Jimmy Fallon was supposed to enjoy a couple weeks of vacation time from The Tonight Show, and he headed off for that vacation–likely anticipating some rest and relaxation. A trip and fall scenario in his home–on his first day off–resulted in what is called a ring avulsion. It nearly cost Fallon a finger.
Returning to The Tonight Show on Monday, Jimmy Fallon explained the entire scenario. It sounded not only serious, but excruciatingly painful. It even landed the late night host in ICU for 10 days.
“What a crazy break we had–a two week break,” Jimmy Fallon began on Monday night. “So basically what happened is, I tripped and fell in my kitchen on a braided rug that my wife loves and I can’t wait to burn it to the ground. I tripped and fell and I caught my fall… I’m getting up and my finger is sideways.”
“So I go, ‘Oh my god, did I just break my finger?’” the Saturday Night Live alum continued. “This is the lamest thing in the whole wide world. It completely looks fake. It looks like a cheap horror movie where you see a broken finger.”
Jimmy Fallon caught a cab to a local emergency room, where he was told he had a ring avulsion–and also told it couldn’t be treated there. He needed to see a specialist. Another cab ride later and Fallon was in surgery for several hours.
“Basically what it is is that my ring got caught on the countertop when I was going down and stuck there and pulled my finger off,” he explained.
Jimmy Fallon back at 'Tonight' following gruesome injury
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The doctor–who Jimmy Fallon called “awesome,” and also explained he wore a bow tie and cowboy boots–performed microsurgery on Fallon, removing a vein from his leg and replacing it into his finger in an effort to save it.
“Apparently the odds aren’t great with these things,” Jimmy Fallon said. “This happens a lot and the odds are not–usually they’re just gonna cut your finger off.”
So fans who may have figured Jimmy Fallon was simply milking a broken finger had it all wrong. The Tonight Show host was seriously injured in what sounds like an everyday trip and fall situation.
Fortunately he is back at the helm once again.
Reruns of The Tonight Show for the past two weeks were starting to wear on many of Jimmy Fallon’s fans.
Welcome back, Jimmy Fallon. You were missed.