Former NFL player and current college coach Deion Sanders is currently on an amazing run at Jackson State University, but he announced that he recently had two toes amputated.
According to USA Today, Coach Prime, in a recent interview on the Barstool Sports YouTube page, revealed that he recently had surgery on his injured
foot. Doctors had to amputate two toes on his left foot during that procedure. The series details his experience as he stayed at a Mississippi hospital for three weeks.The 54-year-old Jackson State University football coach had his big toe and the second toe on his left foot amputated, and he lost 35 pounds in the process of his hospital stay. Doctors informed him that he was diagnosed with three femoral arterial blood clots, which they determined were life-threatening.
Doctors informed him that the blood clots started at his calf and ran down the length of his leg. He developed compartment syndrome, which involves muscle pressure reaching levels that can restrict the flow of blood and oxygen in the leg.
When doctors gave him the diagnosis and told him he needed surgery, Sanders reached out to tell his mother. She informed him they had family members, herself included, who had been diagnosed or had died from blood clots.
Sanders had surgery in September for a dislocated toe and an inflamed nerve. He eventually returned to the university to coach while he stood on the sidelines with crutches and sometimes used a golf cart and a push scooter to move around. Sanders had to use a wheelchair to get around for the latter part of the football season.
“They were first talking about the amputation of toes, then the amputation of my leg from knee down, and then they were trying to ensure that I had life,” Sanders said.
“It’s been a long journey. I am on the road back. But I am here, and I am thankful.”