Oosthuizen's 'scary moment'
Daughter's finger saved at Cook Children's
The following story was written by Mike McAllister. Permission to run the story was granted by the writer and PGATOUR.com. Follow Mr. McAllister at @PGATOUR_mikemc. Special thanks to PING and Louis Oosthuizen for the use of photos.
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Louis Oosthuizen's two-year-old daughter Sophia nearly lost the ring finger on her left hand on Tuesday during an accident, but the team at the Cook Children's Medical Center managed to save her finger.
Oosthuizen said he was closing the bathroom door Tuesday morning at the place his family is staying for this week's Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. Sophia was on the other side.
"Her finger was on the side of the hinges," Oosthuizen said. "It nearly cut off the finger completely."
Oosthuizen rushed his daughter to the emergency room at Cook Children's, which is located in Fort Worth and is the primary charity for the Crowne Plaza Invitational.
At the hospital, they met with Dr. Pamela Sherman, an orthopedic surgeon and hand specialist. She explained that it was important to repair the nail bed on Sophia's finger and give the new nail a chance to grow in order to save the finger. Dr. Sherman then performed the surgery.
"It was a scary moment," Oosthuizen said. "It was Sophia's first time under anesthesia. You never know what's going to happen.
"Dr. Sherman was great. ... She told us it's important to have the proper people doing it, and they have some of the best there."
Sophia will go to Cook Children's on Sunday for a check-up before the Oosthuizens return home.
Louis Oosthuizen is grateful for the attention his daughter received at Cook Children's.
"If I'm in doubt ever to have any surgery or something for my kids, I'll fly in to see them," Oosthuizen said. "The way they handled it, the way they spoke to us and treated the kids -- it was amazing to us.
"I didn't even know there were hospitals like that."
