Sen. Marco Rubio Leaves Romney Campaign Rally After Daughter's Accident
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio returned to his home in Miami Saturday afternoon after he was told his 12-year-old daughter was involved in a car accident. Rubio heard the news while he was campaigning with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney elsewhere in the state.
Amanda, the oldest of Rubio's four children, was at Miami Children's Hospital in fair condition, the senator's office said Saturday evening. She had received a head injury, and airlifted to the hospital following a golf-cart accident.
Rubio learned about the accident Saturday afternoon in the middle of a campaign event with Romney in Kissimmee, Fla.
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"While visiting with classmates, she was a passenger on a golf cart involved in a collision in a private gated community," Alex Conant, a spokesman for Rubio, said in a statement. "She was airlifted to Miami Children's Hospital with a head injury. She has been admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. She is in fair condition."
Conant added that Rubio and his wife were "grateful for all the outpouring of support and prayers. The GOP senator received calls from Romney, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, he said.
Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said the former Massachusetts governor spoke with Rubio and "expressed his concern and hope for Amanda Rubio's quick recovery."
According to ABC News, the Romney motorcade pulled over on Interstate-4 about an hour after leaving the event aboard Romney's campaign plane. Rubio then climbed out and into a waiting state police car, which sped off to take him home to Miami.
An aide told ABC that Rubio had driven with the motorcade to get closer to an airport in Tampa where a flight had already been arranged to take him home to Miami.
Romney's campaign aide Rick Gorka was quoted as saying that the GOP candidate "offered his condolences, like any nervous father, and offered his thoughts and prayers."
Rubio was with Romney all day Saturday until he left in the afternoon. The two were together at a morning campaign event in Pensacola before flying to Orlando. Then they boarded Romney's campaign bus and drove to the rally in Kissimmee.
