Newsjohn kerry, us secretary of state, european trip cancellation, john kerry leg injury, john kirby, state secretary john kerry european trip, secretary of state john kerry update
Jun 02, 2015 08:43 AM EDT
US Secretary of State John Kerry got into a cycling incident in Geneva which resulted into a leg injury and cancelling the rest of his European trip. Mr. Kerry went cycling after his meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, pertaining to their June 30 deadline on their nuclear talks.
Kerry was reported to have hit the curb when the accident happened and he was later airlifted to Geneva's main public hospital, State Department spokesman John Kirby said. Kerry's injury is reported to be non-life threatening. "The secretary is stable and never lost consciousness, his injury is not life-threatening and he is expected to make a full recovery," Kirby said.
Kirby said that Kerry will fly back to the United States, monday, and will be treated by his doctor in Boston. "The secretary had planned on flying back to the U.S. this evening, but after further consultation it was sensible for him to remain in the hospital for observation overnight for purely precautionary measures and fly home tomorrow," he said.
"The secretary continues to be in great spirits and active. He has done a range of phone calls including with the president." Kirby added.
Kirby said that Kerry will be treated at Massachusetts General Hospital by the physician who operated on his right hip in 2009. Kerry underwent on the said operation on his right hip in order to relieve chronic pain and address flexibility issues.
An orthopedic surgeon in Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai reportedly said that Kerry's injury will take weeks before he can travel again, and months before he gets fully healed.
Before the accident happened, Kerry was supposed to continue his trip, going to Madrid,Spain before going to Paris for his meeting with Iraq Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi.
Spain and United States are said to be formalising an agreement pertaining to deployment of more than 2,000 US Marines to Africa by Spain.
"The secretary very much regrets not being able to visit Spain to meet with one of our close allies for discussions on a range of issues, as well as being unable to attend the counter-ISIL coalition ministerial meeting on Tuesday in Paris in person," Kirby said in a statement.
Aside from Spain, Kerry was said to be Paris bound, for another meeting, in person, with the coalition regarding Islamic State threat. Because of the accident, Kirby said that Kerry will be attending the counter-ISIL coalition meeting remotely.