April 29 (Reuters) - Italian golfer Andrea Pavan said he hopes to be able to make a full swing within a year as he continues his recovery from serious back and shoulder injuries sustained when he fell three stories down an open elevator shaft in South Africa.
The accident happened when Pavan, a two-time winner on Europe's DP World Tour, called a lift at his accommodation near the near Stellenbosch Golf Club in February and the door opened without the elevator car in the shaft.
Apart from broken bones in his back, the 37-year-old sustained a shoulder injury that required surgery.
"Around three months we'll see how well the bone has healed. Around six months it's about where complete bone healing happens and we'll see how the joint is moving by then," Pavan told the BBC.
"It depends on if there are other tissues that were damaged if I need a second surgery. And there's the possibility of necrosis when the blood flow is not sufficient for the bones. There is that risk, but so far it seem like things are positive enough.
"The shoulder is a very demanding joint. Hopefully it's a little less than a year that I can play with a full swing but it's just so new and such a big injury there just a lot of unknowns.
"But I'm hopeful and the only thing I can do is to try and improve and take it day by day," added Pavan, who is recuperating at his home in Texas.
(Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
