‘Cake Boss’ Star Buddy Valastro Attempts Icing Cake With Left Hand After Injury to Dominant Hand

Buddy Valastro is getting back to cake decorating after a devastating injury to his dominant hand. The Cake Boss star, whose right hand was repeatedly impaled by a metal rod while resetting a malfunction in his home bowling alley’s pinsetter last month, is “doing it all over again” with his left hand after being released from the hospital.

Sharing a photo of himself piping icing onto cake alongside family Sunday, Valastro revealed he was working on developing his skills with his left hand after the right suffered nerve, tendon and muscle damage. “Family time is the BEST time! Doing it all over again, left handed…” the Food Network star captioned the photos, adding the hashtags “recovery,” “lefty,” and “southpaw.” The baker’s followers had nothing but encouragement for him, with Chef Guga Rocha commenting, “Never retreat never surrender. Rock on brother.” Another person wrote, “So glad to see you getting back into the groove. The talent does not exist in only one hand.”

Valastro recounted the “freak accident” during an appearance last week on the TODAY show alongside son Buddy Jr., who rushed to his father’s rescue. “You know, it was crazy just the way it went down. But I really am so proud of my sons and brother-in-laws who were here and really helped jump into action to set me free and help put me on the road to recovery,” he explained at the time. Valastro’s 16-year-old son said of jumping into action, grabbing a saw to free his father, “I mean, he’s my dad… I knew I had to do something. So, he told me to grab the saw, the tools. So I ran up and got them and got him out.”

After his accident, Valastro underwent two surgeries, one at Morristown Memorial in New Jersey, and the second by Dr. Michelle Carlson, an orthopedic surgeon at Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan. He thanked the first responders and doctors who helped him in his time of need, “When push really comes to shove, you see what a miracle worker they are.”

Recovery will be difficult for the pastry chef. “It’s going to definitely be an uphill battle. And the prayers and the support from all the fans from all over the world have made me feel so special, and makes me want to fight to get better for them,” he said. “You know, it makes me want to be the man that I was.”