Daniel Fells nearly lost his leg to MRSA infection

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Former NFL tight end Daniel Fells announced his retirement in 2016 after needing eight surgeries in 2015 because of a MRSA infection. Now Fells is speaking out about the danger of MRSA, and detailing just how bad it got.

Fells told Bob Glauber of Newsday that doctors told him in 2015 that he was getting close to the point where only amputating his leg would prevent the infection from killing him.

“The doctors said if this doesn’t work, we’re going to have to either amputate and . . . hopefully it’s not too late,” Fells said. “It was getting darker and darker.”

Fells said he got so sick, and his fever so high, that the hospital thermometer appeared to be malfunctioning.

“It went from 102 to 103 to 104, and then the thermometer was showing error,” Fells said. “I was off the charts with my fever. They were trying to get the infection under control, day after day, trying different antibiotics known to kill MRSA.”

The 36-year-old Fells, who spent a decade in the NFL, had hoped to leave the game on his own terms, but the severity of the infection made it impossible for him ever to play again.