STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Former Rep. Michael Grimm, who was partially paralyzed from injuries sustained in a September fall from a horse during a polo tournament, hopes to soon return to his role as a host on Newsmax, he said during an interview on the cable channel Friday.
“To be completely frank, I can’t wait to get back with you guys hosting again at Newsmax,” he told Greg Kelly. “I’m very excited about getting back on air. I know it’s going to be pretty soon that I’ll be back on air.”
“I’ll be doing interviews like this with some other shows, but I’m very excited about getting back with Newsmax and just getting life back together again,” he added.
Grimm went on to thank supporters who’ve donated to help defray some of the costs of his recovery.
“I want to say thank you to everyone who donated,” he said. “The cost of my recovery is obscene. It’s millions upon millions of dollars…I couldn’t do it without everyone who has been so generous.”
The former congressmember is continuing with his rehabilitation journey, according to the GoFundMe established for him.
During the interview, Grimm spoke of how in the days following his accident, he was in precarious condition as doctors detailed the severity of the damage to his spine and how several vertebrae were “completely demolished in his neck,” while revealing his diagnosis to his family.
After developing a case of pneumonia, the former FBI agent was intubated, put on a ventilator and placed in a medically-induced coma. At this point, he was completely paralyzed from the chest down, he explained.
While he remains in a wheelchair, Grimm is still undergoing extensive physical and occupational therapy “working on getting my hands moving again.”
“I lost a lot of dexterity in my fingers, but that’s what I’m working on, as well as getting the legs stimulated, building the muscle back up,” he said.
“But I do feel a lot more sensation. When I first fell, I had no sensation in my legs at all. If you grabbed my foot, you grabbed my ankle. I would not feel it. Now I do feel it.”
Grimm also went on to talk about his recent pardon from President Donald Trump.
Grimm represented Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn in the House of Representatives from 2010 to January 2015. He resigned following a 2014 federal indictment related to fraudulent practices at an Upper East Side health food restaurant he partially owned.
He pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion and served seven months in prison before being released in 2016.
“It’s beyond overwhelming,” Grimm said of the pardon, granted in late May. “I mean, this changes my life for myself and my family, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.”
“As you know, I’m facing a lot of challenges since I broke my neck falling off a horse, and it just put the wind back in my sails.”
At the time of the accident, Grimm was hosting Newsmax’s “Wake Up Weekend” morning show with Sarah Williamson.
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