8012 Newspaper Files

8012 Newspaper Files

=== Page 1 of 2

Dec. 27, 1980

Dr. Jeffrey Mishlove

You will recall that I phoned you a while back and told you that my SIs were going to attack high up in government. Since then President Carter's mother broke something and went into hospital; President Carter was wiped out in the election; and today President Carter broke his collar bone.

Owene


=== Page 2 of 2

# Carter breaks collarbone in cross-country skiing fall

BY HARRY F. ROSENTHAL

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Carter broke his left collarbone Saturday when he fell while cross-country skiing down a slope near the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md., the White House said.

White House spokesman Rex Granum said Carter was flown by helicopter to the Bethesda Naval Hospital outside Washington, where X-rays showed he had fractured the clavicle near where it connects to the breastbone.

"The president was skiing down a slope when one of the skis caught on a rock and he fell on his elbow, left elbow and shoulder," Granum said.

Granum quoted Carter's doctor, Rear Adm. William Lukash, as saying the president was in "considerable pain." The president was given medication for the pain, Granum said, and probably will require medication for several days.

He said Carter was placed in a "figure-eight harness" to keep his shoulders immobilized and will have to wear it six to eight weeks. Carter does not plan to curtail his activities and will go to New Orleans as expected next week for the Sugar Bowl, the presidential spokesman said.

"He'll be able to shake hands and write because it's his left arm," Granum said, adding that the president is right-handed.

Granum said that although the president was in pain, he was not in a bad mood. "He was joking about it with people at Bethesda," he said of the injury.

Carter left the hospital about 5 p.m. to return to Camp David. His wife, Rosalynn, was with him as he boarded the helicopter.

The president was smiling and waved to reporters with his right arm. He was wearing a tan raincoat, but his left arm was not through the sleeve.

The president was taken by car from the hospital to the waiting helicopter.

Granum said Carter was treated

Associated Press Laserphoto

AFTER THE FALL -- President Carter climbs the steps of his helicopter on the grounds of Bethesda Naval Hospital Saturday. Carter was flown to the hospital for treatment after he fell and broke his collarbone while cross-country skiing near the presidential retreat at Camp David.

Capt. Bart Sleemnos, chairman of the Bethesda orthopedics department, as well as by Lukash.

Carter, who is 56, has frequently cross-country skied during his four years in office, Granum said. He said Lukash was with Carter skiing, along with Mrs. Carter, Marine aide John Kline and two Secret Service agents.

The accident took place about 3 p.m., Granum said, during Carter's second skiing outing of the day.

The presidential spokesman said that, specifically, Carter had fractured the medial aspect of the left clavicle, the part of the collarbone nearest the breastbone. The collarbone connects the breastbone to the shoulder.

"This is, incidentally, the same clavicle he fractured as a midshipman at the Naval Academy in a jujitsu class," Granum said.

He said Carter was skiing down a slope on a nature trail in about 3 inches of fairly fresh snow when he fell. Asked how steep the slope was, he said he didn't know.

After the accident, Carter went back to Aspen Lodge on the grounds at Camp David, a short walk, and Lukash put the president's arm in a sling and immobilized his shoulder, Granum said.

The president underwent a full physical examination last January, and Lukash said then that Carter was in excellent health and fully capable of dealing with the strain of the Oval Office.