On Monday it was announced that German Chancellor Angela Merkel fractured her pelvis in a cross-country skiing accident. According to spokesman Steffen Seibert, the accident happened over the holidays and will cause Merkel to cancel most of her business trips including her upcoming trip to Poland. Consequently, she will need extra rest for the next three weeks in order to recover.
“It makes it necessary for her to lie down a lot for three weeks and to use a walking aid,” said Seibert.
The 59-year-old chancellor fell during her yearly ski vacation in the Alpine Region of Engadine, Switzerland. She initially thought that she had sustained a bruise but later realized that she had a pelvic fracture after consulting her doctor, said Seibert. The Chancellor suffered severe bruising and a partial fracture on the left, rear part of her pelvis. The injury will require her to use crutches just like she did following a knee surgery she underwent 3 years ago.
Although her spokesman did not give specific details on how the accident occurred, he said that she was not skiing fast at the time of the accident.
On Wednesday, Ms. Merkel is expected to chair a coalition cabinet meeting and it is unlikely that her condition will deter her. Germany is under a coalition government because Merkel’s Conservative Christian Democratic Union party did not win a majority in last year’s elections. Other than that, she is expected to work from home. She did, however, postponed her meeting on Thursday with Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel.
Merkel’s injury comes just days after Germany’s legendary race car driver Michael Schumacher had a life threatening skiing accident at Meribel resort in France. At the time of Schumacher’s accident Merkel sent him well wishes for a speedy recovery but now she find herself the victim of a skiing accident too.
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