By John Kruzel
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – donald trumpformer doctor Ronnie Jackson said Saturday that the former president is recovering as expected from a gunshot wound to the ear he suffered last week, but noted intermittent bleeding and said Trump may require a hearing test.
The bullet fired by a suspected assassin at a July 13 Trump rally in Pennsylvania came “within a quarter of an inch of entering his head” before hitting the top of Trump’s right ear, said Jackson, a Republican congressman. from Texas who served as physician to Presidents Trump and Barack Obama.
Five days after narrowly escaping assassination, Trump on Thursday accepted the Republican Party’s presidential nomination for the November 5 elections.
Jackson, providing what appeared to be the first public description by a medical professional of Trump’s gunshot wound, said in a letter posted on social media Saturday that “the bullet track produced a 2 (centimetre) wide wound that extended to the cartilaginous surface of the body”. the ear.”
“There was initially significant bleeding, followed by marked swelling throughout the upper ear. The swelling has now resolved and the wound is beginning to granulate and heal properly,” he wrote.
Jackson said he has provided daily assessment and treatment of Trump’s wound since the shooting. He said no sutures were necessary, but noted that due to the “highly vascular nature of the ear, there is still intermittent bleeding that requires a bandage to be placed.”
“He will perform additional evaluations, including a comprehensive hearing exam, as needed,” Jackson added.
Trump recounted the assassination attempt to a rapt audience Thursday at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, saying he was only there “by the grace of Almighty God.”
“I heard a loud buzzing sound and felt something hit me really hard in my right ear,” he said, with a thick bandage still covering his ear. “I said to myself, ‘Wow, what was that? It had to be a bullet.'”
(Reporting by John Kruzel, editing by Nick Zieminski)
