Marcos, Below Deck Sailing Yacht chef, suffers a horrifying head injury during meal prep

Marcos, Below Deck Sailing Yacht's chef for season 3, already wasn't having a great charter in the most recent episode of the series. 

He had to deal with the incessant, high-maintenance demands of guest Charles Sanders and his wife Erica Rose — and that was all before he suffered one of the grisliest injuries in Below Deck history. 

While doing meal prep for the finicky guests, chef Marcos Spaziani clipped his head on the low ceiling of the refrigerator beneath the crew quarters and sliced off a piece of his own scalp in the process. 

Seeing the chef bleeding from the blow and even holding the severed bit of scalp in his own hand, chief stew Daisy Kelliher rushed for a medical kit and the help of chief engineer Colin MacRae. "He’s taken the f**king top of his f**king scalp off!" McRae exclaimed upon seeing his crewmate. 

Captain Glenn Shepard feared that Spaziani's injury was severe. "My first thought is that this is the end of the season for Marcos — it’s that serious," the captain said in a confessional. Shephard helped Spaziani apply pressure and stop the bleeding while he called for a doctor to come aboard the Parsifal III to examine Marcos' head.

Ever the trooper, Marcos wrapped his scalp up in gauze and topped it with a baseball hat to continue prepping for dinner. A medical professional later came onto the boat to check and clean him up but said, thankfully, that despite the size of the cut, it was a superficial wound and would not require stitches or surgery. 

So Spaziani cracked on, cooking for the guests and hanging out with the crew with nary a complaint despite having a literal hole in his head. (Chef Ryan McKeown could never!) MVP of Below Deck Sailing Yacht season 3, no?

What happened to Marcos, Below Deck Sailing Yacht chef?

Luckily, it seems like Marcos Spaziani had a good sense of humor when it came to his gruesome head injury. Gary King, Spaziani's roommate and the Parsifal III's first mate, revealed during an interview on the Dear Reality, You’re Effed podcast that Marcos actually kept his severed scalp like a memento. 

"Marcos ended up keeping it! He actually kept everything under his pillow. Like he’d keep cash, his keys, his wallet. Phone, everything," King said. And, yes, everything apparently includes his bloody bit of scalp. 

"It was like a scalpel was used to shave it off. And he was just so amazed by it, like ‘I’m gonna keep it as a souvenir.’ He’s something else that guy. My gosh, I love him,” King added. 

Gary continued: "When he slept, he slept on his back... he’d just lay like that and in the morning he’d get something else from under his pillow like chewing gum. And that’s where he kept his scalp. Just to go and socialize with the rest of his belongings. It was so gross!"

Fans send their love to Marcos from Below Deck Sailing Yacht

Marcos updated fans on Twitter about his recovery after the episode aired, saying that although the injury was "one of the most hurt things I ever had in my life," his scalp had since healed and his hair grew back. 

Viewers took the opportunity to send well wishes the chef's way and show their appreciation for his work ethic and great attitude. "Thanks everyone for show such a huge support big love from me," he posted in response. 

You can watch chef Marcos Spaziani and the rest of the Parsifal III crew on Below Deck Sailing Yacht every Monday at 8 pm ET/PT on Bravo in the US and on Hayu the next day in the UK.