Heath Mercer

Heath Mercer is a hockey player who cut off his own finger after it was broken and dislocated.

History
While taking a drink from his water bottle without his glove on while playing hockey, Heath dislocated and broke one of his fingers. He was taken to the ER, where Callie Torres took x-rays. The breaks were severe, so she bandaged his head and scheduled surgery to fix his finger. He was upset about that as college scouts were coming to his next game and it was his only chance to impress them, but Callie told him he wouldn't be able to play that day.

Desperate to play for the scouts, Heath went home and found instructions to cut off his own finger on the finger. He came into the hospital the next day, proud of how well he'd played, and handed over the finger to be re-attached. However, the doctors had to break the news to him that when he put his freshly cut hand into his hockey glove, he contracted MRSA. He'd be lucky if they could preserve any hand function at all. He first was in denial about it, thinking they were lying in order to scare him into not doing it again, but when he understood that it was true, he cried because he'd never be able to play hockey again.

Notes and Trivia

 * The season before he injured his hand, he took a puck to the face and broke two teeth.