U.S. Secretary of State breaks his leg in bicycle crash

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry broke his leg in a bicycle crash Sunday, May 31, after striking a curb and scrapped the rest of a four-nation trip that included an international conference on combating the Islamic State group. He planned to return to the United States on Monday, the Associated Press reports.

Kerry was staying overnight in a Swiss hospital overnight as a precaution, State Department spokesman John Kirby said, before flying to Boston for further treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital.

"The secretary continues to be in great spirits and active," Kirby said. "He has done a range of phone calls including with the president."

Kerry, 71, fractured his right femur after crashing his bike near Scionzier, France, about 40 kilometers southeast of the Swiss border.

Paramedics and a physician were on the scene with his motorcade at the time and provided him with immediate attention. They quickly decided to call in a helicopter to transport him to Geneva's main medical center, HUG, where X-rays confirmed the extent of his injury.

"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 in an earlier statement.

Kerry's regular plane flew back from Geneva to the United States on Sunday, carrying much of his staff and reporters who had accompanied him on the trip.

Kerry decided to seek treatment in Boston because the fracture is near the site of his earlier hip surgery. Kirby said he'd be attended to by the same doctor who performed that operation.

Kerry's cycling rides have become a regular occurrence on his trips. He often takes his bike with him on the plane and was riding that bicycle Sunday.