The golf legend announced Tuesday that he is back home in Florida, where he will continue his rehab following his terrifying car accident near Los Angeles that left him with extensive leg injuries.
Woods thanked his medical team at both the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for their care.
Woods had previously been hospitalized since Feb. 23, when his SUV hit a sign on a winding residential road in Rolling Hills Estates, crossed over two lanes of oncoming traffic and rolled into a gully. Woods, who showed no sign of impairment during the crash, reportedly does not have any memory of the crash.
Tiger Woods has a long road ahead
It is going to be a while before Woods can even swing a golf club, much less play competitive golf again. He sustained several significant injuries during the crash, including compound fractures of both his right tibia and fibula that required the insertion of screws, pins and a rod into his leg.
Orthopedic surgeons told Yahoo Sports that Woods will likely need months of physical therapy to be able to walk unaided after those injuries, and his recovery after that could go any number of ways. Woods’ care began at UCLA, then continued at Cedars-Sinai for follow-up orthopedic procedures, which were said to be successful.
There have been similar injuries before with athletes, with one surgeon pointing to Alex Smith as a success story, but Woods’ 45 years of age figures to be a significant complicating factor. Woods was already facing a decline and now he will be trying to fight off Father Time with all of the metal in the bones of his lower right leg.
As many have pointed out, however, the importance of Woods’ future in golf pales in comparison to the importance of his overall health.
