Tiger Wood, Tiger Won't

The Tiger just strayed out. Into the hyena territory -- of adverse publicity. Individually, the comments look harmless. If they pile up, they can destroy the material in a champion. There is no further evidence to it than a car smashed into a hydrant, and then a tree. The undeniable fact that he himself drove the car around 2.30am that night. That his wife came out to rescue him and helped pulling him out. The third witness we have is a neighbour, who called for the ambulance, told them that a man was unconscious, and on further query said that he could not figure out whether the man was breathing or not. That means, whatever it was, this person could not see evidence of breathing.

Tiger says that no one but he is to be blamed. His wife has been by his side, and not said a word. There is a particular woman who lost her husband in 9/11, now heads a bar and has the assets and background celebrities find rather safe and inviting. It is at the most a personal matter. No third party has been injured, so probably there are not going to be any sniffer dogs, fingerprint or DNA samples to be taken. No Google search either. That is no reason for the public and the media not to speculate on the life of a rare champion and also the highest earning sportsperson on earth.

Are there general guidelines to human behavior, a common sense approach, similar instances of celebrity affairs, some medical facts regarding his state as described by the neighbour, injury marks, and his quick recovery that can give a working understanding as to what could have happened. Forget criminal law. We are speculating on the ingredients of what could be a classic civil scam as 'cheating on his wife', a 'clandestine affair', 'it is not his fault but the other woman's'... They must be screening the archived pictures of the crowds that gathered for his winning shot to see that other face. Maybe they see one, or take help of some graphics. Will that make a difference in terms of evidence? Not really. Scams, they say can change lives. The attractive lady at the bar has just made it to the year's most sought-after person by the media, just when many tabloids must have finalized their lists. Hollywood, Bollywood, Oprah's remaining shows, Larry King -anyone or even all of them. Tiger would not make a penny out of this. But he has enough. People always favour the 'underdog', or should we say under*****.

Now the reasoned facts. Let's do a bit of Holmes, Poirot or inspector D'chalam, I used to read in school middles in the Times by 'Trivadi'. World champions of the calibre of Woods, Sachin, Federer, survive on the bearings of a peaceful personal life. They know the catastrophe of losing one's cool. They seldom venture into experimental emotional domains, in fact may even be scared of such deviations. They already have chosen perfection as their first love. I would rule that out, at least clear the Tiger on that.

So was there a rift, an unexpected tantrum, and he left the house in a fit? Less likely. Champions don't usually fuss to this extent. Had his wife driven out, I probably would have conceded. Also, if this was an extreme emotional situation, he probably would have driven out to wherever he wanted to. Even, in his as yet unreported temper, he certainly would not hit a fire hydrant, an object of public safety. His having hit the hydrant, and then having smashed into the tree a few metres away with great impact, shows that he certainly wanted the car on full throttle. There was no hurry though, that he should flee in less than five seconds he gave himself. He could have steadied the wheel and the picked speed. American wives are known to shout expletives, break crockery, but they seldom chase their man till the street. These days it is pretty same all over. They send you a good bye SMS and go to sleep!

Tiger was bruised in the face, and was unconscious when pulled out. The neighbour at least could not vouch that he was breathing. Bruises in the face go with a hit on the dashboard or windshield (in spite of air bags). No alcohol or drug was found in his blood samples. He must have regained consciousness soon, and CT/ MRI of the head must be normal for him to have been discharged so soon.

Was he unconscious due to the injury and impact? Less likely. A head injury that knocks someone unconscious for more than a few minutes, where supposedly, the breathing is also suppressed, is generally picked up in the least, as micro-contusions on the MRI. Discharge from the hospital is also not that soon.

I am taking this liberty to analyse, as this would anyway be a common approach of anyone at the level of history and analysis.

Can we have the diagnosis now? Elementary! Tiger is right. Only he is responsible for it, and it is none of those options the media are offering.

I let the word out earlier. He could have had a 'fit', a seizure, or an epileptic attack. A form of seizure known as a 'psychomotor seizure'. Since a 'fit' or a seizure is an abnormal, paroxysmal upsurge of current from the brain tissue, it physically manifests in the form the current takes across the brain. If it traverses through the emotional and motor areas, it can manifest as an activity (like walking, driving, sleepwalking), and may include a psychic component as rage, violence, etc. Finally, in the car, the full seizure took over, resulting in bruises on the face due to multiple jerks, and unconsciousness. The neighbor may just be right. A seizure can cause a temporary (but reversible) cessation of breathing.

Was this the first he ever had? One does not know the history, but it is documented that two to three per cent of the normal population can have a 'single' non-recurring seizure in a lifetime - in infancy, with high fever, after an old head injury, lack of sleep, binge drinking, and at times without a known cause.

Finally, for sake of my admiration for the man, for sake of propriety, for the sake of the chance, that facts turn out otherwise, for the sake that anything discussed may finally become confidential, take the champ out of this story. Perhaps it was too enticing for me to give such an example to explain what some seizures can be.

In medicine, as in law, innocence sometimes gets punished. Had someone trampled or injured a neighbour's pet, he would have called up his lawyer to take up the case, and bailed himself out, if such be the circumstances. The lawyer then would have found the above details perfect as his defence.

The Tiger neither called the lawyer nor the doctor - Tiger Woods is innocent!