Oklahoma Man Suffers Same Gruesome Injury As Louisville Basketball Player

Warning: video contains images that some may find disturbing.

The sports world is calling it the most gruesome injury it's seen in a long time. A Louisville basketball player is recovering from surgery after snapping his lower leg on live television.

The shocking accident happened Sunday, just days after a Green Country man suffered the same injury.

He said what should have been a twisted ankle was a horrific break.

"I knew immediately it was broke, and it was probably the most painful thing I've ever felt," Nathan Sweaney said.

Sweaney said he can't believe he's sidelined with the same injury that horrified fans at the Louisville-Duke game.

"It's so gruesome, it's so hard to watch and, within minutes, some of my friends on Facebook were saying, 'That guy just pulled a Nathan Sweaney,'" Sweaney said.

Kevin Ware was trying to block a shot when he snapped his lower right leg.

Sweaney went up for a rebound and landed awkwardly, he believes on another guy's ankle.

"My leg, right in the middle, just broke apart. The bone kind of popped out and back in, and immediately, the whole gym--silence. The crack of the bone was bad," Sweaney said.

The 32-year-old snapped the big bone in two, and the small bone in the middle, at the top and bottom. Doctors inserted a rod from Sweaney's knee to his ankle and a metal plate on the side to create an internal cast.

"They were just really impressed that it was such a traumatic injury from something so minor," Sweaney said.

He's never had problems with that leg.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Greg Holt said a stress fracture probably didn't cause it.

"A stress fracture is a fracture that occurs over time from overuse," Holt said. "This was more of a one-time accident, where the forces were just tremendous and overwhelmed the bone."

Recovery can take anywhere from five months to a year.

Sweaney said he feels awful for Ware, since basketball is Ware's life, while it's just a hobby on hold for him.

He has a follow-up visit on Wednesday. He said doctors don't know yet whether they'll eventually take the rod out of his leg or leave it there permanently.