Marco Rubio Leaves Stump After Daughter Is Injured in Car Crash - East Idaho News
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Marco Rubio Leaves Stump After Daughter Is Injured in Car Crash

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GETTY P 110510 MarcoRubio?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1351442409173Joe Raedle/Getty Images(LAKEWOOD CREST, Fla.) — Florida Sen. Marco Rubio returned home to Miami Saturday in the middle of a campaign swing with Mitt Romney after he learned his daughter had been in a car accident.

Amanda Rubio, 12, the senator’s eldest daughter, was injured Saturday when a golf cart she was riding in as a passenger in a private gated community got into a collision, Rubio’s spokesman Alex Conant said. The accident occurred while she was visiting with classmates, he said.

She was airlifted to Miami Children’s Hospital, where she was admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit with a head injury. She was listed in fair condition.

“Senator and Mrs. Rubio are grateful for all the outpouring of support and prayers,” Conant said.

“The Rubios are touched and grateful for calls from President Obama and Vice President Biden, and Governor Romney’s personal message earlier today,” Conant said.

Rubio, who has four children, was notified of the accident after coming off stage at a campaign event with Romney in Kissimmee, Fla., Conant said.

About an hour after leaving the event aboard Romney’s campaign plane, the Romney motorcade pulled over on Interstate-4 and Rubio climbed out and into a waiting state police car, which sped off to take him home to Miami. Before climbing in, reporters saw Rubio placing a series of phone calls and talking to staffers and United States Secret Service agents.

An aide later said that Rubio had driven with the motorcade to get closer to an airport in Tampa where a flight had already been arranged to take him home to Miami and it was determined that it was still the fastest route to get him there.

On the drive, traveling press secretary Rick Gorka said that Romney “offered his condolences, like any nervous father, and offered his thoughts and prayers” while Rubio made calls to his family members.

Earlier in the day, Rubio had introduced Romney at two separate Florida rallies and had been scheduled to do the same Saturday evening at an event outside Tampa.

On Sunday, Rubio’s spokesman Alex Conant issued the following statement: “Amanda Rubio remains in fair condition at the Intensive Care Unit at Miami Children’s Hospital. Her longterm prognosis is favorable. The family is grateful for all the messages of support and the prayers said for their daughter.”

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