Merkel Injured Cross-Country Skiing

Via the NYTGerman Leader Injured in Skiing Accident

Chancellor Angela Merkel has canceled most of her meetings for the next three weeks after doctors ordered her to rest in bed following a fall while cross-country skiing in Switzerland over the Christmas holiday, her spokesman said Monday.

[…]

She originally believed she had only been badly bruised after falling, but a doctor told her on Friday that she had probably suffered a pelvic fracture, Ms. Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, told reporters.

That doesn’t sound like much fun.

And for some reason, I find the following amusing:  “She fell while cross-country skiing,” Mr. Seibert said. “We do not believe she was going very fast.”

FILED UNDER: Europe, World Politics, ,
Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter

Comments

  1. OzarkHillbilly says:

    X-country skiing is now hazardous to one’s health? Who’da thunk it! On the more serious side, she is at the age when many older women start losing bone mass. Here’s hoping for her sake that this is not a harbinger of a more serious malady.

  2. JWH says:

    What they’re not telling us: Flowers from the NSA were waiting for her in the hospital room when she got there.

  3. Stonetools says:

    She’s been a pretty good leader for Germany IMO. Hope she continues.

  4. Pinky says:

    @OzarkHillbilly: Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of someone getting injured while cross-country skiing.

  5. Franklin says:

    Geez, and just after she wished Michael Schumacher to get well after his own skiing incident …

  6. al-Ameda says:

    Ed Snowden set this up.

  7. Jenos Idanian #13 says:

    @JWH: What they’re not telling us: Flowers from the NSA were waiting for her in the hospital room when she got there.

    I was going to ask if the NSA had confirmed this, but you beat me to it… and better.

  8. CSK says:

    @Pinky:

    It’s unusual. But it all depends on the angle at which you fall. Or if you fall on something very hard, such as a rock concealed under a thin snow cover.

  9. Anonne says:

    Natasha Richardson, Liam Neeson’s wife, died after a skiing injury wherein she hit her head. She didn’t even realize how badly she was hurt. Skiing is a very dangerous sport, and not just for your joints.