Jeffrey Guan: Australian golfer vows to ‘come back’ after freak accident leaves him blind in one eye

CNN
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Australian golfer Jeffrey Guan’s dreams came true in September when he made his PGA Tour debut. A week later, the 20-year-old was left blind in one eye after being hit in the face by a golf ball.

The freak accident occurred during a pro-am tournament at the Catalina Golf Club in New South Wales, Australia. Guan recounted the incident on social media, saying he had just taken a shot and turned to his golf cart to put his club away. As he did so, he was hit by a ball.

“The immediate ringing and pain shot to my head and I fell to the ground. The voices were quite muffled, and before I knew it, I was in an ambulance being taken to a hospital,” he said in a speech. statement on Instagram Thursday.

Guan was later flown to Canberra where he underwent surgery on his eye.

“I was in excruciating pain and fear for my future haunted my mind,” he added.

He then underwent another operation in Sydney before spending two weeks in intensive care to ensure his eyeball was stable.

Doctors told Guan that he had suffered multiple fractures to his eye socket and that he had “completely lost the vision in my left eye.”

PGA of Australia has said the loss of vision is permanent.

“During my nights in the hospital I was almost drowning in thoughts about the injury and my future in the sport,” he added.

“Not only was I completely distraught by the news I had received, but the whole situation also left me very depressed and somewhat angry.”

In his statement, Guan thanked everyone for their support and insisted that he would “come back” to “realize my dream.”

“These four weeks have been the toughest of my life, but I am mentally stronger and will be ready to overcome any obstacle in the future,” he said.

An online fundraising is set up to financially support Guan during his recovery, and give him “peace of mind” to help him “on his journey back to elite-level golf.”

The fundraiser raised just over 9,000 Australian dollars (about $5,900). The goal is to raise 500,000 Australian dollars (approximately $328,000).

Guan is one two-time national junior champion in Australia and was ready to start his breakthrough into the professional game.

He competed in the PGA Tour’s Procore Championship in September but failed to make the cut.