‘I was completely unconscious,’ man says after being hit by golf ball after residents complained for months over safety
A DOG walker was left bruised and unconscious just days after moving into a new area as a golf course has residents fearing for their lives.
James Grimes from Pembroke Pines, located 22 miles north of Miami, Florida, moved into the Park Place condo community just five days before he became a victim of the local golf course.
WSVNJames Grimes was hit in the face by a rogue golf ball which was half an inch away from causing life-threatening injuries[/caption]
WSVNThe 66-year-old became the latest victim of the local golf course that regularly sees balls flying through the air at speed in the condominium complex where he lives[/caption]
The 66-year-old went to walk his dog in his new neighborhood when a rogue golf ball struck him in the head.
“The ball literally knocked me out,” he told Fox News affiliate WSVN last week while sporting a black eye and swollen cheek.
“All of a sudden, a white light. I was completely unconscious.”
“I don’t even know how long I was unconscious. I remember wiping my face and seeing blood on my hand,” Grimes recalled.
After he came to, the new resident scrambled back upstairs to his apartment to call 911 as he had gone out without his cell phone.
Despite the damage done to his face, Grimes sustained no broken bones and had no bleeding on the brain.
However, doctors were quick to tell him how lucky he had been with just half an inch potentially being the difference between life and death.
“The golf ball literally hit me right here in the eye, but just another half inch back is my temple,” Grimes said.
“It would have killed me. I mean I would not be here to have this interview.”
Residents at the complex have previously spoken out about the dangers of living next to the city-owned golf course.
“When I moved in, within the first month, the front window of my car, the back window of my car, and three windows in my apartment [were smashed by golf balls],” resident Florence Hirsch previously told the outlet.
Hirsch has lived in the condo community for 31 years and has long feared for the safety of herself and her neighbors.
“If that golf ball hits one of the people, they’ll never get up again,” she said back in March.
“I do believe that. Those golf balls are coming at a hefty speed, and these people are too old to take it.”
“I see what it did to my windshield, so I can imagine what it would do to my skull,” fellow resident Nancy Taylor added.
At the time of the initial complaints, before Grimes’ injury, Pembroke Pines Assistant City Manager Christina Sorensen clarified to WSVN that the condo was built after the golf course.
She noted that the course was designed with larger trees and hedges to block many balls from leaving the area but said “There is an inherent risk living next to a golf course.”
“It’s not something that we get calls about every single day. It happens every once in a blue moon,” Sorensen added noting that she would contact the HOA about the issue.
Since then, a letter written to the city by the president of the HOA just weeks before Grimes was injured, detailed how a golf ball smashed through a living room window and the glass cut someone who was inside.
Grimes has since spoken to the City about the golf course which has seen Mayor Angelo Castillo promise action after Grimes noted his concerns about potential fatalities.
The golf ball literally hit me right here in the eye, but just another half inch back is my temple.
It would have killed me.
James Grimes
“I truly fear we’re going to have another conversation, and it’s going to be over a death,” Grimes said.
“I’m not looking for monetary damages. I’m looking to protect my community.”
“We all feel terrible about it. It’s a freak accident. It’s a thing that happens,” Castillo said, per WSVN.
“It’s a beautiful golf course that they enjoy. We just have to make it a little safer”
The mayor noted that plans already in place to install more netting around the course would be fast-tracked to tackle the issue promptly.
“That’s a commitment that you have from the city,” Castillo said.
WSVNThe City has promised to take action as locals fear worse fates than broken windows and bruises[/caption]
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