Jason Pierre-Paul is taking us back to the day that changed his life forever.

The New York Giants defensive end infamously wound up losing his right index finger and mangled other digits on the same hand while setting off fireworks on the Fourth of July last year near his home in Florida.

Pierre-Paul, 27, is now going back to that night, detailing just what happened in a video (note the graphic images) for Sports Illustrated.

The defensive end immediately sensed something was wrong after he set off the fireworks.

I’m looking at my [right] hand and I’m seeing every ligament. You only see this stuff in the movies….I saw my thumb hanging off a little bit. There was no flesh on my index finger.

Pierre-Paul, who wound up having nearly a dozen surgeries in the wake of the accident, knew his career could be done, but he says he was more worried about his family at that moment.

In the end, he wound up working his way back into playing shape and returned to suit up for the last eight games of the Giants season, tallying one sack. Expect to see him this coming season, too – he signed a one-year with Big Blue for $10.5 million.

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