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There’s no shortage of professional athletes who’ve been sidelined with an injury after falling victim to a freak accident. However, you’d be hard-pressed to find a scarier one than the incident that led to pro golfer Andrea Pavan being hospitalized after falling down an elevator shaft in South Africa.
There’s only so much professional athletes can do to avoid the physical setbacks that tend to come with the territory when you make a living in that particular line of work. Injuries are less of an “if” and more of a “when,” and most people are inevitably going to be sidelined by an incident that unfolds while they’re practicing or playing.
They are obviously not immune to the hazards everyone faces while going through life, and there are plenty of stories about athletes who had to miss a significant amount of time over a mishap that has nothing to do with the sport they play.
That inenviable group now includes DP World Tour golfer Andrea Pavan, who is lucky to be alive after a harrowing ordeal ahead of a tournament.
Andrea Pavan was seriously injured after falling down an elevator shaft ahead of the South African Open
On Thursday, the sixth leg of the DP World Tour’s International Swing officially kicked off when the South African Open got underway at Stellenbosch Golf Club.
Andrea Pavan, the 36-year-old Italian who has racked up a couple of wins on the European Tour, was slated to be among the 156 golfers who took to the course for the first round, but that did not end up being the case due to what unfolded before it began.
According to Ryan French, the man behind Monday Q Info, Pavan was staying at an unidentified hotel away from the course where he was injured after falling down an elevator shaft before being rushed to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries he suffered as a result.
Some horrible news from the DP event in South Africa.
Andrea Pavan, 2-time DP winner was badly injured in a freak accident at this week’s event.
According to multiple people Pavan fell down an elevator shaft after the doors opened on the floor he was on but the car itself…
— Monday Q Info (@acaseofthegolf1) February 26, 2026
Eurosport Poland golf reporter Jacek Person shed some additional light on the situation, saying Pavan fell “several floors” and was thankfully listed in stable condition after spending multiple hours undergoing surgery.
Here’s to hoping he experiences a quick and full recovery.