Nurse!

Mike Posner's epic trek across the country is derailed thanks to a rattlesnake bite so bad he had to be airlifted to a hospital to save his life.

The singer-songwriter was making his way across Colorado Wednesday and had already racked up 16 miles on the day with a goal of 8 more when he got bit by a baby rattler. We're told the snake jumped out of nowhere on his path and sunk its fangs into his left leg.

According to Mike, "That venom is no joke!"

This pic of his feet shows where the venom caused swelling from the bite on the ankle -- pretty gnarly.

Fortunately, he says he got to the hospital and received the anti-venom in time, courtesy of an emergency helicopter ride and the expert staff -- but he'll be laid up for a few days and won't be able to continue his walk for several weeks.

On the bright side, Posner says he's enjoying the hospital's AC and a nice bed ... which he hasn't had in quite a long time. He vows to get back on "The Walk" as soon as he's able, though.

We had Mike on "TMZ Live" in April and he broke down the purpose of his journey, which was inspired by the deaths of his father and Avicii. He started on April 15 in New Jersey, and hoped to make it to Venice, CA by October.

He's releasing new music along the way whenever he crosses a state line ... most recently, “Prince Akeem” ft. Wiz Khalifa as he got to Colorado.

The bite is definitely a setback, but Mike insists a lil ol' snake isn't gonna stop him.

Bad news, Raiders fans ... Justin Gatlin says he suffered a similar cryotherapy injury as star receiver Antonio Brown -- and the U.S. sprinter says it took him MONTHS to get healthy.

The superstar Olympian famously got frostbite on both his feet and ankles after a mishap in the cryogenic chamber back in 2011 -- and the guy says the injury hurt like hell.

In fact, when Gatlin joined "TMZ Sports" (weeknights on FS1) on Wednesday, he said of the frostbite, "It was a disaster. I had, like, boils and blisters all over my ankles."

Gatlin says the injuries were similar to the ones Brown posted on social media a couple weeks ago ... and says he thinks it could be a while before AB is healthy again.

"He's not going to be able to run those routes properly without healing his feet totally."

Gatlin says the recovery process for the injury was brutal, telling the guys, "Every day I had to get those blisters popped by hand by a therapist ... It just got really, really bad."

Good news for Brown ... Gatlin says AB should still be able to resume cryotherapy treatments once he's all healed up by using a more localized form of the cold stuff.

As for AB, the Raiders have been mum on a timeline for the stud wideout ... only calling him day-to-day.

Gatlin says he's friendly with Brown and would be more than willing to offer the WR advice on how to treat the injury.

FYI, Gatlin is 37 years old and still one of the TOP sprinters in the world ... so, AB might wanna give him a buzz.

Antonio Brown is no John Spartan ...

Turns out, the foot injury that's been plaguing him during Oakland Raiders training camp stems from a "cryogenic chamber mishap" ... this according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

31-year-old Brown, who signed a 3-year, $50 MILLION deal with the Raiders, has been nursing some pretty gross-looking feet ... but he hasn't been clear on what caused the injury.

There's been rumblings that he went into a cryogenic chamber without proper foot protection -- but neither Brown nor his representatives have said anything on the record about it.

FYI, cryo chambers can get to about 200 degree below Fahrenheit -- and they're typically used for workout recovery.

There have been cryogenic chamber mishaps to high-profile athletes in the past -- including U.S. sprinter Justin Gatlin who suffered frostbite on his feet in 2011 due to wearing sweaty socks during the treatment.

Unclear what exactly caused Brown's injury.

Brown and his situation were featured on Tuesday's episode of "Hard Knocks" -- which showed AB trying to run sprints and workout despite having sore feet.

Brown is reportedly seeing a specialist and is considered day-to-day.

The NFL season kicks off in just 4 weeks -- and it's safe to say the Raiders are working like hell to get him healthy ASAP.

Boxing star Andre Berto is in pretty good spirits for a guy who suffered a major arm injury!

The 2-time former welterweight champ was in L.A. on Saturday -- the same day he was supposed to be in Brooklyn to fight Miguel Cruz ... if not for tearing his bicep during training camp.

Long story short, Berto says he was sparring and threw a solid left hook when he felt something pop. Next thing he knew, the docs had him undergo an MRI where the test showed his bicep had torn "completely off the bone."

Yeesh.

35-year-old Berto underwent surgery -- and was sporting a massive medical brace on his arm while eating lunch at il Pastaio with a lady friend.

WARNING -- if you're eating lunch, ya might wanna put down the BLT ... 'cause Cris Cyborg is showing off her battle wound from UFC 240 ... and it's a doozy!!

The UFC superstar needed a bunch of stitches following her fight with Felicia Spencer on Saturday ... after getting a deep gash on her forehead in the 1st round.

Of course, Cyborg fought through the cut and ended up with the decision win like a badass ... and now she's proudly showing off the post-fight damage.

"I could see my skull after #UFC240!" Cyborg said.

Fun fact -- It was the first time in Cyborg's career she had to get stitched up ... which is incredible considering she turned pro in 2005!

Don't worry, though ... despite the injury, Cyborg made it VERY clear to UFC honcho Dana White she definitely still wants that rematch with Amanda Nunes.

WORST. AUDITION. EVER!!!

A pro stuntman claims he was SHOT IN THE BACK with live ammunition from a semi-automatic assault rifle while auditioning for a role in a TV show ... and shocker, he's pissed!!!

The man behind the lawsuit is Alex Schoenauer -- a former MMA fighter who famously appeared on Season 1 of UFC's "The Ultimate Fighter" ... where he fought (and lost to) Forrest Griffin.

Schoenauer is a stuntman now ... but things went horribly awry for him during a Sept. 2018 audition for JMP Productions, which makes action shows like "SEAL Team" and "S.W.A.T."

According to the suit, Schoenauer's audition called for him to burst through a door with a stuntwoman at the Oak Tree Gun Club in SoCal while both carrying semi-automatic assault rifles.

Problem is ...  Schoenauer claims the guns were loaded with LIVE AMMO -- and when the stuntwoman fired her gun, he was blasted through the upper back!!!

Schoenauer says the bullet exited through his upper arm/shoulder -- though he does not say in the lawsuit if the injuries he sustained were life-threatening.

The part of the lawsuit we just don't understand ...  Schoenauer claims the man responsible for coordinating the stunt specifically arranged for the guns to be loaded with real ammunition.

Now, Schoenauer is suing everyone from JMP to the stunt coordinator ... and even the woman who shot him in the back for unspecified damages.

We reached out to JMP Productions for comment -- so far, no word back.

Schoenauer's MMA career never really took off after "The Ultimate Fighter" ... but he's found success in the stunt world (besides being shot) ... with gigs on big movies like "Fast Five," "End of Watch" and "Transformers."

Luke Voit taking a 91 MPH fastball to the face and STAYING IN THE GAME impressed even the guys he was playing against ... so says Colorado Rockies superstar Trevor Story.

"He's tough, man," Story tells TMZ Sports.

If ya missed it ... the Yankees first baseman took a heater straight to the chin in Saturday's game against the Rockies -- but he shrugged it off and kept on playing.

Story says that feat was pretty unreal ... telling us, "That was impressive, man."

Of course, the Yanks ended up winning the series over the Rockies 2-1 ... and, despite the sore jaw, Voit took all four of his ABs in Sunday's game.

BEAST!!!

Luke Voit is one tough SOB -- he took a baseball to the face this weekend, but temporarily stayed in the game and even ran the bases right afterward.

The Yankees slugger was up to bat Saturday against the Rockies at the bottom of the 4th -- with the Yanks up 6-0 -- and on a 0-2 fastball from pitcher Chad Bettis, which got away from him ... the ball made contact with the front of Voit's face ... grazing his lip and chin.

It looked a lot worse than it ended up being, but geez ... talk about freaky. Miraculously, Voit avoided a serious injury and took his place at first ... no big pause or anything either.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone rushed out right away to check on his first baseman, and as Voit worked out some kinks in his jaw and wiped off his lip, he seemed to signal that he was okay. A short while later, he got to third on another hit ... and appeared fine doing it.

Still, the ball definitely connected with Voit's face and it's quite a sight to behold in slow-motion. You can see his face jiggle and vibrate as the ball slides across his mug.

Ex-NFL punter Pat McAfee learned the hard way ... WRESTLING HURTS! 

McAfee was hosting his WWE Watch Along show for the 'Extreme Rules' pay-per-view -- when he invited WWE legend Matt Hardy to demonstrate a Kendo stick attack on his back. 

Hardy reached back and delivered an EPIC shot on Pat's back -- creating one of the most painful sounds we've ever heard -- and leaving one hell of a black and blue mark!!

The entire room erupted ... as Pat tried to cope with the pain. It's insane. 

What's interesting ... one of the stars in the room was Baron Corbin -- who was hit with a Kendo stick by Seth Rollins during their main event match later that evening! 

Bottom line ... it may be scripted, but it ain't fake. 

By the way, McAfee was a pretty solid punter in the NFL -- he was a 2-time Pro Bowler and was a 1st-team All-Pro in 2014. 

He was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the 7th-round of the 2009 NFL Draft -- and played until 2016, when he retired (partially due to knee injuries). 

Rapper John Gabbana -- aka Boonk -- is on the mend after getting socked in the face, which left him with a busted jaw ... and some gnarly aftermath footage.

Just a warning ... some of these clips are very graphic (close-up shots of Boonk's broken mouth with teeth missing and whatnot). Boonk recorded himself going into surgery Saturday -- where he seemed to be in relatively good spirits surrounded by pals -- as well as some clips of him from Sunday, when he was apparently recovering from his operation. 

In the video from Saturday, you see Boonk with blood spatter all over his tank top and him holding a tube that he used to suck some of the blood from his mouth. Think a dentist's suction device, only bigger ... and bloodier. That's what we got here.

As for how exactly this happened ... Boonk was sucker punched in the face by a short dude.

It's unclear what led up to the assault, or where this even happened, but the seemingly mild blow left a major impact on Boonk's mug. On Instagram, he wrote ... "Broken jaw on both sides, surgery 7:30am. Pray for me, love you guys !! Gotta show them even when I’m down I’m still happy and oh if anyone ask.. I ran into a wall." 

We've been trying to get a hold of Boonk to get more info on what went down, and whether he's filed a police report or not. Considering the circumstances, he certainly could have.

In the meantime, it looks like he's got some love and affection to help him heal, courtesy of a lovely lady who's laying bedside with him. 

UFC champ Kamaru Usman says he was genuinely "scared" for his UFC rival, Ben Askren -- saying that 5-second, knee-to-the-head knockout looked REALLY bad in person. 

Usman was in the crowd at UFC 239 in Vegas last weekend when Jorge Masvidal turned out Askren's lights with a ferocious flying knee ... and Kamaru admits, "I was kinda scared."

"Actually, I was kinda sad cause he was out for a long, long time," Kamaru says ... "He was out for about 5 to 7 minutes." 

"I was kinda scared cause he was stiff. I thought something might've happened."

Askren was rushed to a nearby hospital -- but tweeted later that night and says he's fine. 

Of course, Kamaru and Ben have a pretty nasty history ... Askren mocked Kamaru for months by calling him "Marty," the Americanized nickname he got during his college wrestling days. 

But, when push comes to shove, Kamaru says he doesn't wish terrible things on Askren -- you can tell there's some real respect there. 

As for Masvidal, who's been pushing for a shot at Kamaru's belt, Usman says the guy needs to "SLOW DOWN" ... though he seems open to the idea. 

Miami Dolphins defensive lineman Kendrick Norton is speaking out from his hospital bed -- saying even though he lost his arm in a July 4 car crash, he feels grateful to be alive. 

"I'm alive," Norton told CBS4’s Peter D’Oench ... "If nothing else, I'm alive."

Norton's voice was shaking as he gave the interview -- his left arm severed around the elbow -- but somehow, he's found a way to stay positive. 

"I'm doing fine. I'm doing the best I can," Norton said from the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, with his grandparents and father by his side. 

22-year-old Norton -- a 7th-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft -- says the reality is sinking in that he'll never play football again, but he's trying to figure out another purpose in life. 

"It's not realistic that I'm going to play football anymore. We're working past that."

"We're going to be doing a blood drive," Norton said ... noting that he's looking for ways to help and inspire others going through a similar experience. 

David Ortiz suffered a setback in his recovery from gunshot wounds -- and required a third surgery to fix complications earlier this week ... the Red Sox announced Thursday.

Big Papi was shot in the back in the Dominican Republic last month ... but after two surgeries shortly after, his wife and the Red Sox said he was recovering well.

But, the Sox just announced Ortiz suffered complications from the injuries recently ... and needed a third procedure to fix the issues this week.

Good news for Big Papi, the team says he is now "recovering well and is in good spirits."

As we previously reported, Ortiz was shot in the back at point-blank range while he was sitting outside of a nightclub on June 9 ... with the bullet striking his liver and his small and large intestines. 

Ortiz underwent emergency surgery immediately after in the D.R. -- and doctors said they were forced to remove his gall bladder at the time.

Ortiz was flown to Boston just hours later to have a second surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital.

David's wife, Tiffany Ortiz, has previously said David was able to sit up and take steps ... and added, "he remains in good condition and continues to recover under the care of Drs. David King and Larry Ronan."

Denise Nickerson, who played Violet in "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory," is living out the last moments of her life, because her family tells us they have just taken her off life support.

Nickerson, who suffered a stroke last year, was at home Monday and, according to her family, she got into her meds at home and took as many as she could. Her family came to check on her shortly thereafter and rushed her to the ER.  

Once in the hospital, doctors diagnosed her with pneumonia. On Tuesday, she suffered a massive seizure and doctors put Denise on life support.  

Her condition continued to worsen and her family tells TMZ they have now taken her off the respirator, which facilitates breathing and removed her IVs and stopped giving her medicine.

The family says it's now just a matter of time before Denise passes. Her son, Josh, and his wife are at the hospital with Denise, and have started a GoFundMe to honor Denise's last wishes of being cremated, and her ashes turned into glass artwork.

In addition to 'Willy Wonka,' Denise played Allison on "The Electric Company." She also appeared on "Dark Shadows" and an episode of "The Brady Bunch."

Denise left acting behind in 1978 and eventually got a job working in a doctor's office.   

Denise, who is 62, has one son and daughter-in-law, who've been caring for her.

A daredevil attempting to jump a motorcycle farther than anyone severely injured both his ankles in a super scary crash during a practice jump for HISTORY's live TV special ... and the video is gnarly. 

The rider, Axell Hodges, crashed hard while attempting to beat Robbie Maddison's world-record distance for a motorcycle jump -- 378 feet and 9 inches -- tumbling off his bike while trying to stick the landing. 

Ya gotta see the video ... Axell is flying through the air on his dirt bike, but when he finally comes down on the other side of the jump, he loses control of the bike and his body goes skidding down the pavement. 

You'll see more footage of Alex's crash Sunday night during HISTORY's live TV special, "Evel Live 2," when female rider and four-time X Games medalist Vicki Golden attempts to set a new world record in an epic live motorcycle firewall stunt.

Terrifying crash during the annual "Mountain of Hell" bike race in France ... where chain reaction pileup sent bikes and bodies flying EVERYWHERE -- and it was all caught on video. 

Miraculously, nobody was seriously hurt in the wreck ... but good lord, this is insane. 

It all went down at the Les Deux Alpes ski resort -- where roughly 1,000 cyclists with a death wish race down an 11,000-foot glacier in snow covered terrain ... first to the bottom wins. 

But, things went awry right out of the starting gate ... when one biker toward the front of the pack lost control, sending other cyclists crashing into each other. 

One guy actually started ROLLING DOWN THE SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN!!!

Some of the riders dusted themselves off and got back on their bikes. Again, somehow no one was seriously injured, according to reports. 

Props to the winner Kilian Bron ... who got to the finish line so fast, there were barely any fans waiting for him!!!