Pro Golfer Andrea Pavan Falls Down Elevator Shaft in Freak Accident

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Andrea Pavan is on a long road to recovery. 

The professional golfer shared an update on his condition after falling three stories down an elevator shaft in Cape Town on February 25th, while in town for the DP World Tour’s Investec South African Open.

Andrea shared a message on X on February 27th, expressing gratitude for all the supportive messages she’s received. She explained that she underwent shoulder and back surgery on Wednesday evening and is now recovering in the hospital.

The 36-year-old golfer accidentally walked into an empty elevator shaft and fell three stories. He was immediately taken to Mediclinic Cape Town Hospital and had to withdraw from the tournament. He shares three young children with his wife, Audra Pavan.

Okay, so things are going to be tough, a lot of rehab and work ahead, but honestly, the nurses and doctors at Mediclinic have been AMAZING. The past couple of days have been really rough, but I truly feel like I’m in the best possible care. And seriously, the outpouring of support – so many players, caddies, and staff visiting and reaching out – it means the world to me. It’s just… incredible. I’m so grateful for everyone.

He emphasized, “Grazie everyone, from me, my wife Audra, and my entire family.”

Following Andrea’s serious fall, his college golf coach, T.J. Higgins, shared an update on his condition. In a statement to the Golf Channel, T.J. said Andrea was doing well, grateful to be alive, and had been video chatting with his children.

Andrea’s recent accident isn’t the only incident to cause concern in the golf world. On February 13th, Travis Kelce accidentally hit a spectator, Katie Hauss, with a golf ball during the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in California.

After hitting a golf ball, the Kansas City Chiefs player—who recently got engaged to Taylor Swift in August—shouted “fore!” but it was too late. The ball unfortunately hit a woman in the audience.

Travis rushed over to Katie to assure she was alright. 

Katie told People magazine that Travis likely walked toward her while she was still on the ground. She remembers seeing him approach and him asking if she was alright. She could tell he felt terrible about what happened.

Katie did suffer a head injury from the impact, but thankfully she was alright. She actually felt sorry for the person who hit her, explaining that she knew it was a complete accident and must have been awful to experience with so many people watching.

For more famous freak accidents, keep reading…

In February 2017, Jamie Lynn Spears’s eight-year-old daughter, Maddie Aldridge, was driving an ATV near their home in Louisiana when it overturned into a pond. Maddie was underwater for several minutes before being rescued.

I’ll never forget it. When we finally pulled her out of the water and I saw her, then the paramedics took over, we honestly believed she was gone. We truly thought we had lost our little girl. It was the scariest moment of my life, and I shared it on the Better Together podcast with Maria Menounos back in 2020.

As a lifestyle expert, I’ve seen firsthand how quickly resilience can bloom after a difficult time. Thankfully, after the incident, Maddie was awake and communicating just two days later, which was a huge relief. And even better, within a few weeks, she was back to her usual self, thankfully resuming her normal routine. It’s a beautiful reminder of the human spirit!

Jamie Lynn shared that she feels incredibly fortunate to have her daughter back after a difficult time where she thought she’d lost her. She expressed deep gratitude for being reunited.

An accident on the set of the upcoming action comedy Bride Hard, starring Rebel Wilson and Anna Camp, left Wilson with a split nose. During filming of a fight scene on her last day of shooting, a prop gun accidentally hit her in the face. “It was a freak accident,” Wilson told Access Hollywood in June 2025. “My nose split open, so I had to leave the set. It was just incredibly unlucky!”

She described being terrified after the 2023 incident, explaining she was surrounded by her own blood. An ambulance was called, and a plastic surgeon had to be brought in to prevent permanent scarring. Thankfully, the surgeon was able to repair the damage with stitches, and she says you can’t even tell it happened now.

I was so worried to hear about Jimmy Fallon’s accident! Apparently, he had a pretty nasty fall at home. He tried to brace himself by grabbing the counter, but his wedding ring got caught, and it actually pulled his finger out of place. It sounds incredibly painful, and I’m just glad it wasn’t worse!

Doctors hospitalized him for ten days to try and save his finger after he suffered a severe ring injury – a “ring avulsion” – that threatened amputation.

In June 2025, Zane Wach, a seasoned hiker and multi-sport athlete who competes in running, swimming, and triathlons, almost became sick from the high altitude while hiking Mount Whitney in California with his father, Ryan Wach.

According to Ryan, the 14-year-old began having hallucinations, but he was aware they weren’t real. He reported seeing things like snowmen and Kermit the Frog.

Ryan had to repeatedly stop his teenage son from walking off the cliff as they hiked back down the trail. The father explained that his son seemed disoriented and they haven’t figured out why. Ryan believes it was likely a combination of factors – tiredness, lack of sleep, dehydration, and lingering altitude sickness – that caused his son to lose touch with reality.

Ryan tried to reach Zane three times, but wasn’t close enough when his son slipped and fell about 120 feet down the cliff. It took six hours for a rescue helicopter from Inyo County to arrive and transport Zane to the hospital in Lone Pine. Doctors stabilized him there before transferring him to a specialized trauma center for children in Las Vegas, where he was put into a coma. Eventually, he started breathing independently.

Ryan described his teenager’s recovery from a serious accident – including a head injury, broken finger and ankle, and fractured pelvis – as a long journey. He said, ‘We’re still in the toughest part right now, but we expect him to survive and recover.’

On New Year’s Day in 2023, actor Jeremy Renner, known for his role in Avengers, was seriously injured while helping a family member. He was using a snowplow near his Lake Tahoe home to pull a stuck vehicle out of the snow. After getting out of the snowplow, it began to move and he tried to stop it from hitting his nephew, resulting in 38 broken bones.

In his 2025 memoir, My Next Breath, he described lying on the ice, his heartbeat slowing. He wrote that, unbeknownst to his family and friends, he simply grew exhausted. After manually breathing for around thirty minutes – a strenuous effort he compared to doing ten to twenty push-ups every minute for half an hour – he passed away on that New Year’s Day.

Despite suffering broken bones, significant blood loss, and the risk of dangerously low body temperature, he believed he had died. He recalled paramedics telling him his heart rate had dropped to just 18 beats per minute – a level they considered fatal.

In May 2025, TikTok creator Emilie Kiser and her husband, Brady, experienced every parent’s nightmare when their 3-year-old son, Trigg, accidentally fell into their pool at their home in Arizona.

On May 12th, Chandler Police responded to a home after a child was found unresponsive in a backyard pool. Police and firefighters performed CPR at the scene before rushing the child, later identified as Trigg, to Chandler Regional Hospital. Sadly, the toddler passed away six days later.

Emilie filed a lawsuit attempting to block the public release of information about his death. The lawsuit explained that Emilie is focused on caring for her two-month-old son, Theodore, and is struggling emotionally every day.

Dr. Cara Hodgson’s family vacation to Thailand became a nightmare in December 2023 when she was shocked by power lines. She lost consciousness and was taken to the emergency room, then spent the next eleven days moving between hospitals while struggling to recover and save her life, as she explained in an Instagram post on New Year’s Day. She expressed immense gratitude to still be alive.

Despite the discomfort, the orthodontist discovered a renewed appreciation for life. Cara explained that the experience reminded her – and all of us – of something important: “Being alive is a wonderful gift.” She realized how much we should cherish simple things like breathing, eating, speaking, and being able to move our bodies – they’re truly something to celebrate.

In June 2025, Brazilian tourist Juliana Marins died while hiking on Mount Rinjani, an active volcano in Indonesia. She fell from a cliff, and despite a four-day search effort by a team of 48 rescuers, her body was only found after being hampered by bad weather, difficult terrain, and poor visibility, according to a statement from the Brazilian government. Thankfully, she did not fall into the volcano’s crater.

Juliana Marins’ family announced on Instagram that rescue teams reached her location today. Sadly, they reported that she did not survive. The family expressed their deep gratitude for all the prayers, kind messages, and support they received.

Oh my gosh, you will NOT believe this! Tori Spelling – Tori Spelling! – was at Benihana for Easter brunch back in 2015, and she had the worst accident. She tripped, and her arm actually touched one of those hot Hibachi grills! It was her right arm, and it was so bad she needed skin grafts! Can you imagine?! And then, get this, she actually sued Benihana after everything she went through. I was so worried when I heard about it, she’s amazing and I just want her to be okay!

Okay, so you will NOT believe this, but I’m literally walking around with a piece of my thigh on my arm! I was telling Jennie about it on our podcast, 9021OMG, and it’s just…wild. I mean, how many people can say that, right? I needed a skin graft after a really bad burn, and they actually took it from my leg. It’s a thin layer, but it’s there. I’m not even joking! It sounds crazy when I say it out loud, but it’s my thigh, on my arm, and it saved me!

Comedian Tony Knight tragically died in June 2024 at the Rock&Cars festival in France when he was struck by falling tree branches. He was 54 years old and enjoying life, according to Joanne Allen, the sister of his partner, Hayley Wright. Allen described Knight as fit, healthy, happy, and full of life, noting his charisma, humor, and passion.

He was deeply loved and admired for his many talents. As Haley shared on Instagram, he excelled at everything he put his mind to, was a wonderful friend to countless people, and a devoted dog owner. Above all, she wrote, he was her everything, and his loss leaves a void that will never be filled.

A company celebration turned disastrous in January 2024. During a party in India to launch the 25th anniversary of Chicago software company Vistex, CEO Sanjay Shah and President Vishwanath Raju Datla were suspended in an iron cage. The cage was intended to be lowered 20 feet onto a stage, but two wires broke, causing both men to fall onto the concrete below, according to a report in The Times of India.

It was so heartbreaking to hear about Sanjay, who sadly passed away at the hospital after the accident. And the tragedy continued, as Vishwanath, also in his 50s, suffered a serious head injury and, months later, also lost his life. It’s a reminder of how fragile life can be, and my heart goes out to everyone affected.

In a 2022 Instagram video with UNICEF, Orlando Bloom revealed that when he was 19, he fell three stories from a window and broke his back. He was attempting to climb onto the roof of a building with friends when the drainpipe he was holding onto gave way. Thankfully, he survived with a fractured spine, though he was lucky that his spinal cord hadn’t been completely severed.

He explained that doctors initially told him he might never walk again during his first four days in the hospital. This was the start of a difficult process of understanding how past patterns and accidents had led to the injury – a broken back that nearly cost him his life.

After leaving the hospital with a back brace and a lot of physical and emotional pain, he immediately started going out and partying—still wearing the brace, he told GQ in 2005. It took a few months for him to accept this was his new reality and that he needed to make the most of it.

He said the experience completely changed his perspective on life. He realized he hadn’t fully appreciated things until he almost lost everything. He used to be a reckless driver and motorcyclist, always pushing his limits, not for show, but simply because he enjoyed the thrill. Now, though, he’s much more relaxed and cautious.

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2026-02-27 22:51