Tiger Woods ‘lucky to be alive’ after car crash; Will he bounce back?

Professional golfer Tiger Woods was critically injured in a single vehicle roll-over collision on Tuesday morning at 7:12 a.m. in Los Angeles. Woods struck the median of a road, crossed over into the opposite lane, hit a curb and rolled over multiple times. He was found trapped in the driver’s seat of his car, a 2021 Hyundai Genesis GV80.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Carlos Gonzalez was the first responder at the scene and said he arrived “within minutes of the 9-1-1 call”. Gonzalez said Woods didn’t seem to be aware of how “gravely” injured he was but he “seemed calm”. “It could be a mixture of adrenaline. It could have been shock,” Gonzalez said. “Again, it was very quick—the moment that I arrived from the moment that he had rolled over. So, I don’t know if he had time to fully assess his injuries.”

“The Jaws of Life were out there but basically what they did was they broke the windshield out,” Department spokesperson Christopher Thomas said. The Los Angeles County Fire Department was eventually able to remove the front windshield and extricate Woods. 

In January of this year, Woods announced on Twitter that he would be undergoing his fifth microdiscectomy procedure on his back which he was still recovering from at the time of this accident. 

The chief medical officer at Harbor-U.C.L.A. Medical Center, Dr. Anish Mahajan, explained in a statement on Woods’ Twitter account that Woods suffered comminuted open fractures affecting both the upper and lower portions of the tibia and fibula bones in his leg and other injuries which required screws and pins. 

“Regaining range of motion and strength can take three months to a year. Depending on the extent of those injuries, even after rehabilitation Woods may barely be able to walk,” said Dr. Reza Firoozabadi, an orthopedic trauma surgeon at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Dr. R. Malcolm Smith, the chief orthopedic trauma at UMass Memorial Medical Center said with his ankle and foot injuries, Woods “may never play golf again”. 

However, Tiger Woods is a competitor and fighter. He accomplished one of the greatest comebacks in sports history by winning his fifth Masters championship in 2019, after undergoing four back surgeries, and 14 years after his last Masters win. Although he will surely have physical challenges as a result of this accident, don’t count him out just yet!

Do you think Tiger will bounce back? Comment your thoughts below!