Andrea Pavan: Lift shaft fall golfer optimistic about return
Italy’s Andrea Pavan says he is “optimistic” he will return to football after falling down an open elevator shaft in February.
The incident occurred before the South African Open when the elevator doors opened at Pavan’s private accommodation near Stellenbosch Golf Club, but there was no elevator car in the shaft, causing Pavan to plummet three floors down.
The 36-year-old man was taken to a local hospital and underwent major surgery for severe shoulder damage and fractures to several vertebrae in his back.
“It is difficult to say an exact target, there are many more similar steps,” Pavan said.
“For about three months we’ll see how well the bone heals. For about six months that’s where complete bone healing occurs, and until then we’ll see how the joint moves.”
“If I need a second surgery, it depends on whether there are other tissues damaged. There is also the possibility of necrosis when the blood flow is not sufficient for the bones. There is that risk, but so far things are looking positive enough.”
“The shoulder is a very tough joint. Hopefully it will be a little less than a year before I can play at my full strength, but it’s a big injury that’s very new and there are a lot of unknowns. But I’m hopeful and all I can do is try, improve and get through it day by day.”
On the day of the incident, while Pavan was preparing to go to the Stellenbosch grounds for breakfast and the prom in the afternoon, he returned to his flat to retrieve the locker key left there.
Speaking to the Naga Munchetty program on BBC Radio 5 Live, he said: “I walked towards the elevator, opened the door – one of the doors that leads straight into the flat – and I had already taken one step when I realized the elevator wasn’t there.
“The next thing I realize I’m right at the bottom of the elevator, luckily I’m not unconscious but I’m in a lot of pain and screaming for help.
“Someone heard it and somehow I managed to get out my phone and call my deputy in the car. From then on I was just trying to get out of the pain and was waiting for the ambulance and all the firefighters to get me out.”
The two-time DP World Tour winner spent seven days in hospital in South Africa, underwent surgery on a completely fractured shoulder and is now back home in Texas.
Pavan paid tribute to the golf world’s “amazing” support during his hospital stay.
“The number of people who came to visit me at the hospital while the tournament was being held was really high,” he said.
“There were a lot of players – my friends – who stayed until 2 a.m. waiting for me to recover from surgery, and Matteo Manassero, Manuel Oliveira and others were playing in the tournament the next day.
“I was really surprised, and it was comforting and overwhelming to feel like you weren’t alone in this process.”
