Addicted Bodybuilder almost lost his arms in bid to look like ‘Incredible Hulk’ [PHOTOS]

Bodybuilder Romario Dos Santos Alves almost lost both his arms in his bid to be the real-life Hulk.

Romario risked his life injecting a cocktail of oil, painkillers and alcohol into his biceps, called synthol.

At one point, doctors thought they would have to amputate both his arms, which had swollen to 25 inches after the muscles started to solidify.

The 25-year-old from Brazil, says: ‘I remember the doctor told me that they would need to amputate both arms – they said everything in there, all my muscles, were rock.

Romario’s dangerous obsession started three years ago after he moved from his hometown to Goiania in Brazil.

He recalls: ‘I saw some really big guys in the gym with huge arms and I started to make friends with them. They introduced me to synthol and I got excited about the results – I lost control.’

He didn’t stop even when his muscles began to solidify. He admits: ‘I couldn’t even inject my arms – they were full of rocks.’

He started using the kind of needles used on bulls to continue taking the dangerous cocktail – he even tricked his wife Marisangela Marinho, 22, into injecting the substance for him.

But soon he was in constant pain and negative reactions from members of the public – who called him ‘a beast, and a monster’ left him depressed.

After trying to kill himself and losing his job, he decided the only course of action would be to have the limbs amputated.

He explains: ‘My wife was crying when I left at 5am to go to the hospital for the procedure.

‘I remember the doctor told me that they would need to amputate both arms. They said everything in there, all my muscles, were rock. It was either that or cut all of my muscles out.’

However, he describes how the doctors were able to save his arms. ‘Thank God the doctor told me that they did not have to amputate – they could instead remove the synthol rocks which had formed in my arms,’ he says.

He has now not used the substance for two years and, while he admits he’s still tempted by muscle enhancing drugs, he says he wants to achieve his ambitions of being a professional bodybuilder through exercise and diet alone.

‘I still feel like taking synthol but I won’t take it again. If you take it once there will definitely be a second time – it’s addictive,’ he says.

‘I regret it a lot – my ambition is still to become a bodybuilder but I’ve got a long way to go. I know I will achieve it though.