Phillies prospect loses right eye in freak accident

PHILADELPHIA -- Philadelphia Phillies minor league pitcher Matt Imhof has lost his right eye after a freak accident with exercise equipment.

Imhof said in an Instagram post Thursday that he had surgery Tuesday to remove the eye. He said the first operation couldn't restore his vision and he opted to have a prosthetic put in.

As many of you know on Friday June 25th I had an accident. A large price of metal hit me in the head/eye resulting in a fractured nose, 2 fractured orbital bones, and most significantly, the loss of vision in my right eye. I was immediately taken to the ER and then transferred to Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, the #1 eye hospital in the world. That night, the doctors informed me that the damage to my eye was extreme and essentially that my eye had been crushed like a grape. The doctors told me they were going to do everything possible to reconstruct it but in all likelihood I would never regain sight in my right eye. The first surgery was somewhat a success but overall nothing had changed, so after discussions with my family and my doctors, it was decided that the best chance I had to live a normal life was to have my right eye removed and have a prosthetic one put in. This decision was not an easy one to make but to me it seemed like the right one so on Tuesday afternoon I went forward with the surgery. I'm currently still in Miami recovering from surgery but I'm doing well. This has been the hardest week of my life but I've had amazing support from my family and friends to help me get through it. For those who have been wishing me well, your support has not gone unnoticed and I appreciate everyone who has kept me in their thoughts and prayers. I had the best doctors in the world doing their best work on me and for that I am grateful as well. Although this injury has been tough it could have been much worse...I'm lucky to still have vision in my left eye...I'm lucky that i didn't have brain damage...and I'm lucky to be surrounded my the most loving and understanding people in the world. I just wanted to write this message to let everyone know that even though I suffered some bad luck, I'm not dead. I'm gonna be alright, I'm gonna persevere, and I'm gonna succeed. It takes more than this to bring me down. Again thanks to everyone for the support .

A photo posted by Matt Imhof (@matt_imhof48) on Jun 30, 2016 at 9:44am PDT

The 22-year-old left-hander was a second-round pick in 2014 out of Cal Poly. He was pitching for Single-A Clearwater.

Imhof was injured after a game Friday night when a piece of metal broke off an exercise machine and hit him in the head and eye. He also suffered a broken nose and two broken orbital bones.

"This has been the hardest week of my life but I've had amazing support from my family and friends to help me get through it," he wrote on Instagram. "For those who have been wishing me well, your support has not gone unnoticed and I appreciate everyone who has kept me in their thoughts and prayers."

Imhof said doctors told him that his right eye was "crushed like a grape."

He didn't say if he plans to continue playing baseball.

"I just wanted to write this message to let everyone know that even though I suffered some bad luck, I'm not dead. I'm gonna be alright, I'm gonna persevere, and I'm gonna succeed," he wrote on Instagram. "It takes more than this to bring me down."

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