Tiger Woods, 45, was involved in a serious automobile accident that nearly cost him his life in Los Angeles, United States of America, on Tuesday.
He was believed to have been driving at high speed at a notorious accident-prone spot in Los Angeles. Investigators will test whether he had drugs or alcohol in his system.
He suffered some fractures involving a break or splinter of the bone into more than two fragments in both the upper and lower parts of the tibia and fibula, according to his doctors.
The tibia is better known as the shinbone; the fibula is the calf bone.
According to Anish Mahajan, chief medical officer at the Harbor-UCLA hospital, Woods had a rod inserted in his tibia, and his foot and ankle were ‘stabilized with a combination of screws and pins’.
He also said Woods’ muscles surrounding the bones were cut to relieve swelling.
Deputy Carlos Gonzalez found Woods conscious in the driver’s seat of his Genesis GV80 shortly after 7am.
A neighbour who heard the crash called 911, and on arrival Gonzalez immediately realized that the golfer was too severely injured for him to move alone. Woods was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.
‘He didn’t seem concerned about his injuries, which is common in car accidents. They may be in shock, and pain not felt until later.’
Gonzalez said Woods did not seem obviously intoxicated, and the L.A. Sheriff’s Department does not take blood tests at the scene of accidents. However, investigators will test whether he had drugs or alcohol in his system as a matter of routine.
