In June, Phillies pitching prospect Matt Imhof was working out with resistance bands when a metal ring holding the bands to the wall came loose and hit Imhof in the face at a high rate of speed. Imhof broke his nose, both orbital bones, and lost his right eye. On Instagram, he wrote “I just wanted to write this message to let everyone know that even though I suffered some bad luck, I’m not dead. I’m gonna be alright, I’m gonna persevere, and I’m gonna succeed.” Today, Imhof announced his retirement.

In a piece for ESPN, Imhof describes the terrifying events of that day:

It was my normal post game routine to use exercise bands after I pitched. They were already hooked to the wall when I walked into the athletic training room, so I grabbed them and started my workout.

Same thing, different day.

It was the fifth repetition on the second set of my third exercise. I was facing the wall, about 25-30 feet away from it, with a band in each hand. I pulled them back hard above my head so that my right hand was above my right ear and my left hand was above my left ear. As I got to the top of my motion, I felt the tension break.

It’s a surreal moment; the moment you realize you’re screwed and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.

I saw a flash of silver and then felt the metal hook smash into my face. Everything went numb as I hit the ground screaming. I could feel the warmth of the blood running down my face and taste it in my mouth. I couldn’t breathe. I tried to move and look around, but my vision was blurry.

Imhof says later in the piece that he doesn’t know what’s next for him, but he is “a firm believer that baseball, through all my struggles on and off the field, prepared me for this moment. But the greatest thing baseball ever did for me was teach me who I could be without it.” Imhof retires at 23 years old.