Scalise doctor sees hope for ‘excellent recovery’ amid risk
WASHINGTON— Steve Scalise, the thirdranking House Republican shot Wednesday on a suburban Washington baseball field, remains in critical condition but has a chance for an “excellent recovery,” the chief trauma doctor at a Washington hospital said Friday.
“We are encouraged by improvement in his condition in the last 36 hours,” Jack Sava of MedStar Washington Hospital Center told reporters at a news conference. “I feel a lot more optimistic than I did two, three days ago.
“When he arrived he was in critical condition with an imminent risk of death,” Sava said, adding that the Louisiana lawmaker is expected to be in the hospital for weeks. “His risk of death right now is substantially lower than when he came in.”
Scalise, 51, is among four people shot by a gunman at a House GOP baseball practice Wednesday in Alexandria, Va. The other victims are recovering from their wounds, while the Illinois gunman, identified as James Hodgkinson, died after a shootout with police.
Scalise’s office released a statement from his wife, Jennifer, thanking people for their support and praising the two Capitol Police officers, Crystal Griner and David Bailey, who were injured while bringing down the gunman.
“We are forever grateful for the heroism” of the officers, she said.
After additional surgeries and rehabilitation, Scalise can be expected to walk “and hopefully run,” Sava said. Although “infection is a significant risk,” he said, “an excellent recovery is a good possibility.”