Pitching prospect Imhof issues statement, says he has lost his right eye

Left-handed pitching prospect Matt Imhof, who made news recently following a freak accident with workout equipment, announced via his personal Instagram account that the injury he suffered resulted in the loss of his right eye.

Reportedly Imhof was taking part in a stretching routine following a recent Clearwater Threshers game and equipment he was using snapped, causing part of it to strike Imhof in his right eye.

According to the player, he suffered a fractured nose, two fractured orbital bones and severe damage to his eye that caused immediate loss of vision.  He has undergone multiple surgeries since the incident.

In his statement (see embedded post below), Imhof stated: “Even thought I suffered some bad luck, I’m not dead.  I’m gonna be alright, I’m gonna perservere and I’m gonna succeed.”

In the two years since he was the Phillies’ second round draft choice out of Cal Poly the 22-year-old tallied a 13-10 record with a 3.69 ERA in 43 minor league outings at four levels.  Imhof began this season in the Class A Advanced Threshers’ starting rotation, but was recently moved to the bullpen to work on improving his efforts.

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