Buddy Valastro Teases ‘An Awakening’ in TLC’s ‘Road to Recovery’ Special
Preview
“There’s days where it’s like, ‘I’m going to get better. I can do this,’ and there’s days like, ‘My hand is never going to be the same,’ and trying to cope [with that],” Cake Boss‘ Buddy Valastro says of his road to recovery from a severe injury, chronicled in the deeply personal two-hour special, Buddy Valastro: Road to Recovery.
The fourth-generation baker, a master of wildly extravagant special-occasion cakes, got his right hand stuck in a bowling pin setter at his home last September. (Teen sons Buddy III and Marco freed him.)
Squeamish types, beware: You’ll see footage shot soon after the accident, as seen in the exclusive clip below. Cameras then focus on the positive as he tackles four sessions per week of physical therapy, recuperates at home and returns to his New Jersey business, Carlo’s Bake Shop.
In fact, he just designed a cake to honor Dr. Michelle Carlson, the orthopedic surgeon who’s done multiple operations on him, and her team at New York City’s Hospital for Special Surgery. “I might not be able to pipe or decorate, but I can do certain things,” Valastro says. “My left hand, which I always thought was clumsier, is stepping up its game.”
Valastro is also considering his legacy, calling the accident “an awakening.” He wants to prepare his four kids, who help out already, to continue the cake business. But in the meantime, he says, “My mindset is to recover. To get my right hand back or train my left is where my heart and mind are.” We’ll take a slice of that positive attitude!
Buddy Valastro: Road to Recovery, Premieres Wednesday, December 23, 9/8c, TLC
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