Corzine Is Taken Off Ventilator

[cal04]

Source: RICHARD G. JONES

Gov. Jon S. Corzine was taken off the ventilator he has been relying on to breathe for more than a week Friday afternoon, although doctors warned he might need the breathing tube reinserted depending on his pain levels and other potential complications.

In a brief written statement issued after 5 p.m., Mr. Corzine’s staff said he had been off the ventilator since 12:25 p.m. and breathing on his own since. His doctors were not quoted in the statement, nor did they appear at Cooper University Hospital here to answer questions from reporters. They have given few details about the governor’s condition or treatment during the week he has spent in their intensive care unit.

Mr. Corzine, 60, a first-term Democrat, broke his left leg, 11 ribs, his sternum, collarbone and a lower vertebra in a devastating car crash last Thursday in which he was not wearing a seat belt as his sport utility vehicle sped down the Garden State Parkway at 91 miles per hour, emergency lights flashing. Doctors have said he suffered no spinal or brain injury,

But he remains at risk of infection, pneumonia, and other ills because of the length of time he has spent on the ventilator and the number of tubes inserted in his body.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/20/nyregion/20cnd-corzine.html?hp

[Up2Late]

1. Thank goodness, but I hope he learned his lesson...

...of the importance of wearing a Seat Belt.

[superconnected]

4. And not driving 90.

[Mojorabbit]

13. I am still iffy

on wearing seatbelts after an accident where I was told that being thrown out of the car is what saved me. But if I was in a car being driven over 90 miles a hour I sure would have had one on.

[dflprincess]

14. You have to go with the odds

My friend's dad was in an accident like yours where being thrown from the car is what saved him but, most the time, being thrown from the car will kill a person or at least cause more serious injuries.

[Mojorabbit]

15. I'm sure that is true

but after experiencing it first hand it is kind of hard to think otherwise if you know what I mean.

[Solon]

22. One of my Classmates in school had his Jeep roll over onto him...

He was thrown out of it and it killed him, yeah, he wasn't wearing a seatbelt.

[Mojorabbit]

24. i think for me

it is an emotional reaction after what happened to me. Instead of thinking I will be safer with one on I replay in my mind the accident and that I was safer without it on. My own emotional deal to handle.
I am not saying it is rational cause it isn't

[Viva_La_Revolution]

23. my 6 year old cousin was killed when he was thrown from a car...

everyone else (all buckled up) survived.

That was 20 years ago, and since then everyone in the family has been absolute sticklers about the car not moving until everyone is buckled in.

Troy was a treasure. We learned this lesson the hardest way possible. :(

[brentspeak]

2. He's still not even close to being out of the woods

His injuries are catastrophic.

[Kagemusha]

3. Pardon me asking, because I genuinely don't know but...

Why was he driving at 91mph with emergency lights flashing?

[Ilsa]

5. He was headed to the Imus - Rutgers Women's Bball team meeting, wasn't he? nt

[Kagemusha]

7. Well, that's not what I meant but, thanks for the reminder

So he was driving himself, wearing no seatbelt, with emergency lights flashing?

[phylny]

8. He wasn't driving - a state trooper was. n/t

[Kagemusha]

9. Okay, that helps, thank you

I guess I'll just never understand, post Princess Diana crash. I can see why bodyguards need to be unseatbelted in case of some sort of armed attack, but the VIP? I'll never understand it.

[phylny]

11. When the accident happened, before there was much information, the local

news announced that the governor was known for not wearing his seatbelt.

Dunno why. I'd guess from now on, he will.

Edited to add that the woman in the back seat was unbuckled as well. The only one wearing a seatbelt was the trooper.

[annabanana]

6. That's good... Those breathing tubes are VERY uncomfortable.

If you're sufficiently morphed up, the ventilator is the single most awful thing..

[badgerpup]

10. He's lucky to even be alive...

...and he's going to come out of it without any brain damage, it seems.

Anybody know anything about the condition of the driver?
Did he even survive?

[phylny]

12. Yes.

The last I read about Trooper Robert Rasinski was that he was injured, but was going to be released days after the accident. Corzine's assistant, in the back seat, was injured as well, but not critically.

[Big Pappa]

16. This

is good news. now he start physical therapy and be on the road to recovery.

[otherlander]

17. Is it wrong that, when I saw this,

the first thing I thought was Terri Schaivo?

:hide:going to hell, going to hell...

[Up2Late]

19. Don't worry, that was my first thought too.

Thankfully, it wasn't that.

[yellowcanine]

20. Yeah, usually "taken off the ventilator" means the jig is up. You would think the

headline writer would have thought of that and reworded it - maybe "Corzine able to breathe without ventilator assistance." A good example of how changing the wording a little can make a big difference in perception.

[RestoreGore]

18. I'm praying for Governor Corzine

He has a long road to recovery ahead of him and needs all the good thoughts he can get. And while I could sit and condemn him for not wearing his seatbelt which was irresponsible, I am only looking at the present now and hope to see him well as soon as possible.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

21. I wish the idiot had been wearing his seat belt!

and I'm SO glad he's getting better!

bet he wears it from now on.

[fujiyama]

25. This is good to know

I wish him the best.

I don't know about the effectiveness of seat belt laws, but I hope he becomes a vocal advocate of wearing seat belts though.