George H. W. Bush Hospitalized After Fall - East Idaho News

George H. W. Bush Hospitalized After Fall

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thinkstock 7.15.15 georgehwbush?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1437014064230Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images(PORTLAND, Maine) — Former President George H. W. Bush was hospitalized after a fall at home in Maine on Wednesday, spokesman Jim McGrath confirmed to ABC News.

Bush broke a bone in his neck at his summer home in Kennebunkport and is in fair condition at Maine Medical Center in Portland, according to McGrath.

The attending physician Dr. William D’Angelo gave update on Bush’s condition Thursday afternoon. “Right now the president is in excellent shape and we will anticipate he will make a full recovery from this,” D’Angelo said at a media briefing outside the hospital. Dr. D’Angelo went on to say that Bush is “doing great” and that “he’s up and talking and been out of bed.”

The type of fracture that Bush sustained usually takes 3 to 4 months to heal, according to Dr. D’Angelo.

He was hospitalized out of caution because of his age. His wife Barbara and his daughter Dora are at the hospital with him.

“I just was with him less than hour ago. He was in great spirits, as was his family,” Dr. D’Angelo said. “As his wife said, ‘It takes a lot more than this to knock his spirits down after being shot down in World War II.’ She said this is a small bump in the road.”

McGrath also posted a tweet, reiterating Mrs Bush’s confidence in her husband’s recovery.

A statement released Thursday from the office of George H W Bush said that “the president never lost consciousness, and the injury he sustained neither impinged on his spine nor resulted in any neurological deficits.” According to the statement, Bush will not need surgery but will be in a neck brace for “at least a couple of months.”

“We do not discuss timelines for discharge, but do not believe this will be a prolonged recovery period at MMC,” the statement read.

White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said that President Obama called Bush this morning to send his best wishes and to wish Bush a speedy recovery.

Bush, 91, suffers from a form of Parkinson’s Disease and uses a motorized scooter to get around.

Bush was hospitalized on Christmas 2012 for a bronchitis-relate cough and spent two months there. He was hospitalized again this past December after experiencing shortness of breath.

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