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George H.W. Bush: The timetable for his recovery after fall

Former President George H.W. Bush, who broke a bone in his neck in a fall on Wednesday, "should be fine," according to NBC medical contributor Dr. Natalie Azar.
/ Source: TODAY

Former President George H.W. Bush, who broke a bone in his neck in a fall on Wednesday, "should be fine," according to NBC medical contributor Dr. Natalie Azar.

Bush, 91, took the spill at his summer home in Maine. He received treatment at a Portland hospital and remains hospitalized Thursday.

"It sounds like a pretty minor injury, probably based on where it happened and what exactly happened," Azar said. Bush's spokesman Jim McGrath also tweeted that Bush will be sporting a neck brace following the accident.

"A lot of these spinal fractures really just occur at the little bony prominences right at the outside of the neck, not at any close proximation of the nerves," she explained.

Bush, who was the 41st U.S. president, uses a wheelchair because he has a form of Parkinson's disease. He spent nearly two months in a Houston hospital for bronchitis-related issues before being released in January 2013. More recently, he spent a week in the same hospital last Christmas because of difficulty breathing.

Bush's granddaughter, TODAY's Jenna Bush Hager, tweeted her thanks for "all of your thoughts and prayers" following the incident.

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