Lady Luck has not been on Jeremy Buendia‘s side lately. In a recent offering on YouTube, Buendia revealed that he underwent surgery after re-rupturing his Achilles tendon. As a result, he has called off his 2024 bodybuilding season and plans to return better next year.
In April 2024, Buendia suffered from a ruptured Achilles tendon following a ‘freak’ running accident. At the time, he was hopeful about his bodybuilding future, and with a proper recovery protocol, he thought he could return to competition before the season concluded.
Despite his best efforts to heal from the incident, Buendia re-ruptured the same Achilles tendon last Sunday while at the park with his daughter. His daughter made a run for the street, and Buendia, who was using a knee scooter, hit a piece of bark, fell off, and bore all his weight on his injured foot, causing the new injury.
Jeremy Buendia Sidelined for 2024 Bodybuilding Season; Undergoes Surgery After Re-Rupturing Achilles Tendon
Although his first Achilles rupture didn’t cause him immediate pain, he couldn’t say the same this time. He has described this as the ‘worst agonizing pain’ he has ever dealt with.
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“Unfortunately, last Sunday, I re-ruptured my Achilles. My wife and I took my daughter to the park. We were there for about an hour, everything was great, I was on my knee scooter and my daughter made a beeline for the street. Instinctually, I went after my daughter on my knee scooter. I was telling her to stop and I hit a piece of bark on my knee scooter and it tipped me off and I landed right on my bad foot and I heard it just rip it.”
“And I instantly was in pain, screaming. This is at the park, there’s a bunch of kids there, a bunch of parents. Unlike the first time I tore it, I didn’t feel pain when it happened initially. This time around, right when it happened, the worst agonizing pain I’ve ever gone through.”
Buendia swiftly underwent surgery following an MRI to confirm that his tendon was significantly damaged.
“Went to the hospital, got an MRI done, it showed that I ruptured it not only horizontally but I also tore it vertically as well. I had surgery again, this previous Tuesday, the surgeon went in and she fixed it once again. She said the damage was a lot more significant this time, she said it was like torn to shreds and started curling up.”
The surgeon used a tendon from his big toe to repair the damage, explaining that this could lead to a better outcome due to improved blood flow and oxygen supply to the wound.
“So they had to take a tendon from my big toe right up around here and use that to help make it stronger. But the good thing about using that tendon is it has better blood flow and oxygen supply than the actual Achilles tendon itself.
This should help accelerate the healing process a little bit more. With that being said, when she cut me open, she took a look inside and was like shocked at how fast it had already started to heal, there was a lot of scar tissue built up. So it’s a good thing if it didn’t rupture again, but the fact that it ruptured again it made the surgery more difficult. I lost a little more of that Achilles tendon than I would have liked,” Jeremy Buendia shared.
Bedridden with pain, Buendia plans to utilize a recovery protocol to heal as quickly as possible.
“With that being said, the BPC 157, the TB500, and my recovery protocol did work so we’re definitely going to keep implementing that the second time around. But like I said you guys, it’s been unfortunate. It’s been a real mental battle, being stuck on this couch, getting up being vertical if I just stand up right here for more than 10-15 seconds, the pressure starts building up in my calf and it feels like it’s going to explode.”
The ordeal has caused substantial stress for Buendia, who admitted that he broke out with psoriasis and started losing hair during this time.
“You guys can obviously see the different hair cut, I shaved my hair off. During this time, through the stress, I’m sure my cortisol levels are through the roof. I broke out in psoriasis my whole head and it got on my face. I’d wake up and see hair on the pillow.”
“Probably going to be 4-6 weeks before I’m walking again. I can’t risk re-tearing this again.”
In light of the setback, Jeremy Buendia announced that his 2024 bodybuilding season has come to an end, but he plans to return improved in 2025.
“With that being said, the 2024 competition season looks like it’s going to be a wrap for me. I’m just going to be focusing on getting myself healthy again and setting myself up for a good year next year.”
This news serves as a heavy blow to fans of Jeremy Buendia. After years of teasing his return to the Men’s Physique division, Buendia finally made a successful comeback at the 2023 Mr. Olympia contest. Although he was away from the stage for five years, Buendia exceeded expectations by finishing in eighth place, proving that the category hadn’t moved on without him.
For the time being, Buendia plans to effectively recover and will document the healing journey with fans. While the 2024 bodybuilding season looks to be a ‘wrap’ for Buendia, fans have seen him bounce back before and believe he will return even stronger in 2025.
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