Former U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm, a New York Republican who resigned from Congress following a tax fraud conviction, is paralyzed from the chest down after being thrown from a horse throughout a polo event, in response to buddies who’re elevating funds to pay for the ex-lawmaker’s medical care.
Grimm, 54, suffered the devastating harm in September and is now being handled on the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in New Jersey, the place the late actor Christopher Reeve was handled after an identical equestrian accident in 1995, in response to Vincent Ignizio, a good friend of Grimm’s who’s a former New York Metropolis Council member.
Grimm had been an avid polo participant for years, Ignizio mentioned. “It was a ardour of his and he suffered a tragic accident on the finish of September,” mentioned Ignizio, who has arrange a GoFundMe account to pay for Grimm’s medical care.
“Via the grace of God and the wonderful medical groups who’ve helped him, Mr. Grimm has miraculously thread the needle to outlive,” the GoFundMe accounts says. “But, his ongoing care and the therapy to stroll once more will price thousands and thousands of {dollars}.”
A former Marine and FBI agent, Grimm represented Staten Island and part of Brooklyn in Congress from 2011 to 2015.
A federal investigation into Grimm’s fundraising that began in 2012 in the end resulted in a 20-count indictment centered on a restaurant Grimm ran in Manhattan. Prosecutors mentioned he underreported wages and income to the federal government and filed false tax paperwork.
Michael Graae, Getty Photographs
Grimm was individually beneath investigation for alleged marketing campaign finance violations regarding his fundraising within the 2010 race.
Grimm gained reelection in 2014 regardless of the indictment however pleaded responsible the next month to 1 rely of tax fraud. He resigned from Congress in January 2015 and served eight months in jail.
Grimm tried a comeback in 2018 however misplaced a Republican major for his outdated district to incumbent Rep. Dan Donovan, who then misplaced the overall election to Democrat Max Rose.
Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis defeated Rose in 2020 and has represented the district since then.
Grimm has lately labored as a number on Newsmax.
The GoFundMe for Grimm’s medical care had raised over $260,000 as of early Tuesday. “His final purpose is to get himself to stroll once more,” Ignizio mentioned.
On Monday, New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams mentioned in a social media put up that he was “deeply saddened” by Grimm’s accident.
“Congressman Grimm is a Marine veteran, and as we honor our nation’s servicemembers this Veteran’s Day, l hope for a full and speedy restoration,” Adams wrote.
