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Doctors Assess Corzine's Breathing

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Apr 17, 2007 11:24 am US/Eastern

Doctors Assess Corzine's Breathing

CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS/AP) ― Gov. Jon S. Corzine remained in critical but stable condition Tuesday as doctors assessed when he might be ready to breathe without the aid of a ventilator.

Corzine has been at Cooper University Hospital since Thursday, when the SUV he was riding in crashed into a guard rail on the Garden State Parkway as he hurried from a speech in Atlantic City to a scheduled meeting between former radio host Don Imus and the Rutgers women's basketball team.

Corzine's list of injuries was extensive: He broke his thigh bone -- the strongest bone in the body -- in addition to a dozen ribs, collarbone and chest bone. He also fractured a vertebrae in his lower back and had a laceration on his forehead.

Doctors have said he doesn't have brain damage or any paralysis, and is doing well for someone who sustained so many injuries.

On Monday, the 60-year-old former investment banker underwent what doctors hoped would be the final surgery on his leg. With the scheduled operations complete, doctors said they would start to evaluate whether he could breathe without the ventilator.

Once he is breathing unassisted, he should be able to speak again. The milestone would also make it possible for physical therapists to do more to help him regain use of his leg -- a process that's expected to take up to six months.

Dr. Steven Ross, head of trauma at the Camden hospital, said Monday that Corzine remains at risk for infection and blood clots.

He has been getting his nourishment through a feeding tube.

Senate President Richard J. Codey is serving as acting governor until Corzine is able to handle the duties of his job again.

(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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