I must admit I thought it was a fake but then thought surely you would not lie about something like that as you would look such a fool if you were caught out.
Now....... I can fake pictures to the point it would prove near on impossible to see. I've got a mate of mine back stage at a Bon Jovi concert using a fake photographers pass that I done for him. I've done many things like this over the years and never been caught...... not once.
All the pics you see of mine are done quickly but if I know it's got to be 100% I take a lot longer doing them and I do them differently. I magnify right down to single pixels to achieve perfect blending.
I've copied the original pic and used my software to take a close look and it's a tricky one because it doesn't look real.
If he or a mate has shopped the picture to achieve the orange stain (iodine) is very easy to do.
If that was a deep gash why would the arrow suggest no form of wound ? Being a fresh wound it would scab up and the dried blood would be higher than the skin surface. That would cause slight shading yet there is none.
The red "scar line" is showing pixel edges yet his eye details don't and I have magnified both by the same %.
I'm no doctor but I would say that a fresh wound would be subject to slight swelling caused by the bodes natural defense and healing process yet none is evident?
I would hate to suggest the guy is a fake if his story was true but I must admit the fact that the outer edges of his eyes seem to blend in, whereby the red scar does the opposite ?
I could be wrong as parts of the write up do sound genuine but there again many could compile a realistic write up with a bit of thought.