Ex-President George H.W. Bush released from hospital after fall

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine — Former President George H.W. Bush was released from a Maine hospital on Sunday, four days after the 91-year-old fell at his summer home and broke a bone in his neck.

Bush spokesman Jim McGrath said that “a very grateful” Bush returned home to Kennebunkport from Maine Medical Center after treatment for a fractured vertebra.

“He is in good enough condition that they can continue his recovery at home,” McGrath said.

Doctors say Bush didn’t suffer nerve damage when he fell Wednesday. They said they anticipate the 41st president will recover fully in three or four months.

Doctors said Bush, the oldest living former president, did not sustain any neurological damage.

McGrath said Bush never lost consciousness. He fractured his C2 vertebra, the second one below the skull, but it didn’t affect his spine.

Bush, who has a form of Parkinson’s disease and uses a motorized scooter or a wheelchair for mobility, has suffered other recent health setbacks. He was hospitalized in Houston in December for about a week for shortness of breath. He spent Christmas 2012 in intensive care at the same Houston hospital for a bronchitis-related cough and other issues.