1 YEAR, MAYBE
Tiger recovery long & difficult, say doctors
Tiger Woods’ road to recovery likely will be long and rough, but he’s not expected to face criminal charges for the rollover crash that shattered his right leg, authorities and medical experts said.
“We don’t contemplate any charges whatsoever in this crash,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said during a Facebook Live chat.
“This remains an accident. An accident is not a crime. They do happen, unfortunately,” he said.
Villanueva said Woods could eventually be cited for inattentive driving, but that would be an infraction, not a misdemeanor.
It all depends on the outcome of the investigation and whether deputies get search warrants to determine whether blood drawn at the hospital found anything in Woods’ system, or phone records show he was actively texting or talking around the time of the 7 a.m. Tuesday crash on the border of Rancho Palos Verdes and Rolling Hills Estates, he said.
“There was no evidence of any impairment,” Villanueva reiterated Wednesday.
It was shortly after midnight Eastern time on Wednesday that Woods’ Twitter account gave a stark account of the extent of his “significant orthopaedic injuries to his right lower extremity.”
“Comminuted open fractures affecting both the upper and lower portions of the tibia and fibula bones were stabilized by inserting a rod into the tibia,” the statement said, adding that Woods was “awake, responsive and recovering.”
“Additional injuries to the bones of the foot and ankle were stabilized with a combination of screws and pins,” it continued. “Trauma to the muscle and soft tissue of the leg required surgical release of the covering of the muscles to relieve pressure due to swelling.”
An orthopedic surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan said the description posted online suggests the golf legend has a tough 12 months ahead of him.
“I think he’s probably in for a long recovery. Anytime somebody has this type of open fracture that’s comminuted and requires a fasciotomy to release pressure on the muscles, it signifies how much trauma there was to the limb. Usually that correlates to a longer recovery. It could take a year for Tiger to return to his prior function,” Dr. Jeremy Podolnick told the Daily News.
“In the short term, he could face some potential issues as the bone heals. The bone was exposed to the air and potentially bacteria as well, so making sure no infections develop will be the first step. Then in the longer term, there will be a lot of physical therapy and rehab to try to get back to that high level of play,” the Mount Sinai surgeon said.
“In general, when there’s a break that involves a joint surface like the ankle or foot, I would delay initiation of weight-bearing for about three months. I would venture they’ll wait two or three months before it’s time for him to start walking again,” Podolnick said.
Sheriff Villanueva said Wednesday that speed may have been a factor in the crash and investigators hoped to recover the so-called “black box” inside the 2021 Genesis GV80 SUV Woods was driving as a loaner car from the Genesis Invitational golf tournament he was in town to attend.
Woods, 45, was driving northbound on a steep downward slope of Hawthorne Boulevard just before Palos Verdes Drive North when he lost control of his vehicle, jumped a center divider, crossed over opposing lanes of traffic, hit another curb and a tree and rolled into an embankment.
A neighbor heard the crash from inside his house on nearby Rockbluff Drive.
“We heard a series of loud noises, but no brakes. It was definitely a big impact. It was obviously a huge car,” Keith Cole, 56, told The News.
He said that stretch of Hawthorne is known for crashes due to its steep gradient and already sizable 45 mph speed limit.
“When you hit the light at the top of Silver Spur Road and start heading down, it’s almost like a NASCAR race. Cars go way too fast and change lanes pretty fast,” Cole said.
He and other neighbors said the high curbs likely launched Woods’ vehicle into the air, and they also raised the possibility he was surprised by something in the roadway.
“Maybe he saw or hit something and overcorrected,” Cole said.
One neighbor said wildlife, including local peacocks, sometimes travel through the area.
“The road goes straight down. You don’t even have to press the accelerator to pick up speed,” neighbor Victor Gaw, 79, told The News.
“People go 60 to 80 miles per hour all the time. A motorcycle cop just sits there handing out tickets,” he said.
Villanueva said that stretch of Hawthorne has clocked 13 accidents since January 2020, four of them with injuries.