ROCKPORT, Maine (AP) — Maine's Gov. Paul LePage is crediting a bicycle helmet for saving his life when he says he was hit by an uninsured driver last fall in Florida.
LePage tells MaineToday Media that the impact cracked his helmet into two pieces and "sent me flying 40 feet." The crash exacerbated a shoulder injury, necessitating shoulder surgery in the near future.
"Without a helmet, I wouldn't be here," he said Friday.
LePage revealed the news about the accident Friday at Maine International Trade Day, saying he was knocked off his bike on the day before Thanksgiving. The Republican acknowledged keeping the matter quiet and initially brushed off questions before providing more details.
The accident happened on Nov. 22 while he and his wife, Ann, were riding their bikes in Daytona Beach, not far near their Florida home in Ormond Beach, he said.
He said a young woman who was uninsured and distracted cut him off while making a turn, hitting him as his wife followed behind. LePage was taken to the hospital but his wife was unhurt.
A Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman declined to say if the governor had been accompanied by his state police security detail while on the bike ride.
The topic of the accident came up Friday when LePage mentioned that the surgery could interfere with his plans for a trade mission to Taiwan before he leaves office in January.
This isn't the first time LePage kept medical details to himself.
In September 2016, he underwent a weight-loss operation at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston; the bariatric surgery wasn't disclosed until months later.
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