The first assistant to the Los Angeles County sheriff who arrived after Tiger Woods was involved in a car accident said the golf legend was “lucid and calm” and did not realize the severity of his injuries at the time of the accident.
In an interview on Wednesday for NBC’s “TODAY” program, Rep. Carlos Gonzalez told Craig Melvin that when he arrived, the first thing he noticed was a vehicle about 12 meters from the road.
“Immediately the neighbor who called 911 said to me, ‘Deputy, I think someone is still in the vehicle,'” he said. “So I run and manage to get my upper body through the windshield.”
It was dark inside the vehicle and all the policeman could see was a pair of eyes.
“My first function as a rescuer is to evaluate the passenger, the occupants of the vehicle and I want to keep them calm too,” said Gonzalez. “So I ask him, ‘Can you tell me your first name?’ He looked at me and said, ‘Tiger’. ”
“And it took me half a second, but I saw your face and I thought, ‘Oh yes, you are Tiger Woods,'” he continued. “But, of course, I have a job to do, so I immediately started asking assessment questions to assess what condition he was in and what his mental state was at the moment.”
Gonzalez said he had no tools to remove Woods from the vehicle and kept the golf star company while the two waited for emergency help. Woods “looked calm,” as if he were in no danger, according to the deputy.
“I kept him talking,” he said. “I asked him basic things to assess his mental state, how do you know where he is now? Do you know what day it is? You know, just to see if he was aware of what had happened.”
The deputy said Woods could not stand on his own and appeared to be unaware of “how badly he was hurt”, citing a “mixture of adrenaline and shock”.
When asked by Melvin whether a toxicology report was requested, Gonzalez said there was no evidence of injury and that he was unaware of any reports.
Woods crashed his Genesis GV80 at 7:12 am PST on the border of Rolling Hills Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement on Tuesday.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation. Sheriff Alex Villanueva said during a news conference on Tuesday that accidents are not uncommon in the area because of the slopes and curves of the road.
“Fortunately, the interior was more or less intact, which gave him a pillow to survive,” said Villanueva. “Otherwise, it would have been a fatal accident.”
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In a statement Tuesday night, Woods’s team said he was “awake, responsive and recovering” after a rod was placed on his leg during surgery.
Anish Mahajan, medical director and interim CEO at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, said Woods, 45, “suffered significant orthopedic injuries in the lower right extremity”.
The nail was inserted into his tibia to stabilize fractures, and screws and pins were used to stabilize injuries to the foot and ankle, according to the statement.
Gonzalez said the injuries could have been worse, crediting Woods for wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.
“He is going through something very traumatic and I am sure he is going through a lot of pain, so I hope for a quick recovery for him,” he said.
Woods is considered one of the greatest golfers in history. His 82 tournament wins are tied for most in a career with Sam Snead, and his 15 majors are second only to Jack Nicklaus.
