Sid Owen shatters jaw and smashes teeth in horror golf accident in Thailand

The star has undergone 15 hours of reconstructive surgery so far 
The star was told by doctors that he is lucky to be alive
Jeff Spicer/Getty Images
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Former EastEnders star Sid Owen was left with a broken jaw and smashed teeth after a horrific golfing accident.

The actor, 48, needed extensive reconstructive surgery after he was hit in the face when a golf ball rebounded off a tree.

Owen, who is best known for playing Ricky Butcher on the BBC soap, told The Sun that doctors said he could have died if the ball had hit him just two inches higher up.

“One minute I’m playing a round and the next I’m in total agony and on my way to hospital,” he said.

He described the experience as "five weeks of hell"
Jeff Spicer/Getty Images

“But actually I’ve almost been lucky because they’ve told me if it had hit me two inches higher up I’d probably be dead from that sort of impact.

“I was stood about ten feet away when it hit me, hard, and of course it hurt like hell, but it was the shock factor too.”

He recalled “seeing two teeth fly straight out of my mouth" and later found out that he had suffered “a fracture in my face and a broken jaw, along with another tooth embedded in my jaw.”

Owen is best known for his role as Ricky Butcher in EastEnders
PA

Owen was on holiday in Thailand at the time and was taken to hospital for emergency facial surgery.

“I had to have a bone graft, followed by several rounds of dental surgery because it was too much damage to try and treat it all at once,” he said.

EastEnders original cast - In pictures

1/7

He described his experience as “five weeks of hell, total hell” after heading to Thailand “for a detox to relax” during dry January.

The actor said he has undergone 15 hours of surgery so far and is awaiting the results of a brain scan. He has also lost “almost two stone” in weight because he has struggled to eat.

He added that he has been given a one week extension to his visa but “will have to go home soon.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT