Doctors told DiMeo and his parents that he shouldn't have even been alive due to a high risk of fevers and infections. 'It took me a while to really understand the damages to my body,' DiMeo, now 27, told the Daily Mail. Staring in the reflection, DiMeo told the Daily Mail he saw not the self-sufficient 'gym rat' he'd always been, but a stranger resembling Freddy Krueger of Nightmare on Elm Street. As for daily life, he hopes to get back to weightlifting using custom wrist guards his mother made. DiMeo told the Daily Mail that closure about his accident may help with these feelings.

Source: Daily Mail March 15, 2026 00:39 UTC