Texas Golfer Stabbed with Golf Club in Brawl
A fight between golfers ended when a man was allegedly stabbed with a broken golf club and nearly bled to death on the green. Victim Clay Carpenter, 48, is now likely teeing up for a lawsuit.
The fight broke out about 3:30 p.m. Jan. 27 at a golf club in Tarrant County, Texas, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. Carpenter and two friends wanted to play through a group of slower golfers ahead of them.
A course marshal allowed it, Carpenter told the Star-Telegram, but the allegedly slower golfers -- four of them -- refused to give up their turf. A brawl ensued, and a 911 call reveals how it ended:
"Hole number 13, par 3. This guy is bleeding profusely... You need to get somebody out here now," the caller says urgently, according to CNN.
Then another man frantically jumps on the line. "He's about to die," the man tells 911. "We saw this blood coming out of his groin area. It was a leaky faucet, it was so bad."
Clay Carpenter suffered massive blood loss after the shaft of a broken golf club impaled his femoral artery during the fight. He underwent surgery and spent nine days in a hospital.
Some leg muscles have atrophied due to lack of blood flow, he told the Star-Telegram. The former marathon runner fears his leg may have to be amputated.
Investigators aren't yet sure if Carpenter fell on a broken golf club during the fight, as one of the 911 callers claimed, or if he was stabbed, CNN reports.
Carpenter's alleged attacker has not yet been identified, but if police conclude Carpenter was intentionally stabbed, the attacker could face criminal charges of assault and battery.
The attacker could also face a personal-injury civil lawsuit for the golf club stabbing, if Clay Crawford chooses to pursue one. Possible damages might include Crawford's medical expenses along with lost wages, pain and suffering, and perhaps even permanent disability if he loses his leg.
Related Resources:
- Man Impaled With Golf Club: Clay Carpenter Faces Leg Amputation (The Huffington Post)
- Economic Recovery for Accidents and Injuries (FindLaw)
- Browse Personal Injury Lawyers by Location (FindLaw)
- Golf Injury Suits Here to Stay Despite Rulings (FindLaw's Injured)
