Fitzgerald has surgery on leg to mend injuries

By Steve Sharp of the Daily Times staff
Tuesday, October 9, 2007 12:57 PM CDT

State Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, is on the mend at Watertown Memorial Hospital today following two surgeries on his lower right leg to repair damage sustained when he was struck by an SUV Saturday as he rode his motorcycle into Watertown.

“He's in stable condition. He had two surgeries on his right leg in which they put pins and screws in to repair it. He had the second surgery yesterday,” Fitzgerald's brother, state Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, told the Daily Times this morning.

Jeff Fitzgerald said the operations went well and he noted his brother will likely stay at Watertown Memorial Hospital for another two days “to make sure he's OK.”

“Other than that,” Jeff Fitzgerald said, “he has a lot of road rash, but he's doing pretty well and his spirits are good. But it's probably going to be a long recovery for his leg.”

Scott Fitzgerald sustained compound fractures to his right leg from the knee down Saturday when he was struck by an SUV operated by a Jefferson woman who was entering state Highway 26 from Air Park Drive on Watertown's south side. He was returning to his Juneau home from a ride with Jefferson County A.B.A.T.E. motorcyclists when the crash occurred.

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According to a Jefferson County Sheriff's Department accident report, the senator was riding his 1991 Harley-Davidson motorcycle when he was hit by the SUV operated by Angela Carlson, 25, at approximately 3:30 p.m.

Scott Fitzgerald was northbound on state Highway 26 when Carlson's 1999 GMC Suburban pulled from a stop sign on Air Park Drive and hit him, pushing him into the southbound lanes.

Jeff Fitzgerald said it is fortunate his brother was not killed in such a crash.

“He could have been hit by someone coming southbound. And he was most worried about, after being hit, that someone else would come up from behind him and hit him as well,” Fitzgerald said.

When asked about his brother's medical status, Jeff Fitzgerald said his brother is listed as stable and doctors are “just playing it by ear.”

“With compound fractures, I guess what they are most worried about is infection,” he said, adding his brother's demeanor remains upbeat and he continues to be politically minded in his injured condition. “He's still fighting for the taxpayers of Wisconsin from his hospital bed. He's always asking what is going on with the budget.”

Fitzgerald is Senate minority leader and is a member of the committee that is working to resolve the stalled state budget. State officials have said that Fitzgerald's injuries may not hamper the budget process much, because members of the budget committee are replaced occasionally by other lawmakers for meetings. Jeff Fitzgerald said his brother is able to communicate with his colleagues regarding the budget as he recuperates at the hospital.

“This won't hold up the process much,” he said. “They will confer with him as this progresses. In this day and age they can communicate back and forth easily. His input is still taking place just when I stop to see him.”

Jeff Fitzgerald said his brother will eventually be able to go home to recover, but he noted it is “up in the air” regarding what his immediate status as an in-person presence at the state Capitol will be.

“He'll have to figure it out, Jeff Fitzgerald said. “It just depends on how fast the leg responds. But we are going to see him in a wheelchair or on crutches for awhile.”