“He’s still in that acute phase, where he can still have a lot of work to do in the present, in moments, in the days to come,” Dr. Jeremy Faust, emergency physician Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, told CNN on Wednesday . “It is not clear to me whether he is going back to the operating room or not.”
Woods suffered leg injuries that required a rod, screws, pins and a surgical release of the muscle covering – which surgeons probably believed would save his leg from amputation, Faust said.
Authorities believe the incident was “purely an accident” but will have to pull the event recorder out of the vehicle’s black box to make that determination, Villanueva said. When he saw Woods at the hospital on Tuesday, the 15-time main champion told investigators that he did not remember the accident.
Just a month after his fifth career back surgery, the latest fall threatens to dampen his hopes of returning to golfing glory.
He has returned before
While other golf professionals have recognized that the health of Woods and his family are the most important things to consider at the moment, they are also not excluding him.
He’s done this before, said Rory McIlroy.
Famous from an early age, Woods became professional in 1996 at the age of 21, and his talent and charisma made him a global icon. He won a remarkable 14 golf tournaments from 1997 to 2008 and seemed ready to break the all-time record of 18 set by Jack Nicklaus.
After a break from the sport, he returned to golf, but without the stifling dominance of his early years. There was also a growing list of injuries, leading to four back operations, including spinal fusion surgery, as well as “dark times” when the pain was so severe that he was unable to even get out of bed or play with his children.
World number 2 John Rahm said he hopes Woods will be able to play golf and win more tournaments.
And that he would be able to have a proper retirement, staying on the iconic Swilcan Bridge on St. Andrew’s Golf Course in Scotland, “and just being able to say goodbye properly to the game.”
Safety features and seat belts saved his life, officials say
Woods drove a Genesis SUV alone and is believed to be traveling at high speed before the accident, officials said. There were no skid marks or other indications of braking, Villanueva added.
Villanueva said the section of the road is “down a curve”, and he and Gonzalez said the area is known as a problematic place for speeding and accidents. The road has recorded 13 accidents since last January.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy Carlos Gonzalez, who responded to the accident, found a lucid Woods still strapped in, but stuck when the SUV rolled into the driver’s side door.
“I think that the fact that he is wearing a seat belt and the vehicle’s safety features work as designed by the manufacturer probably resulted in reducing his injuries or saving his life,” Gonzalez told Chris Cuomo of CNN.
The car he drove also featured an entirely new safety platform, an automaker executive said in a statement to CNN.
The safety features of the Genesis GV80 include a strong focus on “passenger compartment protection / reinforcement areas,” said Dana White, director of communications for Genesis Motor North America. “This includes the use of advanced, high-strength steel for rigidity and safety.”
The vehicle was equipped with 10 standard airbags, including a “Genesis exclusive central airbag that fits between the front seats”, according to White.
While the vehicle’s exterior was maimed in the accident, the internal damage was so great that Woods was able to survive.
We have seen accidents with much less obvious (damage) than deaths, “Villanueva told CNN.
CNN’s Cheri Mossburg reported from Los Angeles, Madeline Holcombe wrote from Atlanta. CNN’s Eric Levenson, Omar Jimenez, Stella Chan, Steve Almasy, David Close, Kevin Dotson, Rob Hodgetts, Jill Martin, Dan Moriarty, Andy Rose and Paul Vercammen contributed to this report.