The leg injuries suffered by pro golfer Tiger Woods in a Tuesday rollover crash in California were treated through hours of surgeries immediately after Woods was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
Anish Mahajan, the chief medical officer, said Woods shattered his tibia and fibula in multiple locations. He suffered “open fractures,” meaning the skin was broken.
The bones were stabilized by a rod in the tibia. Mahajan said screws and pins were used for injuries in the ankle and foot.
“Comminuted” means there were multiple fragments of the tibia and fibula shattering, ESPN injury analyst Stephania Bell said on the network Wednesday morning.
“Surgery takes a long time because they have to put the right tension on it, they have to reposition,” Bell said. “They’re trying to get anatomical alignment,” adding that Woods is facing “months, not weeks” of recovery.
“This is all badness,” Dr. Robert Glatter, emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, told USA TODAY Sports. “From an orthopedic standpoint, it’s an emergency. He’s quite fortunate to be alive. The fact he had only isolate orthopedic injuries, that we know of so far, is pretty remarkable.”
Dr. Sam Hawkins, a trauma surgeon at Staten Island University Hospital, said these types of procedures could last “hours and hours,” according to USA TODAY Sports.
Woods underwent his fifth back surgery in December and has previously had his spine fused.
“In general, it’s likely that he will recover full function and perform the way that he wants to perform,” Hawkins said, as reported by USA TODAY Sports. “It takes a while to recover from these injuries. It’s a long road of rehab and a lot of hard work. But somebody like him, professional athlete, he’s used to putting his head down and do what he needs to do, and he’ll recover.”
A statement on Woods’ Twitter account early Wednesday said he was awake, responsive and recovering.
“I will say that it’s very fortunate that Mr. Woods was able to come out of this alive,” said Carlos Gonzalez, the deputy from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department who was the first on the scene after a neighbor called 911.
Woods was driving through a sweeping, downhill stretch of road through coastal suburbs of Los Angeles when his SUV struck a sign, crossed over a raised median and two oncoming lanes before it toppled down an embankment, coming to a halt on its side. Its airbags deployed.
A sheriff’s deputy poked his head through a hole in the windshield to see Woods, still wearing his seatbelt, sitting in the driver’s seat.
No charges were filed, and police said there was no evidence he was impaired.
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