Ex-NFL star’s leg turned to ‘Play-Doh’ after skin infection

An ex-NFL player was left able to knead his leg like ‘Play-Doh’ after suffering a potentially deadly infection.

Former defensive tackle Lawrence Okoye, 31, from the UK, was diagnosed with cellulitis after bacteria swept into his right leg through a cut. The skin infection became so bad that fluid started to build up beneath the skin, enabling the sportsman to ‘mold’ the limb.

After the diagnosis, doctors put the 31-year-old on a week of antibiotics which cleared the infection. He is now in recovery.

If left untreated, cellulitis can develop into sepsis — when the body’s extreme response to an infection can be life-threatening. It comes after microscopic worms were filmed swimming in a man’s scrotum in stomach-churning footage.

Scroll down for video 

Lawrence Okoye, 31, suffered a cellulitis infection following an injury to his leg. He is pictured above while playing for the Miami Dolphins in 2017 and the Dallas Cowboys in 2016

In the video, Mr Okoye showed himself kneading his leg six times and leaving apparently permanent divots

Cellulitis is a relatively common skin infection, with more than 14million cases diagnosed in the United States each year.

It is triggered when bacteria — commonly the same bacteria that causes strep throat — get into the skin through cuts and grazes and trigger an infection.

Patients normally suffer irritation to the affected area, swelling, tenderness, and pain.

But in some cases, it can also lead to edema, a serious swelling caused by problems draining fluid away from the affected area.

Infections are normally treated using antibiotics, and clear up in about a week.

In the stomach-churning video, Mr Okoye shows himself pressing into his leg six times leaving behind indents.

He posted the clip — viewed more than 8.5million times — in mid-December with the caption: ‘Warning!! This is nasty!’

Viewers were quick to leap on the clip suggesting the player may be suffering from heart problems — or even cancer.

But in a follow-up clip, the ex-NFL star said he was diagnosed with cellulitis.

He said: ‘A ton of people were trying to tell me I had heart disease or liver disease, kidney disease, cancer and diabetes but obviously that’s not the case.

‘Those crazy holes that were in my leg no longer exist.’

He explained that an edema — the build-up of fluid — under the skin caused by the infection had enabled him to start kneading the area.

Mr Okoye has previously played for several NFL teams including the Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys.

He also had a stint at the San Francisco 49ers.

But in recent years he has returned to the UK and taken up discus.

He went to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but did not win any medals.

However, at the commonwealth games in Birmingham last year he took home a silver for discus.

DailyMail.com has contacted Mr Okoye for comment.