Getting Hit By Golf Ball Saves Man’s Life

While watching a golf tournament, Chris Logan was hit in the head by Sean O'Hair's stray ball. It led to an early cancer diagnosis that saved his life.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on July 01 2011

Last Fourth of July, Chris Logan, a 25-year-old from West Chester, Pennsylvania, decided to go to Aronimink Golf Club to watch the final round of the AT&T National competition. But he got a little too close to the action: At the 18th hole, golfer Sean O’Hair struck Logan in the head with an errant golf ball.

It doesn’t sound much like a stroke of luck, but in Logan’s case, it was. He was rushed to a nearby tent to be examined for a concussion—and while he was being examined, the doctor noticed a lump beneath his throat and urged him to get it checked out. After several tests, he discovered that he had a cancerous tumor on his thyroid.

Logan had two surgeries to remove the tumor, and is now cancer-free. Last week, he went to see O’Hair, and thanked him for hitting him in the head with the ball. If that accident hadn’t happened, Logan may not have found out about his diagnosis until it was too late.

For his part, O’Hair apologized for hitting Logan—but was glad to have been of service. “You feel bad about hitting him, but yet you feel good that he found out about the cancer, found it early, and got it worked on,” he told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “It’s a cool experience.”

Filed under: Health and Wellbeing, Weird,

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