Senate leader Reid’s wife undergoes surgery Fri. after breaking neck, back in car accident

Sen. Reid’s wife has surgery after serious crash

FAIRFAX, Va. — Sen. Harry Reid’s wife has undergone surgery at a Virginia hospital to stabilize injuries from a broken neck she suffered in a traffic accident.

A doctor at Inova Fairfax Hospital says the surgery Friday was successful in that Reid’s wife, Landra, is not at risk of paralysis. Dr. Elizabeth Franco told a news conference the next steps for Mrs. Reid will be to get her up and walking in the next few days and to make sure her pain is under control.

Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, spent much of Friday at the hospital while his wife underwent surgery.

Police say 69-year-old Landra Reid and her daughter, 49-year-old Lana Barringer, were struck from behind on Interstate 95 by a tractor-trailer Thursday. The daughter was released Thursday.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s wife underwent surgery Friday after breaking her neck and back in a traffic accident that also injured the senator’s daughter, a spokesman said.

Initially surgery was not thought to be necessary for Landra Reid’s injuries from the crash Thursday. The doctor caring for Mrs. Reid was to discuss her condition at a news conference Friday.

She had been listed in serious condition earlier Friday and Reid was at her side at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va., according to Jon Summers, spokesman for the senator.

A tractor-trailer rear-ended the minivan carrying Mrs. Reid, 69, and the couple’s daughter, Lana Barringer, 49, on an interstate in the Washington suburbs, officials said.

Barringer was released from the hospital Thursday night, hospital spokesman Tony Raker said.

“Mrs. Reid has a broken nose, broken back and broken neck,” Reid spokesman Jim Manley said in a statement. “Lana has a neck injury and facial lacerations.”

Manley said Mrs. Reid could feel her extremities.

Virginia State Police said Mrs. Reid and her daughter were traveling northbound on I-95 in stop-and-go traffic when their Honda Odyssey was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer loaded with rolls of plastic. The impact forced the Reid family’s minivan to rear-end a Jeep Grand Cherokee, which in turn struck a Chevrolet Cobalt.

The driver of the tractor-trailer, Alan W. Snader, 59, of Ohio, was charged with reckless driving, police said. He was not injured. All involved were wearing seat belts, police said.

Reid, D-Nev., went to the hospital after being notified of the accident and returned to Capitol Hill for a meeting on efforts to pass health care legislation. He went back to the hospital Thursday evening, left at midnight so his wife could rest, and returned Friday morning, Summers said.

Reid, 70, met Landra while they were attending Basic High School in Henderson, Nev. They were married in 1959.