Pro golfer Ken Green of Danbury, CT, was involved in a horrific RV crash on Monday near Jackson, Mississippi. He is hospitalized in the intensive care unit at the University of Mississippi Medical Center with eye and leg injuries. His longtime girlfriend Jeannie Hodgin, 52, and his older brother William Green, 56, who served as his caddie, were both killed.
The PGA Champions Tour player reportedly lost control when the right front tire blew out on his large RV. The vehicle swerved off the road and went down an embankment and crashed into a large tree – see photos below. Green’s two passengers were pronounced dead at the scene. None of the vehicle’s occupants were wearing seat belts, according to the police report.
Ken Green’s lawyer and longtime friend Jack Garamelia said that the pro golfer suffered a very serious leg injury, which required immediate surgery. Doctors indicate that they are fighting to save Green’s leg from possible amputation. The golfer also suffered a severe eye injury.
Green continues to recover from a lower right leg amputation. He even played part of a round recently on his prosthetic leg and hopes to really get back in the swing once he gets his next prosthesis, which will have a vacuum seal for extra stability. We wish him well!
UPDATE: January 22, 2010: Hunter Green, a 21-year-old sophomore who died last week at Southern Methodist University, is the son of pro golfer Ken Green. He grew up in Palm Beach County, Florida and had previously attended the University of Central Florida.
Green posted on his blog: “Well, today is another sad day. I’m sorry to say that my youngest son, Hunter, has passed. His journey in life has ended and I can’t tell you how difficult understanding this is.”
Joseph Hunter Green, who went by Hunter, was found dead Friday in his dorm room in the SMU House, formerly the Kappa Alpha frat house. SMU police say he died of “unexplained” causes and have not elaborated. The Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office is still investigating the death and said results won’t be available for at least eight weeks.
The unfortunate part of this latest chapter in Green’s life is the fact that Hunter’s mother Ellen Baker withheld information about her son’s death from her ex-husband. Green and Baker went through a bitter divorce when the boy was just five-years-old. He went to court over 100 times seeking custody of his son but did not prevail, resulting in a fractured relationship with Hunter.
An obituary, written by Hunter’s half-sister Brooke Baker of Dallas, pointedly omitted any mention of Ken Green, indicating instead that Joseph Hunter Green had no earthly father – obit here. See photo of Hunter Green in our gallery below.
Ken said, “I fought hard for my son and lost the battle. We had a strained relationship but my love for him never diminished.”
On March 24, 2010, the Dallas County medical examiner’s office ruled that Hunter’s death was the result of alcohol and a combination of muscle relaxants and painkilling prescription drugs.
See crash photos below and see new video of Ken’s rehabilitation.
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