Joined at his bedside by his brother, the successful Fort Worth businessman Royal Hogan, a period of relative stability ended abruptly after blood clots begun to form in Ben's legs. Flying in a top surgeon from New Orleans named Dr Alton Ochsner, Hogan made the decision to tie-off the principal vein in both his legs which, while saving his life, opened up the terrifying possibility that he may never walk again.
His health took another dip a week later after he suffered a pulmonary embolism. Unable to catch his breath after his right lung collapsed, nursing staff admitted the only reason Hogan was alive was because of his extreme fitness before the accident.
Making a slow and painful recovery the next two months were spent all but immobile in a hospital bed. Leaving El Paso Hospital in early April, a wheelchair-bound Hogan thanked everyone who had helped saved his life. Then almost as an afterthought he told his surgeon before leaving: "Watch out for me, Doc ... I ain’t finished yet."
Transferred to a physical rehabilitation unit near his home in Forth Worth, Hogan now weighed just 119 pounds compared to his previous fighting weight of 140. Not that it mattered that much. He had made a miraculous recovery and just 59 days after he was dragged out of his Cadillac Sedan bloody and broken, William Ben Hogan finally walked through his own front door.
In the first week of May, Hogan asked Valerie to submit his entry for the upcoming US Open scheduled for Medinah. She laughed it off but he insisted that she make the journey to the local post office to send the telegram. Still barely able to walk she knew (and perhaps he did) that he was never going to make that particular date with destiny but a year later at Merion, the dream became an unlikely reality.
The first clue that a comeback was on the cards came after Hogan was spotted playing a few holes at Colonial Country Club in early December. Using a single-seat golf cart, the seven months in between had been spent building up strength in his battered legs – first from the embrace of his wheelchair, second from endless hours walking the street near his home. (Fearful that he would push himself too far, Valerie would often travel around the neighbourhood in a car looking for him).
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