Neil Patrick Harris had to have surgery on his hand for a sea urchin injury


Neil Patrick Harris, his husband, David Burtka, and their children, Gideon and Harper, went on a fabulous European vacation this summer. Neil posted a video on Instagram of a jump into the Adriatic Sea in Croatia. That’s below! While that happened without incident, it turns out that Neil also injured his hand thanks to a sea urchin, and it is mending very slowly. That post is above and here’s People’s writeup.

“Had surgery today,” the How I Met Your Mother star revealed on his Instagram on Tuesday.

“I tripped and hand planted onto a sea urchin almost two months ago while climbing rocky cliffs in Croatia,” he explained.

“Most of the tiny spines I dug out myself, but two refused to leave and one got infected,” the 46-year-old actor continued. “Turns out it pierced through a tendon (see ultrasound video). Well, thanks to the surgical talents of Dr. Dan Polatsch and his team, I’m officially urchin free and on the mend.”

Unfortunately, being “on the mend” includes a massive “hand elevating contraption” that Harris has to wear on his injured hand “for the foreseeable future.”

But, the father of two is choosing to stay positive… and might be ordering some sushi while he recovers: “All in all, though, I have to say: uni is still delicious,” he added.

[From People]

My hand is aching in sympathy. Ouch. I hope Neil recovers soon! That “hand-elevating contraption” looks intense, and I’m sure it makes performing routine tasks a pain in the neck. I’m chuckling about this, though, because accidentally putting my hand somewhere that I shouldn’t while attempting to balance myself (like on top of a sea urchin) is totally something that I’d end up doing. I actually had to make an emergency eye appointment yesterday after noticing a bump on my eyelid the night before. It turns out that the bump is a swollen gland. HOWEVER, I also have a corneal abrasion and some erosion, because: Quimby. Back to Neil: I wonder how he is going to work this device into his Halloween costume? I bet it will be epic!

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Photos credit: WENN and via Instagram

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9 Responses to “Neil Patrick Harris had to have surgery on his hand for a sea urchin injury”

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  1. Laalaa says:

    Greetings from Croatia!
    Sea hedgehogs, as we call them, in the sea indicate the water is very very clean, so we love them. Had an incident with one of those, thankfully, it went ok.

  2. CouldaShouldaWoulda says:

    Ugh. Hand infections are so tricky. My kitty bit down on my middle finger two years ago (he had a UTI and I picked him up to put him in the litter box). It was a good hard bite that broke the skin. I slapped some Neosporin on it the night of and went to bed. The next day I woke up with some swelling in my fingers / hand. Flash forward to 2 trips to urgent care and 48 hours in the ER on round the clock IV antibiotics.

    I guess there are a ton of tiny muscles and tendons in the hand that infection can hide in. You would not believe how many times doctors and nurses told me I could have lost my hand. Fortunately I had decided to go to urgent care out of an abundance of caution (I didn’t have a fever or anything!)

    Well wishes to NPH for a speedy recovery. I never had to use that hand elevating thingy. That looks rough.

    • ChillyWilly says:

      I feel your pain. My cat bit my hand at the emergency vet. He was scared and in pain from a blocked urinary tract so not his fault. He hit a tendon and I was in pain and on strong antibiotics for over a week. Cats carry some nasty bacteria in their mouths. Always go to the ER for a cat bite. It’s nothing to play with.

    • Esmom says:

      Stories like yours and Neil’s scare be bejeezus out of me because serious infections can happen so easily. I had a friend step on a shard from a plastic cup when she stepped out of a hotel shower and she almost lost her foot. Infections are so incredibly scary!

      On another note, he reminds me of Walter White with the mustache, lol.

      • Noodle says:

        I had a hangnail get infected and within 6 hours, it went from normal hangnail annoyance to red stripes down my hand and arm indicating the beginning of a blood infection. I actually passed out from the pain, and broke my tailbone when I hit the floor. Good times.

      • BeanieBean says:

        Noodle: same thing for me, only it was a broken blister on my finger. After my trip to the doctor, I got a different kind of infection that came out, um, elsewhere in my body. Not fun.

  3. Joanna says:

    Please, Neil, adopt me. I’m 43, I’ll be good! Or you can just take me on the vacations. Please…

  4. Pandora says:

    My 7yo slammed his heel into an urchin in Croatia this summer and ended up with 30+ spikes. My mom and I pulled out several. The local doctor refused to “waste her time” pulling them out so I bought lidocaine and pulled out as many as I could. Went to the big city hospital where another Doc didn’t bother to really try as he pulled out zero spines while he was using pliers to rip my child’s skin. Anyway, we were able to remove all but 4 which are now either too deep to see or have hopefully absorbed. It’s all fun when you’re in the Balkans until you need medical help.

    • BeanieBean says:

      Oh, wow. I stepped on a sea urchin once on a scuba trip; I think I still have a piece of a spine in the bottom of my foot–it hasn’t caused me any trouble, but I still have a purple dot at that location.