Page 17 - Golf Champion - August 2020

[PGA TOUR]

problems. It was really a fluke. The whole episode is not something I enjoy remember-
We basically moved into the hospital, and Soyoung and ing, but the care Eugene received brings back a flood
I probably didn’t eat anything for the first 48 hours. We of good memories.
slept very little, if at all. I kept looking at Eugene’s heart Eugene does have some hearing loss in his left ear be-
monitor because sometimes it can go up and down like cause of nerve damage associated with his fall. Other
crazy, so I stared at it and couldn’t fall asleep. We both than that, though, he’s doing well and is happy. The ac-
had a hard time watching Eu- cident, though, isn’t far from my mind,
gene struggling. There was our and I will often check on Eugene to see
child in real trouble. We felt how he is doing. He’s just a normal little
helpless. boy, he’s so active, he climbs up to ev-
The biggest problem was doc- erywhere and he jumps around. He also
tors couldn’t control and stop doesn’t remember anything about what
the fluid leak. They eventu- happened. While you can’t tell anything
ally decided surgery was the was ever wrong, I still get kind of scared
best option. After more than a of what could happen to him. If he could
week—eight days—as doctors suffer such a major injury falling from a
were getting ready to perform bed, imagine what could happen when
the procedure, the leaking fi- he’s doing regular kid stuff. I do call my
nally stopped. Very quickly, wife a lot to make sure he’s doing well,
Eugene started acting normal- and we do keep an eye on him.
ly. A couple of days later, doc- Today, we’re extraordinarily grateful
tors discharged Eugene, and he’s recovered, and we know he will
we were free to go home. have a long and happy life. We have Na-
One problem. We couldn’t fly tionwide Children’s Hospital to thank
because the pressure inside for that.
an airplane was dangerous and could cause Eugene’s
spine to start again leaking fluid. Our next choice? 년 전, 우리 가족은 끔찍한 일을 경험했습니다. 우리는 동시
Drive 15 hours from Columbus to our home in Dallas. 1에 멋진 경험을 하게 되었습니다. 이두 문장은 네이션와이
Knowing we didn’t want to do the drive in one day, we 드 어린이 병원 때문에 의미가 있습니다.
mapped out where children’s hospitals were on our 2019 년 5 월 말, 우리는 오하이오의 메모리얼 토너먼트에서
route home—just in case. All along, we felt if we could 경기를 하려고 하고 있었습니다. 대회가 끝난 월요일, Scioto
get back home, everything would be OK, and Eugene Country Club과 Brookside Golf and Country Club에서
would continue to improve. It took us three days to U.S. 오픈 예선이 있었습니다. 저는 메모리얼에서 성적이 좋지
travel home, but we did arrive in Texas with no issues, 않아 컷 통과를 못 했고 U.S 오픈 36 홀 예선 토너먼트를 준비하
and we were so thankful to be home safely. 기 위해선 며칠이 남았었습니다.
Of course, what happened was incredibly serious, but 월요일 아침, 아내 소영이 저를 코스에 데려다 줬고, 아들 유진
fortunately, Eugene’s accident occurred not far from 은 할머니와 함께 호텔에 있었습니다. 골프장에서 아내로부터
one of the biggest and best children’s hospitals in the 전화를 받았는데, 우리 아들이 침대에서 떨어져 다쳐 상처를입
world. The staff at Nationwide Children’s Hospital 었다는 전화였습니다. 나는 그것이 너무 심각하다고 생각하지
couldn’t have been nicer. The doctors and nurses were 않았습니다. 그러나 아내가 구급차로 병원에 갔다고 말했을 때
professional and kind in every way. When Soyoung 나는 즉시 대회를 기권하고 네이션와이드 어린이 병원으로 향
and Eugene arrived at the hospital, everyone was so at- 했습니다. 의사들은 아들이 측두골에 뇌진탕과 골절이 발생하
tentive. Before the day was over, 10 doctors had come 여 척추 액이 새어 나갔다고 말했습니다. 정말 위험한 상황이었
to Eugene’s room and checked on him. It was so scary, 습니다. 의사들은 아들이 침대에서 떨어질 때 이상한 각도로 떨
but everybody did what they could to put my wife at 어져 모든 문제를 일으킨 부분에 부딪혔다고 생각했습니다. 정
ease. They did the same for me after I got there. 말 우연이었습니다.

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