Doctors complete surgery on Secretary Kerry for broken leg
Jun 2, 2015, 1:54 PM
An ambulance forms part of a motorcade transporting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry as it arrives at Massachusetts General Hospital, Monday, June 1, 2015, in Boston. Kerry, 71, fractured his right femur Sunday when he struck a curb with his bicycle and fell on a regular Tour de France route near Geneva. Kerry's orthopedic surgeon accompanied him on the flight from Geneva to Boston for treatment of Kerry's broken leg, the State Department said Monday. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
(AP Photo/Steven Senne)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Doctors completed surgery Tuesday on Secretary of State John Kerry’s broken leg at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and predicted he would make a full recovery.
Dr. Dennis Burke, an orthopedic surgeon at the hospital, said the four-hour operation was performed under a regional anesthetic and that the top American diplomat was conscious the whole time.
“The procedure was uncomplicated, the fracture was fully repaired, and we plan to get him up walking on Wednesday,” Burke said in a statement released by the State Department. “I anticipate a short hospitalization, a full and complete recovery, and a return to normal function. I do not anticipate that this will interfere with his duties as secretary of state.”
Kerry suffered the injury in a bike accident Sunday, when he struck a curb and fell on a regular Tour de France route southeast of Geneva. He returned to Boston on Monday for the surgery.
Before the surgery, Kerry participated by telephone in an international gathering in Paris to discuss how to combat the Islamic State. He had planned to attend that conference in person, but the injury over the weekend forced him to cut short a four-nation diplomatic trip.
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