Golf great Tiger Woods is recovering following major surgery for injuries he sustained in a car accident Tuesday morning (February 23). A statement posted to his social media accounts late Tuesday night detailed his injuries and treatment.
“Mr. Woods suffered significant orthopaedic injuries to his lower right extremity that were treated during emergency surgery by Orthopaedic trauma specialists at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, a level 1 trauma center,” said Anish Mahajan, MD, Chief Medical Officer and interim CEO at at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
The statement added that Woods suffered “comminuted open fractures affecting both the upper and lower portions of the tibia and fibula bones,” meaning that the bone was broken into more than two pieces and suggests that bone broke the skin.
A rod was inserted into the tibia to stabilize Woods’ leg. The golfer suffered addition injuries to his foot and ankle that required stabilization with a combination of screws and pins. The statement goes on to state that Tiger is “awake, responsive and recovering.”
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) February 24, 2021
Woods, considered one of the greatest golfers of all time, was in California for a two-day shoot with Golf Digest/GOLFTV after serving as host for the Genesis Invitational. He was driving a 2021 Genesis GV80 SUV down a windy, two-lane road in Rancho Palos Verdes, about 30 miles southwest of Los Angeles. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Woods was driving at a “relatively greater speed than normal” when it struck a median and careened across the roadway, hit a tree, rolled numerous times, and came to a stop on its side.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby told CNN that when officials arrived to free Woods from the vehicle, Wood tried to remove himself but wasn’t able to. Firefighters used an ax to break the windshield and a pry bar to move the seats and metal from around Woods’ injured legs. Workers secured Woods’ legs with splints and used a backboard to remove him from the SUV and place him in an ambulance for transportation to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
Villanueva credited the fact that the interior of the vehicle Woods was driving remained intact and he wearing a seatbelt for Tiger surviving what “otherwise would have been a fatal crash.”Our thoughts and prayers are with Tiger Woods and we wish him a full and speedy recovery.