Richie Sambora is recovering from what’s described as a “gruesome” injury that required surgery to his left hand.
People reported that the former Bon Jovi guitarist, 66, was undergoing an "arduous, slow, and painful" healing process following his hospital visit.
Sambora broke his hand last April while playing touch football.
An unnamed source tells People, "He caught a ball and some guy gave him a touch right into a curb. He was completely swollen, and fractured his hand in two places."
Despite his injury, Sambora performed on May 2, a few days the incident, at the Unbridled Eve Derby Gala.
"When he told the doctor he was going to the Derby, the doctor said, ‘You’re out of your mind,'" the insider continues.
"But he said, ‘See ya! I’m going.’ That’s the kind of guy Richie is. He’s a man of his word.”
In a photo of Sambora taken at the Derby Gala (above), his left hand — in which he holds a microphone — appears to be swollen and purple.
In another photo (top of this page), he plays a Fender Stratocaster and has a slide on his left-hand ring finger.
The 66-year-old guitarist is said to be healing well and quickly under the care of a sports medicine team that works with NFL players. According to the source, Sambora's doctors say he’s healing at twice the speed expected.
In related news, Sambora celebrated his birthday on July 11 at home in Princeville, Hawaii, and released a new song titled “I Was Born to Rock.”
"My birthday gift to you," he wrote in an Instagram post in which he shared the song.
In related news, session guitarist Tim Pierce recently spoke about being passed up for Jon Bon Jovi's band despite playing all the electric guitars on his breakout single, "Runaway," in 1982. That job, instead, went to Sambora.
“Richie was the perfect choice,” Pierce says. “The way he plays, looks and sings is great. They wrote some of the most amazing songs ever. Jon didn’t ask, and it probably had to do with the fact that I had another gig — and didn’t look like a rock star.”
