A former football player’s testicle needs to be removed after it ruptured during a bad dive while he was training for a reality TV show.
Thorsten Legat, a former German Bundesliga midfielder, said his testicle swelled nearly to the size of a balloon after the accident.
On his second day of training for the TV show ‘RTL Turmsprung’ (High Diving) in Cologne, the 53-year-old jumped off a three-meter-high board.
He later said: ‘I jumped off and forgot to keep my legs together. There was a huge bang when I hit the water, I felt pain.’
He initially ignored it and even practiced several more jumps.
But on his way home, he realized something was seriously wrong.
He claimed that his testicles were ‘almost the size of a balloon’ and that he thought he was growing a third ball.
A testicular tear, a haematoma, and a bladder infection were discovered during a urological examination.
The painful verdict was then delivered by a doctor: the injured testicle would have to be removed.
‘At first, I thought the world was falling down on me,’ Legat said.
But the father of two has made peace with his upcoming surgery, which will take place in mid-August.
He even joked: ‘I’m getting an implant in there. I got educated, it’s like a breast implant.’
Doctors have assured him that his other testicle will be fine if he decides to have more children.
During his 15-year senior career, Legat played 243 games and scored 15 goals in the Bundesliga.
He played for VfL Bochum, Werder Bremen, Eintracht Frankfurt, VfB Stuttgart, and Schalke 04, with the latter being his final professional appearance in 2001.
He has won the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, the Bundesliga, and three DFB-Pokals.
His career as an active player was overshadowed by several run-ins with the law.
He once hospitalized a man who had allegedly threatened him.
On another occasion, he was charged with attempted dangerous bodily injury after drawing a samurai sword on a group of children in a fast food restaurant parking lot.
He continues to be active on Instagram, where he has 44,700 followers.
And he’ll make up for his forced retirement from ‘RTL Turmsprung’ by competing in a celebrity edition of ‘Ninja Warrior Germany,’ with all proceeds going to charity.