Former President George HW Bush, 91, Falls, Breaks Bone in Neck

George HW Bush has fall in his home in Maine. The former President is suffering from Parkinsonism and his condition is stable.

Bush, the oldest living former U.S. president, fell at his summer home on Wednesday and broke a bone in his neck but was doing OK, according to a spokesman.

Bush, 91, was in stable condition and was doing "fine" after Wednesday's fall, spokesman Jim McGrath said. McGrath tweeted that the 41st president would be in a neck brace.

Bush, who has a form of Parkinson's disease that has forced him to use a motorized scooter or wheelchair for mobility, has suffered a few other recent health setbacks. He was hospitalized in Houston in December for about a week for treatment of shortness of breath. He said he was grateful to the doctors and nurses for their care there.

Former president George H.W. Bush talked about the medical condition that has restricted his ability to walk.

"They call it vascular Parkinsonism," Bush told Parade magazine in an interview in 2012. "It just affects the legs. It's not painful. You tell your legs to move, and they don't move. It's strange, but if you have to have some bad-sounding disease, this is a good one to get."

He spent Christmas 2012 in intensive care at the same Houston hospital while being treated for a bronchitis-related cough and other issues. He was discharged in January 2013 after a nearly two-month stay.

Bush said it's been hard adjusting to his mobility issues.

"I love being active, (playing) sports, being in the game," he said. "But you just face the reality and make the best of it."

This has been impacting his ability to get around and perform some of his activities of daily living. This is why planning ahead for Long Term Health care is key to retirement planning according to many Long Term Health Care planners.

Bush, a Republican, served two terms as Ronald Reagan's vice president before being elected president in 1988. After one term, highlighted by the success of the 1991 Gulf War in Kuwait, he lost to Democrat Bill Clinton amid voters' concerns about the economy.

Bush, the father of Republican former President George W. Bush, was a naval aviator in World War II and was shot down over the Pacific. He also was a former U.S. ambassador to China and a CIA director.

He has skydived on at least three of his birthdays since leaving the White House. He celebrated his 90th birthday by making a tandem parachute jump near his summer home in Kennebunkport.


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