Tiger Woods, 45, has the woman he loves by his bedside now that girlfriend Erica Herman has arrived at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. She paid a visit to her man on Feb. 24, a day after his scary rollover car crash that left him with a badly injured leg. Erica was photographed heading into the medical complex to visit the golfing legend. She wore a blue and purple tie-dyed zip front hoodie, a white t-shirt, faded blue jeans and grey Uggs, along with a worried look of concern on her face.
Erica Herman arrives at the hospital to see her boyfriend Tiger Woods on Feb. 24, 2021. Photo credit: BACKGRID.
Erica, 36, hid her eyes behind tinted sunglasses as she carried a large beverage cup with her. She wasn’t Tiger’s only visitor, as his caddie Joe LaCava arrived at the hospital alongside Erica. She seemed to already have been granted more than just a temporary visitor status, as she had several different hospital I.D. badges clipped to the pocket of her pants.
Tiger underwent extensive orthopedic surgery on his lower right leg bones, ankle and foot following his solo rollover crash, which occurred shortly after 7am on Feb. 23 in Rancho Palos Verdes CA. He had surgery to “open fractures affecting both the upper and lower portions of the tibia and fibula bones” that were stabilized by “inserting a rod into the tibia,” his doctor revealed in a statement Tuesday night. He added “Additional injuries to the bones of the foot and ankle were stabilized with a combination of screws and pins.”
Though Tiger endured extensive leg surgery, he was “currently awake, responsive and recovering in his hospital room,” the statement noted following the procedures. It must have been such a relief to have Erica now at his bedside, as Tiger begins a long road of healing and recovery. The pair has been together since 2017, and met when she was the manager of one of Tiger’s restaurants near his South Florida home. She’s even close with his kids from Tiger’s marriage to Elin Nordegren, 13-year-old daughter Sam and 12-year-old son Charlie.
Tiger Woods and girlfriend Erica Herman attend pal Serena Williams U.S. Open match at the Women’s Singles Quarter-finals of the 2019 US Open on Sept. 3, 2019. Photo credit: SplashNews.
Tiger is lucky to be alive, as his 2021 Genesis GV80 suffered massive external damage from the rollover crash, but the interior remained fairly intact, saving his life. He was wearing a seatbelt, and his driver’s side airbag deployed. “Thankfully the interior was more or less in tact, which gave him the cushion to survive. Otherwise, it would have been a fatal crash, LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva told reporters at an afternoon news conference following Tiger’s accident.
First responder Deputy Carlos Gonzalez noted at the news conference that, “I will say that it’s very fortunate that Mr. Woods was able to come out of this alive, because this is an accident prone stretch of road, We’ve seen a number of accidents on this stretch of roadway.” As the first to reach Tiger’s crash site, Gonzalez recalled, “He was calm and lucid, I asked him his name and he said it was Tiger,” adding “He didn’t seem concerned about his injuries.”
Authorities said Tiger narrowly escaped death in the terrifying rollover crash, as his mangled Genesis GV80 SUV is seen here. Photo credit: AP.
The golfing legend is known for his steely determination and ability to come back from past golfing injuries. He’s had ten that have required surgery, including five back surgeries dating back to 2014, and five separate left knee surgeries to repair various damage going all the way back to 1994. While he’s now suffering injuries far more serious than anything Tiger has ever known, former President Barack Obama said in a tweet sending his prayers and wishes of a speedy recovery to the golfer, “If we’ve learned anything over the years, it’s to never count Tiger out.”
