Corzine Badly Injured In Crash
New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine appears to have been much more badly hurt in a car crash yesterday than the early reports indicated. He is listed in critical condition this morning. The initial news was of a broken leg - it turns out rather a lot more damage than just the leg happened.
CAMDEN, N.J. - New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine was in critical condition Friday but expected to recover after his motorcade was hit on the Garden State Parkway and crashed into a guardrail, breaking his leg, six ribs, his sternum and fracturing a vertebrae.
Authorities were searching for a pickup truck driver whose actions were blamed for the crash.
Corzine, 60, won't be able to resume his duties as governor for several days, if not weeks, and he won't walk normally for months, his doctor said. Fortunately, he did not suffer any brain damage in the crash, said Dr. Robert Ostrum, who performed two hours of surgery on the governor Thursday night at Cooper University Hospital.
"He's in serious shape, but he's alive and going to survive. Hopefully, he'll be back to work in a few weeks," said state Senate President Richard Codey, who took over as acting governor, speaking Friday on WNBC-TV.
Corzine was in the front passenger's seat of a sport utility vehicle driven by a state trooper when a white pickup truck swerved to avoid a red pickup truck that had moved onto the highway from the shoulder, State Police Superintendent Rick Fuentes said. The white pickup hit the passenger side of the SUV, sending it skidding into a guardrail. The red pickup left the scene.
The report says that it is unclear if Corzine was wearing a seat belt. Judging by the extent of the injuries, I'm not sure how he could have been. The broken sternum and ribs indicate a severe impact against something very hard. I suppose that will eventually come out, one way or the other. But I hope he has a quick recovery, nonetheless.
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A Blog For All — Friday, 13 April , 2007 @ 12:02 pm
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By Gayle Miller, Friday, 13 April , 2007 @ 7:26 am
They were reporting this morning that he routinely does NOT wear a seat belt and, unlike previous governors, likes to ride in the front seat. Both would be big time contributors to his injuries which reportedly include 12 broken ribs, fractured vertebrae and a thigh bone broken in 2 places, with one of the bones poking out through the skin. Apparently they had to give him 7 units of blood before they could even attempt surgery and he’s facing 2 more surgeries today and over the weekend.
My prayers go out to the Governor and his family. I may not agree with anything he says or does but I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.
By ted goldman, Friday, 13 April , 2007 @ 9:04 am
No seat belt….hmmm….