm raised.
"I was involved in a terrible accident a few days ago... ?? What do you think of my new accessory," he wrote.
He underwent emergency surgery on Sunday to remove the rod from his hand and help stabilize his wound, followed by an operation by an orthopedic surgeon.
Valastro has been buoyed in his recovery by the outpouring of well wishes.
"The prayers and the support from all the fans all over the world made me feel so special and it makes me want to fight to get better for them," he said on TODAY. "It makes me want to be the man that I was."
He also has gotten a lift from Duff Goldman, the "Ace of Cakes" chef and co-star of "Buddy vs. Duff" on Food Network.
"Duff was one of the first people who reached out when he heard and he's been so supportive," Valastro told People. ″I'm going to need him to force me to get back into it."
Valastro also has his wife, Lisa, and their four children in his corner.
"He will bake again, even if he has to use his left hand," his wife told People. "Trust me."