Posted on 08/07/2006 1:05:29 PM PDT by cabojoe
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Former senator and astronaut John Glenn and his wife, Annie, were discharged Sunday from a hospital where they had been recovering from what he called a “very serious'' car accident.
“I do not recommend you go test your air bags the way we did the other night,” Glenn said.
Neither Glenn nor his wife was seriously injured, said Dr. Paul Beery. Beery said the former senator suffered a minor fracture in his sternum. Glenn was struck in the chest by his car’s air bag as it deployed during the accident, according to past reports.
“As far as this being minor, it's not minor to me because it hurts,” said the 85-year-old Glenn.
Annie Glenn, 86, is recovering from what her husband called “bumps and bruises.”
The couple was returning home late Friday from a fundraiser for gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland at a suburban Columbus country club when John Glenn tried to make a left turn onto a highway ramp, said his former press secretary Dale Butland.
An oncoming car hit the front end of Glenn's car. The driver, Amy Myers of suburban New Albany, was not injured. Police cited Glenn for failure to yield, Butland said.
“He saw a lot of cars in the distance, but did not see this car that was right up on him,” Butland said earlier. “They are very, very grateful that nobody was hurt more seriously, including the other party involved in the accident.”
Myers told The Columbus Dispatch that Glenn was “very sincerely sorry.”
Glenn, who served in the Senate from 1974 to 1998, first made headlines in 1962, when he piloted the first manned orbital mission of the United States. He went back into space in 1998, at the age of 77.
Wow, his space flight was 8 years ago already?
</Insert usual argument concerning Seasoned Citizens driving here>
I surprised that the ones that think he should have his license taken away haven't shown up yet!
My god, was he drunk???
Remember the joke?... You could tell which orbiting point of light he was on because his turn signal was on?
Too bad that now, and after he is gone, my lasting memory of John Glenn will be that he was a highly partisan hack for the party of treason.
John sold his soul for one more ride into space. A harder choice to make than you might think.
You beat me to it!
No, he should keep driving until he kills someone you love. After all, he's only 85.
Kind of reminds me of the Volkswagon "Safety Happens" commercials where the occupants of the car are not paying attention and jabbering away when they get hit, and somehow they are the heroes of the commercial when their airbags save their lives.
Yeah but will he recover from his liberalism?
He caused an accident and is lucky the other person wasn't injured!
Right.
Exactly.
No, he's 85. Probably is losing his ability to drive safely anymore. All inferences are pretty clear that the former astronaut was at fault.
Amen to that! As a child, John Glenn was probably my first hero.
When I think about that fact, I feel rather ashamed now.
I know a lady who is now wasting away in a nursing home. However, she also was 85 and still driving at the time she told me she stopped at a light and could not remember where she was. After a bit the person behind her beeped his horn to get her to move. She started driving slowly and then suddenly knew where she was and drove slowly home. It's wonderful to want to be older and independent, but common sense must prevail and perhaps 85 years old and common sense don't mix.
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