US Senator dies after 'plunging into deep end' of empty swimming pool on lawn mower
24 October 2024, 12:26
A US State senator has died from his injuries sustained after "plunging into deep end" of empty swimming pool while riding his lawn mower.
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State Senator Johnnie Turner, 78, died three weeks after the tragic accident at his Kentucky home.
Authorities received the 911 call shortly before 8pm on Sunday, September 15, to reports of a man injured after riding his mower into the empty swimming pool.
He was rushed to nearby Harlan hospital, before being flown to University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville where he was placed in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
It had previously been reported that Turner was undergoing physical therapy and "showing signs of improvement" despite remaining in the ICU, according to US media.
Colleagues announced that he had lost a “hard-fought battle” on Tuesday evening, passing away from injuries sustained in the accident, the state Senate president, Robert Stivers, said in a statement.
“Johnnie spent his life lifting others — whether through his service in the U.S. Army, as a member of the State House of Representatives and State Senate, or in his private legal practice,” Stivers said.
“His unwavering commitment to the people of eastern Kentucky — his constituents, brothers and sisters in Christ, whom he so fondly referred to as ‘his people’ — was at the heart of everything he did.”
Mitch McConnell described Turner as a character who was "as on the scene, ankle-deep in mud, his equipment from home in tow, ready to help folks in Letcher County."
It comes as elsewhere in US politics, Donald Trump's presidential campaign has filed a complaint against the Labour Party for what it claims is "interference" in the US election.
A statement on Trump's website said that "The Trump-Vance Campaign has filed a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint against the Harris-Walz Campaign and the Labour Party of the United Kingdom for illegal foreign campaign contributions and interference in our elections".
