Texas Gov. Greg Abbott admitted
to hospital for burn infection
Updated 4:47 pm, Monday, July 11, 2016
Gov. Greg Abbott has
been admitted to San Antonio’s Brooke Army Medical Center for treatment of a “minor
infection” related to second- and third-degree burns he suffered on his lower
legs and feet, his office announced Monday.
Abbott,
58, is scheduled to receive skin grafts to repair damage to his feet on
Tuesday.
The governor
suffered the injuries in an accident involving scalding water while on vacation
in Wyoming. Details of the accident were not immediately available.
Abbott is expected
to return to Austin after the skin graft procedure, which will be performed
under local anesthesia.
He will
not attend Tuesday’s Dallas memorial service for five law enforcement officers
slain in Thursday’s sniper attack. His wife, Cecilia Abbott, will
represent him at the event.
Abbott’s office said
the governor’s schedule will be determined on a “day-to-day” basis.
Gov. Abbott recovering from skin graft surgery to burned feet
By Sig
Christenson
DALLAS, TX - JULY 08: Texas
Governor Greg Abbott speaks at Dallas’s City Hall near the area that is still
an active crime scene in downtown Dallas following the deaths of five police
officers last night on July 8, 2016 in Dallas, Texas. Five police officers were
killed and seven others were injured in the evening ambush during a march
against recent police involved shootings. Investigators are saying the suspect
is 25-year-old Micah Xavier Johnson of Mesquite, Texas. This is the deadliest
incident for U.S. law enforcement since September 11. (Photo by Spencer
Platt/Getty Images)
SAN
ANTONIO - Gov. Greg Abbott underwent surgery Tuesday to repair damage from what
his office called “significant burns” on both feet and will stay at least
another night at the San Antonio Military Medical Center’s famed burn unit.
Complications arising from his
injuries also will keep him from attending the Republican National Convention,
his office said.
The
governor’s office said Tuesday that Abbott “underwent a successful skin graft
procedure” and would “extend his stay” at the military hospital “to allow for
further healing and to ensure a prompt recovery.”
The office did not say how long
Abbott, 58, would remain at SAMMC, but spokesman Matt Hirsch suggested it’s
open-ended.
Doctors grafted skin from
Abbott’s left thigh to his feet, which were burned in an accident last week
involving scalding water while he vacationed in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Hirsch said
Abbott was preparing to attend a Republican Governor’s Association dinner that
same evening.
The governor’s office said
Abbott was admitted after a visit to the hospital Monday and that doctors found
“a minor infection” as a result of second- and third-degree burns to his lower
legs and feet.