Former congressman paralyzed in polo accident 

Former Republican U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm was badly injured after falling off a horse at a September polo match.

Grimm, a Marine veteran and ex-FBI agent, is paralyzed from the chest down, former Councilman Vincent Ignizio told the New York Post.

“It breaks me up to write this,” Ignizio said on Facebook. “Our friend and former Congressman Michael Grimm suffered a tragic accident that has rendered him paralyzed. He needs help to cover the substantial costs that insurance doesn’t cover on his long road to recovery.”

Grimm is being treated at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in New Jersey, the same facility where the late Christopher Reeve was treated after he was paralyzed in 1995.

The Michael Grimm Supplemental Needs Trust has created a GoFundMe account to aid his recovery. As of Nov. 12, it had raised $370,749.

“Mr. Grimm has miraculously thread the needle to survive,” the donation page says. “Yet, his ongoing care and the treatment to walk again will cost millions of dollars.”

Grimm represented Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn from 2011 until his resignation in 2015. He pleaded guilty to tax evasion in December 2014 and spent eight months in prison beginning in September 2015.

Grimm ran for Congress again in 2018 but lost the primary to then-U.S. Rep. Dan Donovan. He is a commentator for the conservative outlet Newsmax.

“Sad news,” wrote U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis on X. “Please join me in supporting someone who served our country in both war & congress.”