Treadmill horror
Blaz ex-aide in coma after fall, head injury
MAYOR DE BLASIO’S former press secretary Karen Hinton was exercising on a treadmill when she fell and suffered a serious head injury, sources told the Daily News on Monday.
Hinton hit her head Saturday in a vulnerable area and suffered severe trauma, the sources said.
She has been placed in a medically induced coma, but is expected to recover.
“Our colleague Karen Hinton had a horrible accident and is now in a medically induced coma,” de Blasio said. “I communicated with her husband, Howard Glaser, earlier and offered him the thoughts and prayers of everyone at City Hall and offered any assistance we could.”
A family spokesman said Hinton (photo) was at the gym in Mount Kisco, Westchester County, where she works out five days a week when the accident happpened.
It’s not clear what caused the fall, but she was quickly transported to Northern Westchester Medical Center, where she had surgery Saturday and was then brought to a trauma center. Hinton is currently in stable condition.
“She’s in great physical condition, works out all the time and is currently surrounded by family and has been since it happened early Saturday afternoon,” the spokesman said.
Former Daily News City Hall Bureau Chief Jennifer Fermino, who now works for Hinton at Fenton Communications, added: “She’s as tough as they come.
“The family expects she’ll fight this and make a full recovery."
The News first reported that Hinton, 58, had been injured over the weekend and was in a medically induced coma.
Hinton’s husband, Glaser, a former top aide to Gov. Cuomo, declined to comment Monday.
In a Facebook post Sunday night, Hinton’s niece Haden Hinton wrote that Hinton had an accident and was in a medically induced coma. The post was subsequently taken down.
“All Prayer Warriors, please believe with me and my family for my amazing Aunts healing,” she wrote. “Yesterday she had an accident which caused severe trauma to her head. She has been through surgery and is stable but is still in an induced coma to help her heal.”
Hinton joined de Blasio’s administration in June 2015 and left less than a year later to head the New York City office for Fenton Communications.
Fenton Communications, in a statement Monday morning, said: “We’re praying for Karen to make a speedy recovery.”
Hinton once served as acting assistant secretary for public affairs under Gov. Cuomo, when he was President Bill Clinton’s federal housing secretary. It was there that she met de Blasio.
After leaving the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Hinton became president of Hinton Communications.
Hinton’s relationship with Cuomo soured after she joined the de Blasio administration. Hinton’s tenure with de Blasio was also rocky.
At one point, a de Blasio aide publicly rebuked her by saying her views did not reflect those of the administration after she criticized Cuomo during the Legionnaire’s disease outbreak in the city.