According to a doctor, Tiger Woods "may never get his mobility back" and narrowly avoided having his leg amputated after his terrible car crash on Tuesday.
Doctors said Woods suffered "comminuted" fractures in the upper and lower parts of the tibia and fibula - meaning the breaks had led to bone splintering and had broke through the skin. They fitted metal rods, screws and pins to his shattered right shinbone and calf bone.
NBC News senior medical correspondent Dr. John Torres said, "He has around six weeks of recovery just from the fractures. If he had to get that ankle fused, or if he had any big procedures done to that ankle that are going to limit mobility, that's going to take longer to recover. He truly might never get back that mobility he had before."
Torres also said that leg injuries are "a true [emergency]," because "pressure starts building up because of swelling in that part of the leg, and it builds up to such a high point, it cuts off circulation, and it causes nerve damage if it's not taken care of quickly. The big concern was amputation because if he doesn't get that done quickly, and by quickly, I mean within an hour or so, he could be looking at the amputation of that leg."
Tiger Woods' Girlfriend Visits Him in the Hospital
Tiger Woods had his first visitors yesterday at the hospital following his car crash.
His girlfriend, Erica Herman, stopped by, accompanied by Tiger's caddie, Joe LaCava.
Tiger and Erica have been together since 2017. She is the former general manager at his Florida restaurant The Woods. They are reportedly living together.
Sheriff: Tiger Woods Won't Face Criminal Charges for Crash
The Sheriff overseeing the investigation into the Tiger Woods car crash says he will not face criminal charges over the incident.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva said, "This is purely an accident.” There is no evidence showing the 45-year-old was under the influence of any substance when he rolled his SUV.
There is a chance Woods could be hit with an infraction if investigators determine he was using his cell phone when he lost control, or was otherwise distracted behind the wheel, but he won’t be charged with a crime.
Deputy Gonzalez was the first person to respond to the crash scene and he said Tiger seemed lucid and sober in the moments after the accident:
"He seemed calm. He didn't seem like he was in distress, and he was able to talk to me a little bit. I don't think he was aware of how gravely he was injured at the time. It could have been a mixture of adrenaline. It could have been shock. Again, it was very quick that I arrived from the moment that he rolled over, so I don't know if he had time to fully assess his injuries."
They didn’t take a blood sample from Tiger to test for substances because there were no obvious signs of impairment.
Sheriff Villanueva said they will retrieve the "black box" from the SUV Tiger was driving so they can determine how fast the vehicle was traveling at the time of the incident.
RELATED: Fans Worried After Tiger Woods’ ‘Bloated’ and ‘Zoned Out’ TV Interview Before Crash
Tiger Woods looked exhausted on TV the day before his serious car wreck. Fans on social media were worried about his “bloated” and “zoned out” appearance.
Woods had bags under his eyes when he was interviewed by CBS Sports on Sunday at the Genesis Invitational in California.
Jim Nantz asked Tiger about his recovery from back surgery. Tiger said, “I’m feeling fine. A little bit stiff. One more MRI scheduled, and then I can start doing more activities. But still in the gym, still doing the mundane stuff that you have to do for rehab, you know, the little things before I can start gravitating toward something a little more.”
Fans were not convinced that Tiger was doing “fine.”
One person tweeted, “Tiger Woods looked absolutely fried in that interview just now. Bloated, dull looking face and sounded like he was speaking through a muffler. Honestly reckon this last surgery could be the end for him.”
Another noted, “Is it me or did tiger woods just look completely zoned out during that interview?”
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