Jason Pierre-Paul was told he would lose right hand

New York Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul has revealed that he was initially told by doctors that he would lose his whole right hands after an accident earlier this year.

The 26-year-old had his right index finger amputated after he suffered a hand injury while trying to light fireworks during celebrations on July 4, but was handed a new one-year contract by Giants and returned to action in the victory over Tampa Bay Buccaneers on November 8.

Pierre-Paul said that he was informed that medical staff were intending to remove his entire hand, but he always insisted that he would be able to make a full recovery and return to the NFL.

"[The accident] was not scary at all," he told the New York Post. "I just went straight to the hospital. Did not panic, no nothing, I just went straight to the hospital. It was not painful at all. It was no pain, no nothing at the time. I was just like, I gotta get my hand treated.

"I knew for a fact that my hand... I might say it is severely damaged or whatever, but I knew that it was not that bad, like I can still play football. Even the doctors counted me out. They were like, 'Yeah, we are gonna have to cut his whole hand off'."

Pierre-Paul has played for the Giants since being drafted from college in 2010, and won the Super Bowl with the franchise in 2012.