Lost an eye to a toenail...you're kidding ,right?
I thought that after more than a decade in the trenches as a surgeon, I had seen or heard it all.
A person walking and talking with a pair of scissors sticking out of their head. A dude riding the trolley to the ER and waiting his turn with a phillips screwdriver in his chest down to the handle. How about the guy whose girlfriend inserted a swizzle stick into his penis when he could no longer adequately perform. I'll never forget the regular-joe grandfather with a boysenberry syrup bottle lost in his rectum.
I can do this all day.
But in less than a month, there have been 2 injuries related to toenail strikes to the face. Wow!!
In early October, Mike Winklejohn (striking coach) at the famed Jackson MMA in New Mexico lost an eye to a high kick and toenail to the eye. The toenail actually pierced the cornea; robbing him of his sight in that eye. This injury occurred during training.
Lightning struck again, fortunately less ferociously, Nov. 6th in Fresno, Ca. on a Strikeforce Challenger's Series card. During a competitive WMMA contest, Zoila Frausto caught Elisha Hellspur just under the eye with a high kick. On slow motion replay, it was quite obvious that the toenail caused a deep and bloody, fight altering gash under Hellspur's left eye. The kick narrowly missed the eye by a fraction of an inch.
Frausto also had polish on her toenails which would likely make them stronger therefore potentially more punishing.
In training, it is each athlete's responsibility to maintain proper nail
hygiene. In competition, it is the official's responsibility to properly inspect combatants.
Be careful.
A person walking and talking with a pair of scissors sticking out of their head. A dude riding the trolley to the ER and waiting his turn with a phillips screwdriver in his chest down to the handle. How about the guy whose girlfriend inserted a swizzle stick into his penis when he could no longer adequately perform. I'll never forget the regular-joe grandfather with a boysenberry syrup bottle lost in his rectum.
I can do this all day.
But in less than a month, there have been 2 injuries related to toenail strikes to the face. Wow!!
In early October, Mike Winklejohn (striking coach) at the famed Jackson MMA in New Mexico lost an eye to a high kick and toenail to the eye. The toenail actually pierced the cornea; robbing him of his sight in that eye. This injury occurred during training.
Lightning struck again, fortunately less ferociously, Nov. 6th in Fresno, Ca. on a Strikeforce Challenger's Series card. During a competitive WMMA contest, Zoila Frausto caught Elisha Hellspur just under the eye with a high kick. On slow motion replay, it was quite obvious that the toenail caused a deep and bloody, fight altering gash under Hellspur's left eye. The kick narrowly missed the eye by a fraction of an inch.
Frausto also had polish on her toenails which would likely make them stronger therefore potentially more punishing.
In training, it is each athlete's responsibility to maintain proper nail
hygiene. In competition, it is the official's responsibility to properly inspect combatants.
Be careful.
Posted by Johnny Benjamin MD at 11/7/2009 10:28 AM 
Categories: MMA
Tags: Jackson MMA MMA eye lost Strikeforce toenail injury
Categories: MMA
Tags: Jackson MMA MMA eye lost Strikeforce toenail injury
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