A 25-year-old professional Call of Duty player has retired because of the thumb injury that they had received.

Thomas ‘ZooMaa’ Paparatto, the player, said that it breaks his heart to walk away from the sport that he loves.

The heartbreaking news was announced by Thomas on Twitter.

Taking a step back from competitive Call of Duty…

Read: https://t.co/z3g9YRIvnC

— NYSL ZooMaa (@ZooMaa) January 19, 2021

They said:

I am stepping down and will no longer compete in competitive Call of Duty for the foreseeable future. Not sure if many of you remember, but a few years back while on FaZe, I struggled with weakness in my thumb/wrist and needed surgery. Going through that process of getting healthy again was one of the hardest things I ever had to do both physically & mentally, which led to a lot of stress and anxiety. Unfortunately, the injury has returned making it really hard for me to compete at the highest level against some of the best players in the world. Playing through the weakness and pain in my hand just isn’t possible anymore. I don’t enjoy competing when I can’t be the ZooMaa everyone knows and loves and feel like it’s not fair to myself or to my team to go through all that again, potentially causing more damage to my hand.

The man also said that the sport has allowed him to meet amazing people.

Thomas said he will cherish the memories he got by playing the sport for the rest of his life.

He added in his statement:

It breaks my heart to step away from a game I put my heart and soul into every single day for eight years. Tearing up just writing this, but I don’t know what else to do at this point. It’s been an amazing run… I don’t regret anything and I am grateful to have had a long playing career doing what I love to do at such a high level. I’m not sure what the future holds and will explore all options as I love this game too much to walk away completely. I look at it as one door closing and another one opening.

Here are some of the best highlights of Thomas, who is also known as the Stallion:

Despite the fact that they will no longer be playing professionally, they said they are going to stay involved in the gaming community.

We hope the best for you Thomas.