Reid's wife undergoes surgery after traffic crash

[babylonsister]

Reid's wife undergoes surgery after traffic crash

By MATTHEW BARAKAT
Associated Press Writer


FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's wife underwent surgery Friday to stabilize serious injuries suffered when a tractor-trailer rear-ended the minivan she and their daughter were riding in on an interstate highway.

The surgery successfully stabilized 69-year-old Landra Reid's broken neck, said intensive care physician Elizabeth Franco, one of the doctors at Inova Fairfax Hospital who is treating Mrs. Reid, who also suffered a broken back and broken nose.

While the injuries were serious, Franco said at a news conference Friday that Mrs. Reid is "neurologically intact" and is not at risk of paralysis.

Doctors hope to have Mrs. Reid up and walking in the next day or two, Franco said.

Her daughter, Lana Barringer, 49, suffered relatively minor injuries and was released from the hospital Thursday night.

Virginia State Police said Mrs. Reid and her daughter were traveling northbound on I-95 near Washington in stop-and-go traffic Thursday when their Honda Odyssey was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer loaded with rolls of plastic. The impact forced the Reid family's minivan to rear-end a Jeep Grand Cherokee, which in turn struck a Chevrolet Cobalt.

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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_REID_FAMILY_ACCIDENT?SITE=CONGRA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[LakeSamish706]

1. I'm happy that she at least will not be paralized... Must be damn painful though...

How that she gets well soon.

[CTyankee]

2. Oh, god. So glad she is OK. This is terrible...the tractor trailer has a lot to answer for!

Hopefully, the company has great insurance and can pay big bucks...

[Cha]

3. Thanks babylonsister..I saw where she

and their daughter were in a accident and this sounds very serious but I'm heartened by this news that there's no permanent damage. Whoa what a close call!

[roguevalley]

4. my sister broke her hip a couple of weeks ago and fractured her

leg on the amputation point in a snow machine accident. She is only four years younger than me but at our age recovering is so damned slow and hard and painful. She has a long, long road ahead.

[Dappleganger]

5. Oh my, best wishes for her.

These accident reports remind of the one involving a woman who's like a mother to me, and her husband. A pickup truck side-swiped them on a country road, sending their Accord flipping over several times into a corn field then landed upside down. He was killed instantly :(...my friend was unconscious and didn't wake up for nearly three weeks. She lost her eye, had multiple facial fractures including her jaw, broken collarbone, broke numerous places in her back (ended up with a cervical and lumbar rod), broken femur, broken arm, etc. She looked so awful it was hard to visit w/her. They waited a month before telling her that Dave was gone which was so hard on the family. She was in rehab for 7 months, then in PT for another two years. She is able to drive now and walks with a limp, but the worst part is that her best friend is gone. She is a very positive person with a supportive family, thankfully...I don't know if I could be that strong if my husband died that way. :(

[Bitwit1234]

6. No way no how will I ever ever except in dire emergency

travel from Maryland over the Wilson bridge to Virginia from 3:30PM to 7PM and from Virginia to Maryland during the same time period. No matter where you have been no matter what traffic you have driven in...this is the most horrendeous stretch of road during those hours any where in the world.