![]() ![]() "When you get ejected from a vehicle during a rollover, that is associated with the highest risk of death, straight-up," Glatter said. "Again, he’s pretty lucky to be alive, that’s the take-home message right now."Īirbags deployed and the car wound up on its side, but "wearing a seatbelt was the most important thing." "(It's) a credit to the design of the vehicle as well as the way in which the accident occurred," Glatter said. "That sort of car crash would have been fatal or guaranteed major injuries a decade-to-decades ago." "It's something to take note of," Hawkins said. ![]() Years ago, the doctors said, this type of rollover accident would have almost surely been deadly. "But at least he has life right now." Doctors credit seatbelt with saving Tiger Woods' life We can assume that he’s going to go through bumps and twists and turns. But it’s going to be a long rehab period and it’s going to be painful. "Can he come back from this? It’s unclear at this point. "It’s one thing to require delicate back surgery, but to have such traumatic injuries … it’s a longshot. "The fractures themselves, I’m sure will take months and months to heal – at least a year in the sense that he’d ever be able to rejoin the (PGA) Tour in a meaningful way," Glatter said. Woods being a world-class athlete with access to elite medical care, along with his legendary work ethic, should help. 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."Īge - Woods is 45 - will play a factor in recovery. It’s a long road of rehab and a lot of hard work. ![]() "It takes a while to recover from these injuries. "In general, it’s likely that he will recover full function and perform the way that he wants to perform," Hawkins said. WHAT WE KNOW: Latest updates and details from single-vehicle crash HOW RESCUE TOOK PLACE: How first responders found and freed Tiger Woods Since the tibia and fibula both connect to the knee and the ankle, Hawkins said, the severity of injury to both joints will influence how quickly Woods can return to his feet. Hawkins was more optimistic with respect to Woods' back, saying that the reactivation of pain would be likely but that he seems to have avoided immediate troubles.īell said recovery would look like "months, not weeks" based on the initial release of information. "He could have completely basically negated the effect of a prior surgery he just had and was recovering from," Glatter said. Woods underwent his fifth back surgery in December and has previously had his spine fused. "That’s sort of a judgement that is made after everything is done, after they sort of get a sense of what the totality of the injuries were." "Once they finished that, they would make a decision whether to perform the fasciotomy - whether to release the muscle covering," Hawkins told USA TODAY Sports. Hawkins said that any doctors would first address any injury to his blood vessels before repairing the fractures. Sign up for our sports newsletter.ĭoctors all cautioned that Woods should be monitored for infection, which is always a potential issue for open wounds. KEEP INFORMED: Get the latest on Tiger Woods' injury and recovery. ROD INSERTED IN HIS LEG: Tiger Woods is 'awake, responsive' after surgery following car crash The fact he had only isolate orthopedic injuries, that we know of so far, is pretty remarkable."ĭoctors placed a rod through the tibia (goal is that bone heals around it), with a "combination of screws and pins" to stabilize additional bones in the ankle and foot, indicating multiple injuries in the area. "I think he’s quite fortunate to be alive. "From an orthopedic standpoint, it’s an emergency. Robert Glatter, emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday. "Open fractures" are otherwise known as compound fractures, meaning the bone has protruded through the skin. "Comminuted" means there were multiple fragments of the tibia and fibula shattering, ESPN injury analyst Stephania Bell said on the network Wednesday morning. Anish Mahajan, interim CEO and chief medical officer of Harbor-UCLA Hospital, where Woods was taken to the trauma center and treated. Woods suffered "comminuted open fractures affecting both the upper and lower tibia and fibula" said Dr. Tiger Woods escaped a Tuesday morning car accident with his life, but suffered "significant" leg injuries that required extensive surgery and a rod being inserted into his lower right leg. ![]()
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