Scott Baldwin: Rugby player bitten by lion reveals horrifying extent of ‘self-inflicted’ injuries

The Ospreys player suffered the injury after he attempted to 'pet' the big cat while on tour in South Africa in September.

Wales rugby player Scott Baldwin is bitten on the hand by a lion in South Africa (Twitter/@AndyGoode10)

A Welsh rugby player who was bitten by a Lion has revealed the horrifying extent of his injuries after being bitten on his hand.

Ospreys and Welsh international Scott Baldwin, 29, suffered the bite as he attempted to stroke the animal before appearing in a game in South Africa in September.

In the aftermath of the incident Ospreys coach Steve Tandy pointed out: “In fairness it was nothing to do with the lion."

The incident at Bloemfontein Zoo was caught on video by a teammate and reportedly left the hooker fearing he would lose both his hand and his career, after an infection began to spread up his arm.

“When you see the video it looks very quick, but for me it felt like a lifetime, it felt as though I was staring into its [the lion's] soul,” he said to the Mirror.

“They told me I could lose my hand, I had to have four operations and I missed three matches with the Ospreys. And it was all self-inflicted."

“I had two operations in South Africa, flew home with an IV drip in my arm and then had another two at home. At one stage I was told I would need plastic surgery and could lose my left hand.

Baldwin was told he may have required plastic surgery and could have lost his hand after the horrific bite at Bloemfontein zoo (Getty)

At the time, Ospreys coach Tandy branded the hooker 'stupid' for attempting to stroke the lion: "He did bite Scott but when you put your hand in a fence where there is a lion, then you will get bitten.

"It was pretty stupid on Scott's behalf and he is pretty lucky… I don't know what sort of wildlife show Scott has been watching where you can pat a lion on the head as if it's a kitten."

On Saturday, Baldwin returned to the field as his team were beaten 36-34 by Saracens in the European Champions Cup. He then tweeted a picture of the wound he had been left with.

"3 games missed, 4 ops later & not the result we wanted yesterday but good to be back out with the boys. Live&Learn LuckyEscape," he captioned the tweet with.