George H. W. Bush Healing From Neck Injury, Barbara Bush Is ‘Thrilled’


With George H. W. Bush healing up after a taking a nasty fall during this summer, the former U.S. president is starting to feel active again. The former first lady, Barbara Bush, says she is “thrilled” by his progress and she is looking forward to his full recovery.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, the Oregon shooting started a debate in Florida on whether college students should be armed with weapons in order to prevent such future tragedies. As the former governor of Florida, Jeb Bush gave his input about gun control laws, but some claimed he made a political gaffe when he referred to the mass shooting as “stuff happens.”

Unfortunately, stuff does happen as George H. W. Bush found out the hard way. Back in July, the former president fractured his C2 vertebra, which is the one located directly below the skull. The family has declined to provide details of how Bush fell down at Walker’s Point. At the time, doctors said that it normally takes three to four months for such an injury to heal, but Bush has already been doing activities like visiting biker bars and going out on speedboats – albeit when the sea not too rough, and with his doctor’s permission.

Chief of staff Jean Becker believes the nation’s oldest living president is making great progress, and with George H. W. Bush “healing nicely,” there is already talk of their future plans. Normally, the former president heads south for the winter after spending summer in Maine, so the family plans on heading to Texas this week.

Becker also reports that former first lady Barbara Bush is pleased with the progress made so far.

”She is just thrilled that he has recovered the way he has. They’re at the end of this road. It was a scary thing when it happened, and he’s almost back to 100 percent,” Becker said, according to the Associated Press.

In addition to bikers and speed boats, George H. W. Bush also made a surprise visit to students at Philips Academy in Massachusetts, where Bush graduated from the prep school way back in 1942. Bush told students their school “meant so much to me in my life.”

The elder Bush attended a screening of a documentary on his life titled “41on41,” which features 41 speakers talking about the former U.S. president. Barbara Bush also attended the screen of the documentary since she was one of the 41 storytellers who speak in the film, along with family members, world leaders, sports figures and White House staffers.

But they do not plan to travel all over the nation for the upcoming presidential campaign. Both Barbara and George H. W. Bush also say they do not plan to be heavily involved in Jeb Bush’s 2016 campaign, although the Bushes will attend occasional events on their son’s behalf. Although relatively active, the 91-year-old is not playing it risky. Bush continues to wear a neck brace in order to keep his neck injury immobilized. Doctors expect that Bush will be wearing the neck brace for another month, and it is highly unlikely he’ll be repeating activities like the tandem parachute jump, which celebrated his 90th birthday in 2014. Doctors expect Bush to fully recover from the neck injury and they believe he did not suffer any nerve damage. With George H. W. Bush healing from this latest health scare, some may be concerned by his recent history of illnesses. Bush has a form of Parkinson’s disease and uses a motorized scooter or a wheelchair for mobility. The former U.S president was also hospitalized for about a week for shortness of breath last winter. He also spent Christmas of 2012 in intensive care for a bronchitis-related cough.

[Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images]

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