Speaking exclusively to INSIDE EDITION, former baseball superstar Jose Canseco breaks down in tears describing the moment he shot his own finger.
Former baseball superstar Jose Canseco breaks down and sobs as he speaks exclusively to INSIDE EDITION about shooting his own finger.
Canseco spoke to INSIDE EDITION’s Victoria Recano while recuperating at his Las Vegas home from the shocking accident that made national headlines.
Watch INSIDE EDITION's Exclusive Interview with Canseco
Canseco said, "My God, I thought it was a nightmare. I think I made the simple mistake of thinking the gun was completely clear, and trying to clean it with a bullet in the chamber. At first I heard it go off and I just grabbed the gun and put the gun on the table, thought nothing had happened. Then, I looked at my hand and realized my finger was blown off."
And get this, his fiancée, swimsuit model Leila Knight, was nearly hit by the bullet.
Knight recalled, "I didn't even know where the bullet went, I just heard the sound. So, I had no idea until after it hit his finger over here, and went through right here, and then it must have gone somewhere over there."
Doctors performed emergency surgery to reattach the middle finger of Canseco's left hand, which was hanging by a thread.
"They kept telling Jose not to look at his hand, because he kept saying that he felt nauseous and he was going to pass out," said Knight.
He tweeted a photo with Knight writing, “Got no sleep. Hope I can keep my finger but grateful it wasn't something worse.”
Knight in turn tweeted a photo showing Canseco recovering in bed with their two dogs.
Canseco said, "It could have been much worse, and the only thing I kept on telling her was I'm glad she wasn't hurt. I'm kind of traumatized by it."
Canseco, of course, blew the lid off the baseball steroid scandal in 2005, admitting he used steroids during a 17-year career in which he hit more than 450 home runs.
INSIDE EDITION showed Canseco a cartoon in Thursday's New York Daily News. It depicted him with bulging muscles, a gun in his right hand, and a stump for a left hand.
After seeing the photo, Canseco said, "Well, it could have been worse, it could have been that worse."
Knight added, "Yeah, and I don't think this looks like him."
Doctors have told the controversial ex-slugger he will never have full use of his hand again.
"I'm just glad nothing happened to her. If it's a lesson I have to learn losing my finger, so be it," concluded Canseco.
