Kerry to be released from hospital

Secretary of State John Kerry will be released from the hospital Friday afternoon but will stay in the U.S. for now to recover from surgery on his broken leg, according to a State Department official.

 

Kerry, 71, will transition from Massachusetts General Hospital to his home in Boston, a department official said. He underwent surgery to repair a broken right femur early last week, which his surgeon deemed successful.

 

{mosads}An avid cyclist, Kerry was flown to Boston after breaking the bone during a cycling accident in Scionzier, France, on May 31. He was flown to a hospital in nearby Geneva, Switzerland, for a night before returning to the U.S.

 

The accident cut short his trip to Europe, which included talks on defeating Islamic militants in the Middle East and with his Iranian counterpart on hammering out details of a deal over Tehran’s nuclear program by June 30.

 

It’s unclear how the accident might affect Kerry’s responsibilities in the U.S.-led talks with five other global powers and Iran over its program, which will include sanctions relief in exchange for new limits on its program.

“It’s really wonderful just to get outdoors, to see the summertime,” Kerry said during a brief press conference Friday outside the hospital in his first public comments since the accident.

He thanked medical staff in Switzerland for “an absolutely extraordinary job patching me up,” as well as those at Massachusetts General Hospital who conducted his surgery last week, which lasted four hours.

“I haven’t missed a tick,” Kerry said of his role in the Iranian negotiations, indicating he would travel for the talks at the “appropriate” time in the coming days.

Sporting a pair of crutches, Kerry said he looked forward to getting back to work.

“I’m going to do my physical therapy. I’ll be on these sticks for a little while. I’m going to behave and do what Dennis Burke has ordered me to do,” Kerry said, referring to instructions from his doctor.