Tiger Woods had a rod inserted in his leg during an emergency surgery after a high-speed crash
Woods was “awake, responsive, and recovering,” after the surgery on the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, the assertion mentioned.
The 45-year-old was driving shortly after 7 a.m. PT on Tuesday in Rancho Palos Verdes, close to Los Angeles, when the SUV he was utilizing crossed a median and veered throughout two lanes of highway earlier than hitting a curb, hitting a tree and touchdown on its facet in the comb.
Woods remained acutely aware however sustained critical leg accidents, authorities mentioned Tuesday.
Orthopedic trauma specialists inserted a rod into his tibia to stabilize each the tibia and fibula bones, stabilized the foot and ankle bones with a mixture of screws and pins and relieved strain to the muscle and soft-tissue of his leg by surgically releasing the protecting of the muscle, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anish Mahajan mentioned in the assertion.
Having seen the harm on the crash website, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva mentioned it was “nothing short of a miracle” that Woods was alive.
“We have seen accidents with far less obvious [damage] that are fatalities,” Villanueava advised CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Tuesday.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Carlos Gonzalez responded to the crash, the place he discovered a lucid Woods, nonetheless strapped into his seat belt however trapped because the car had rolled over onto the driving force’s facet door. Gonzalez mentioned that when he realized the golfer was acutely aware, he saved him speaking in hopes of preserving him from going additional into shock earlier than medical assist might arrive.
“I do think the fact that he was wearing a seat belt and that the vehicle safety features worked as designed by the manufacturer likely resulted in either reducing his injury or saving his life,” Gonzalez advised Cuomo.
The rescue
When he arrived on the scene, Woods appeared not solely lucid, however calm and never involved about his accidents — probably pointing to shock, Gonzalez mentioned.
Los Angeles County Fire officers arrived to interrupt him free, however the golfer tried to take away himself from the SUV however was unable to, Chief Daryl Osby advised CNN’s John Berman. Woods couldn’t stand on his personal, Gonzalez mentioned.
Firefighters used a pry bar and an ax to free the golfer, who this previous weekend hosted a PGA Tour occasion in the world however did not play due to latest again surgery.
They broke the windshield with the ax and used the bar to pry the seats and steel from round Woods’ legs, Osby mentioned.
The rescue employees put Woods in a neck collar, hooked up leg splints and used a backboard to get him by means of the enormous gap in the windshield to an ambulance. He went to the hospital in critical however secure situation with accidents to each legs, Osby mentioned.
How the crash occurred
The 15-time main champion was driving a Genesis SUV courtesy car and is believed to have been touring at a excessive fee of pace, authorities mentioned. There had been no skid marks or different indications of braking, Villanueva added.
Villanueva mentioned that part of highway is “downhill on a curve,” and he and Gonzalez mentioned the world is called a bother spot for rushing and accidents.
Deputies responding to Woods noticed no proof of impairment, Villanueva mentioned, they usually did not ask hospital officers to take a blood draw, he mentioned. A Los Angeles legislation enforcement supply advised CNN that no subject sobriety take a look at was administered due to the seriousness of Woods’ accidents.
The sheriff’s division mentioned Woods was the one occupant of the automobile.
Another automobile, not concerned in the preliminary rollover incident, stopped after the crash and was rear-ended, in response to Los Angeles County PIO Henry Narvaez.
Woods hosted Genesis worldwide and was on the course the day earlier than
Woods doubtless was headed for the Rolling Hills Country Club in close by Rolling HIlls Estates for a shoot with Golf Digest and Golf TV, in response to Daniel Rapaport, the Tiger Woods correspondent for Golf Digest.
“Tiger has a long-term partnership with Discovery developing exclusive content for GOLFTV and Golf Digest,” Golf Digest’s assertion mentioned. “He was filming his latest series with us yesterday, which will see him giving on-course instruction to a number of celebrities including Jada Pinkett Smith, Dwyane Wade and David Spade. He was due to continue filming with us today.”
Tuesday’s scheduled filming was to incorporate Woods with Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, a supply conversant in the shoot advised CNN. ESPN reported that New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees was additionally to be a a part of the shoot with Herbert.
CNN has reached out to the New Orleans Saints for remark however has not heard again.
Woods had a 7:30 a.m. name time, with taking pictures supposed to start round 8. It was the second day of taking pictures.
Rapaport advised CNN’s “Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer” that Woods was not taking part in or hitting, however was giving on-course taking part in classes to celebrities.
“He was in good spirits on Monday when he did that,” Rapaport mentioned of the shoot.
Woods had hosted the Genesis Invitational over the weekend, and was seen intermittently on Saturday and extra usually during Sunday’s ultimate spherical.
Many sports activities stars posted their help for Woods following information of the crash.
CNN’s Stella Chan and Cheri Mossburg reported from Los Angeles and Madeline Holcombe reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN’s Jill Martin, Steve Almasy, Paul Vercammen, Andy Rose, David Close, Kevin Dotson and Dan Moriarty contributed to this report.
