Wales hooker Scott Baldwin is on the mend after being bitten by a lion.
The 29-year-old was bitten while stroking the beast at a game park in Bloemfontein prior to Ospreys’ PRO14 game against the Cheetahs at the end of last month.
He has since undergone four operations to fix the massive gash in his hand, and on Sunday he shared then-and-now images of the injury on social media.
In the caption that accompanied the three stage-by-stage photos, Baldwin wrote: ‘3 games missed, 4 ops later & not the result we wanted yesterday but good to be back out with the boys #Live&learn #LuckyEscape’.
Previously, he revealed how lucky he was not to sustain serious and long-lasting damage from the incident.
‘The bite went straight through the other side of the hand, but I was really lucky it didn’t hit any tendons or ligaments,’ Baldwin told BBC Radio 5 live’s Rugby Union Weekly podcast.
‘The surgeon said it was like winning the lottery. He said it was the best possible outcome I could have had after being bitten by a lion.’
The wound was initially stitched up but there were fears Baldwin could lose his hand as an infection set in.
‘The infection was the major issue,’ he said. ‘The next day it started tracking up my arm. The surgeon said there was a chance I could lose my hand due to the infection.
‘The first day our doctor cleaned it out and stitched it up. But the following day we went to the hospital after it had become infected.
‘I had my first operation on the Thursday, second operation on the Friday, and then I was allowed to fly home Saturday on the understanding I had an IV (intravenous) drip and went straight to hospital when I got back.
‘I was transferred to Morrison hospital in Swansea to see a plastic surgeon, and he cleaned it out once more.
‘Because they had packed it with all stuff to stop the infection, my skin was so loose he didn’t have to take a skin graft, so I was really fortunate there.’
