GetAnabolics.com Official Blog: Bodybuilder Accident and a Triumphant Recovery

When 10,000 pounds of steel crashed down on Dan Przyojski leg, the only thing that saved the bodybuilding champion's appendage was his superior physical conditioning. In 1987, the former Mr. Toledo Bodybuilding Champion was working for Heidtman Steel when the accident occurred.

"There were 10,000 pounds of steel on a cable. It unraveled and came down on my leg, it almost severed the leg entirely. I passed out, and when I got to the hospital, the doctors wanted to cut it off. Luckily I knew one of the doctors, and he gave me a chance."

In face, Przyojski said he fought doctors for a year and a half to avoid an amputation. "I was dead set against it," the 42-year-old said. "I wasn't going to have a plastic leg."

The steel had not only crushed nearly every bone in Przyojski leg, but also it had ripped muscles and tendons from the bone, destroyed a large artery, and tore up his skin. A large pin held the upper and lower bones together. He was in a wheel chair for a year and missed three years of work. It was two years before he walked on his own again. After three years of 11 operations of bone and skin grafts and untold pain, Dan's perseverance paid off - the leg was saved.