Tiger Woods has had surgery for multiple fractures of his right leg after a car accident that a Los Angeles police officer said he was “very fortunate” to have survived.
The golfer was “awake and responsive” after the operation to insert a rod into his tibia and stabilize his ankle with pins, his TGR foundation said on Tuesday night.
Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Carlos Gonzalez, the first to respond after Woods’ car went off the road in a single-vehicle accident, said that the sports star was “calm and lucid,” despite being trapped inside his vehicle.
Photo: Reuters
Woods was removed from the crash by firefighters and his vehicle suffered “major damage.”
Woods was transported to the nearby Harbor-UCLA Medical Center by ambulance and underwent surgery for “multiple leg injuries” after the incident early on Tuesday.
Woods had been driving a 2021 Genesis GV80 northbound on Hawthorne Boulevard when he drove over the center median, into the southbound lanes, struck a tree and rolled the vehicle several times, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva told a news conference on Tuesday afternoon.
Photographs of the crash site showed Woods’ badly damaged Genesis at the bottom of an embankment in hilly terrain.
The crash is still under investigation.
This “specific stretch of roadway is one of our trouble spots,” Gonzalez said of the boulevard.
Deputies have often caught motorists speeding on the boulevard, sometimes at up to 130kph, which would be nearly double the locally reported speed limit.
Woods was responsive and coherent when he arrived on scene, and was able to tell him his name, Gonzalez said.
Although his injuries were visible, Woods appeared to be in shock and unconcerned with them, Gonzalez said.
“I’ve been doing this for a while. I’ve seen fatal traffic collisions,” the deputy added. “It was very fortunate that Mr Woods was able to come out of this alive.”
Woods was the only person in the vehicle at the time of the accident and was conscious when deputies arrived on scene.
While the cause of the crash has not yet been determined, Villanueva said that Woods’ vehicle was “going at a relatively greater speed than normal.”
When asked whether Woods was under the influence at the time of the crash, Villanueva said that there was “no evidence of impairment at this point in time.”
Fire department personnel were able to remove Woods with the help of an axe and Halligan tool, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby said.
Numerous celebrities and athletes posted well-wishes online.
Tennis star Serena Williams wrote: “Love you big brother ... but we will get through this @TigerWoods.”
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